The following is being distributed at the request of Sport Newfoundland and Labrador:

NLBA elite eight rankings

The Newfoundland and Labrador Basketball Association (NLBA) has released the first set of rankings for the Elite Eight Championship to be held February 22-24. The event is scheduled to be held at Memorial University and Gonzaga High in St. John's. The selection committee consisting of Joe Lake, Bill Murphy, Ann Murrin, Roger Head, Bill Brophy, Gary Sooley and Erica Coultas, has gathered scores of invitational tournaments, exhibition games and league play for the past six weeks. Over 200 game results have been forwarded to the provincial office to assist with the rankings formulated below. Joe Lake, Chair of the Elite Eight Program is ecstatic with the support pouring in from across the island. Results from tournaments held prior to December 16 have been included in the rankings below. The committee is still waiting on results from one-two events that have been held and they are expected to arrive in the next day or so. Below are the rankings for the results currently submitted to our office:

The selection committee is urging all tournament hosts to fax the results to the provincial office immediately upon conclusion of the event. Rankings will be updated and made public during the third week of January. The winner of both the male and female divisions will receive a $1,000 scholarship compliments of the Newfoundland Association of Basketball Officials (NABO) and Browning Harvey (Pepsi).

2001 12 21                          11:00 a.m.