Provincial high school boys basketball championships this weekend

Four high school boys basketball champions will be decided this coming weekend as 40 teams from across the province hit the courts in the culmination of their high school basketball season.

St. Mark�s High in King�s Cove and Bishop White All Grade, Port Rexton will host the 10 team "A" event. Teams involved in the competition include in Division A: St. Mark�s, Our Saviour King High (Southern Harbour), St. Joseph�s (Bay de Verde), Lakewood Academy (Glenwood) and St. James High (Lark Harbour). In Division B, Bishop White All Grade, Holy Name of Mary (Lawn), Our Lady of Labrador (Forteau), Random Island Academy and MSB Regional Academy (Middle Arm). Courts at both St. Mark�s and Bishop White will be in use throughout the round robin portion of the tournaments starting at 12 noon on Thursday, continuing through to Friday. The semi-final will be played at 9 and 11 on Saturday, followed by the 2 p.m. championship game.

St. Augustine�s High in Plum Point will be the host school for the boys "2A" event. The tournament gets under way at 9 a.m. Thursday and concludes with the championship game 2:30 Saturday afternoon. Teams competing in Division A include St. Lawrence Central High, St. Augustine�s High, Goose High School (Happy Valley-Goose Bay), and St. John Bosco School (St. John�s). Division B will see action from Dunne Academy (St. Mary�s) Grandy�s River Academy (Burnt Islands), Holy Cross (St. Alban�s) and Riverwood High (Gander Bay).

Pasadena Academy will host the 10 team boys "3A" championships, Thursday at 12:15 and concluding with a 2 p.m. championship game. Games will take place at both Pasadena Academy and Elwood High in Deer Lake. Playing in the Blue Division will be Pasadena Academy, Harriot Curtis Collegiate (St. Anthony), Menihek High (Labrador City), John Burke High (Grand Bank) and Musgravetown High. Competing in the White Division will be St. Catherine�s (Salmonier), Mobile Central High, Piccadilly High, Fogo Island Central High and Botwood Collegiate.

Regina High School will be the host for the boys "4A" event. G.C. Rowe in Corner Brook will be the second venue for the tournament. Twelve teams will play in a four division format. Division 1 will be consist of Holy Heart of Mary (St. John�s), Elwood High (Deer Lake) and Discovery Collegiate (Bonavista). Division 2 will see action from O�Donel High (Mount Pearl), Stephenville High, and Carbonear Collegiate. In Division 3 Fatima Academy (St. Bride�s), Herdman Collegiate (Corner Brook) and Gander Collegiate will face off, while rounding out the field in Division 4 will be Pearce High (Burin), Regina High (Corner Brook) and Exploits Valley High (Grand Falls-Windsor). Games get under way 12 noon on Thursday. The quarter-finals will be played 4 p.m. on Friday with the semi-finals scheduled for 9:30 and 11:15 Saturday morning and the championship game set to go at 3 p.m.

Karen Richard (709) 729-2795

Boys A Basketball - Jill Russell 447-6211 (Tel) 447-2126 (Fax)
Boys 2A Basketball - Anne Chambers 247-2008 (Tel) 247-2207 (Fax)
Girls 3A Basketball - Bern Gushue 686-5091 (Tel) 686-5654 (Fax)
Girls 4A Basketball - Greg Taffe 634-5258 (Tel) 634-8969 (Fax)

2001 03 29                                2:35 p.m.