For Release: January 13th, 2000

The seats are barely warm in the schools after the Christmas break, and we already have two high school sports tournaments to report on this weekend.

The first is the now massive Northern Roundball Tournament beginning Friday (tomorrow) for boys' basketball teams in the Midget, Junior and Senior divisions. A total of fourty-four teams will take part in this sixth annual event, including 12 Midget and 16 each in Junior and Senior, spread out across six different venues in the city, including Cambrian, Sudbury Secondary, Lasalle, Northeastern, Lockerby and L'Heritage.

The teams participating form something of a who's who in high school boys' basketball in this Province, some of whom are no doubt scouting the Sudbury venues in anticipation of the O.F.S.A.A. "AAA" Boys' Basketball event in 2001 which will be hosted here. Teams like Cathedral of Toronto, Timmins High, Peterborough CVI, North Albion, Sir Wilfrid Laurier, Orillia CVI, St. Mary's and Barrie Innisdale are no strangers to those in high school basketball and will no doubt make winning the championship a huge challenge for all competitors.

According to Co-Chair Denis Gauthier of Lasalle Secondary, predicting the three champions is no easy task either: "We feel that the championship in any of the three divisions is pretty much wide open, and we anticipate some very narrow victories, particularly in the semi final round. When you consider that, along with the overall quality of the teams that applied this year, it should set the stage for some unforgettable performances this weekend."

Defending champions include Lockerby in Midget, Lasalle in Junior and Peterborough in Senior. Local representatives include Lasalle, Northeastern, Sudbury Secondary, Lockerby, Lo-Ellen and L'Heritage.

Championship Finals will take place on Saturday at Lasalle, with Midgets at 5pm, Juniors at 6:30pm and Seniors at 8pm. You can view the full schedule on the S.D.S.S.A.A. website at www.rainbow.edu.on.ca, scrolling down to "Updates and Add-Ons" and clicking on the Roundball Schedule desired.

Weekend admission for the two-day event, not including the Championship Finals, is $3/adult and $2/student. In addition, game admission for the finals will be $2/adult, $1/student. Trust me this is a steal!

From basketball we move to hockey, as the Espanola High School Spartans prepare to host their first ever boys' hockey event this weekend at the brand spanking new Espanola Regional Recreational Complex.

A total of six teams will vy for championship honours including local league representatives Confederation Chargers, Lively Hawks, Lasalle Lancers, Sudbury Secondary North Stars and the host Spartans. The Soo District's Central Algoma Huskies round out the entries in this year's event, which is convened by Jennifer and Gerry Massicotte.

Action begins on Friday at 1:30pm and continues throughout the weekend, with the semi final round going Sunday at 9am and 10:30am, followed by Championship Finals at 1:30pm.

Again you can view the full schedule of games for the tournament on the S.D.S.S.A.A. web page at the address listed above.

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