CHARTER COMMUNICATIONS
Negaunee Invitational Basketball Tournament
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CHARTER COMMUNICATIONS Negaunee Invitational Basketball Tournament
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Women's Division returns to NIT
NEGUANEE--The last time the women hit the hardcourt in their own division in Negaunee Invitational was 1997. This weekend, however, the ladies are coming back to Lakeview Memorial Gymnasium to show the boys how it’s done. “We tried for years after that, but there just wasn’t the interest or the people left in the area,” tournament director John Basolo said. With the help of former Westwood Patriot and current Michigan Tech assistant women’s basketball coach Sarah Stream, eight teams fill the bracket this year. “I remember watching the women’s division when I was little,” Stream said. “I still enjoy playing and I wanted to get that going again because it would be fun.” Stream started making phone calls to former players she knew, and got a good reception. “People were pretty excited,” she said. “I knew we wouldn’t get a lot of teams, but we got more than I expected. There are a lot of tournaments for the guys, but not a lot of opportunities for the women to play. The fact that we were able to get one going at all was great.” The first women’s game starts at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday. Four winner’s bracket games will be played in a row. Consolation bracket games will begin at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday night. Play continues in both brackets on Sunday. In the opener, MJCTAKV of Ishpeming will take on a fill-in team of local high school and college players to replace Stream’s team of Michigan Tech women who are headed to the National Championship. MJCTAKV features former Westwood, Ishpeming and Marquette high school players, let my Maria Honkala. The 11:15 a.m. match-up features Retail Ad Service of Carney and Northwood’s Environmental of Ontonagon. Retail Ad Service features Carly Benson and Krista Clement, who played their collegiate ball at the University of Michigan, as well has Holly Cole (NMU) and other former college players. Northwood’s Environmental will look to a strong pool of Finlandia alumnae, including Deanna Makela (Westwood), Sasha Beyers (Dollar Bay), Janele Linna (Ontonagon) and Jillian Dolkey (Munising). At 12:30, McNeils Oilers of Crystal Falls will face DSS Contracting of Marquette. McNeil’s Oilers will feature former Crystal Falls high school players. DSS Contracting will look to former NMU players Karla McCutcheon, Mandee Dafoe, Kellie Rietveld and Jackie Davey. Morning Glory of Negaunee will take on Team U.P. of Toivola at 1:45 p.m. Morning Glory will be lead by Negaunee grad Ally Tincknell (Finlandia), as well as other former Negaunee players Kennan Marana, Paige Yoho, Gabby Martin, Sarah MacDonald and Heather Moore. Team U.P. captain Sara Moilanen gathered former Michigan Tech, NMU, Northland and Finlandia players to lead her team. “There’s going to be some tough competition,” Stream said. “All goes well this weekend, we’ll be able to have a division next year.” Stream said she thinks Retail Ad Service will be the team to beat, however there are other strong teams that could give them a run with rosters featuring great players from around the GLIAC. Press Releases
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