Review tourney opens Thursday
Will Schmahl and his Saint Paul teammates will open the Niagara Falls Review Basketball Tournament Thursday at noon versus Westlane. All games will be played at Westlane.
The annual Niagara Falls Review Basketball Tournament kicks off Thursday at Westlane with four games.
“Although the weather hasn’t cooperated, the Review tournament will run as schedule on Thursday and Friday,” tournament committee member Jamie Coull said. “This will be a great opportunity to get a few games in because, as of now, the league schedule is unchanged even though exams have moved to Monday.”
Coull expects teams will be a little rusty coming out of the exam break, especially with the weather disrupting practice schedules.
“Hopefully teams will shake off the rust and get back into it for the championship games on Friday night,” he said, adding he’s excited to give another round of bursaries to a new group of players.
Bursary applications are available on the Westlane website.
The schedule includes: Westlane versus Saint Paul at noon; Greater Fort Erie versus Centennial at 1:30 p.m.; Saint Michael at E.L. Crossley at 3 p.m.; and, Niagara Christian versus A.N. Myer at 4:30 p.m.
Friday’s schedule starts at 8:30 a.m. with the consolation final being played at 4 p.m., the third-place game going at 5:30 p.m. and the championship game tipping off at 7 p.m.
Below are brief profiles of the competing squads:
A.N. MYER MARAUDERS
Record: 6-0 in Niagara Region High School Athletic Association league and 15-3 overall.
Starters: Nick Murdaca, Cormac McMahon, Adam Lamb, Noah Sharp and Caleb Kim.
Key bench players: Christian Kuriata, Matt Garrett and Jorge Rodriguez.
Coaches: Paul Grummett, Dave Shaw and Joanne Thomson (team psychologist/good cop).
Strengths: Team defence; transition offence.
Weakness: Team consistency.
CENTENNIAL COUGARS
Record: 4-2 in NRHSAA play.
Tournament play: Lost in Trib semifinals and Standard semifinals.
Starters: Guards Reese Radobenko and Ryan Stark; forwards Nick Yioldassis, Jack Halladay and Anthony Perna.
Key bench players: Guard Jonah Preston; forwards Jorden Brewster and Jackson McNeil.
Coaching staff: Craig Maltais, Tony Ferusi and Connor Jollife.
Strengths: Hustle; work ethic; team defence; shooting.
Weakness: Lack of in-game experience.
E.L. CROSSLEY CYCLONES
Record: 4-3 in NRHSAA league play.
Tournament play: Lost in Trib semifinals and Standard quarter-finals
Starters: Jason Carter, Aiden Belding, Carter Teal, Durieal Bell and Josh Lahn.
Key bench players: Jun Song and Liam Sodtke.
Coaches: Aaron Belding and Jeff Carter.
GREATER FORT ERIE GRYPHONS
Record: 2-4 in league and 9-8 overall.
Tournament play: Consolation winners at Tribune tournament; consolation runner-up Standard tournament; second-place Turner Clark tournament at Port Colborne.
Starters: Micah Stewart, Austin Ladouceur, Avery Parker, Zach Tyrell and Novontay Brown.
Key bench players: Kieran Connely, Damian John.
Coach: David Adamek.
Strengths: Shooting; speed.
Weakness: Size; experience ( young team).
NIAGARA CHRISTIAN NAVIGATORS
Record: 4-0 in NRHSAA league play and 13-4 overall.
Tournament play: 2-1 at A.N. Myer Invitational to finish third; 2-1 at Laura Secord Invitational to finish second; 1-2 at Standard tourney; and, 3-0 at Great Lakes Tipoffto win event..
Key starters: G Neil Wangler, PF Rock Laniyi, F Victor Olukayode.
Key bench players: SG David Lai, F Josh Etiqwe.
Coaches: Anthony Haughton, Michael Dyck, Alastair Bayley.
SAINT MICHAEL MUSTANGS
Record: 1-5 in Niagara Catholic Athletic Association league play.
Starters: Forwards Michael Sieber and Andy Xu; guards Ben Lockhart, Steven Cabrara and Jomer Mateo.
Key bench players: Hayden Spelier, Thomas Pruyn and Nick Melone.
Coach: Keith Bomberry.
Tournament play: Lost in Tribune quarter-finals.
Strengths: Speed; half-court defence; ball handling.
Weakness: Rebounding.
SAINT PAUL PATRIOTS
Record: 5-1 in league play and 3-8 in tournament play.
Tournaments: Played in Saltfleet, St. Thomas More, Festival of Lights and Wilson N.Y. Tip-off tournaments.
Starters: Will Schmahl, Jerwyn Tutanes, Jarrel Pappin, Devon Schiller-Cleveland and John Graovaz.
Head coach: Jeff MacDonald.
Strengths: Average athleticism and fitness.
Weaknesses: Depth; shooting; size. “We have been very average and, at times, poor,” MacDonald said.
WESTLANE SPARTANS
Record: 0-7 in NRHSAA league play and 1-8 in tournament play.
Starters: Enrico Gibson, Jake Marshall, Abdul Sheikh-Ali, Ethan Smith, Waleed Albasha.
Key bench players: Ravjot Gill, Aaron Nguyen, Adam Adam.
Coaches: Jamie Coull and Jordan Jenkins.
Strengths: Young and enthusiastic.
Weaknesses: Young and inexperienced.
