A winter whiteout cancelled Blackball a few weeks ago, but weather can’t freeze out Canada’s longest, continuously running high-school basketball tournament. Organizers worked tirelessly in the wake of the disappointing postponement and have managed to get the tourney back on track.
The 73rd annual Orillia Blackball Classic will tip off Friday afternoon at 1:30 p.m. with games in both junior and senior boys’ divisions. Teams representing each of Orillia’s three high schools – Orillia Secondary School (OSS), Twin Lakes Secondary School and Patrick Fogarty Catholic Secondary School – will compete in the event; games will be played at all three local high schools.
The championship games will be played at OSS on Saturday, starting at 4:30 p.m. with the junior title game followed by the championship contest for the top two senior squads.
Six teams will vie for the coveted Blackball trophy in the senior boys’ draw; before Mother Nature forced the tourney’s postponement 16 teams had signed up. However, most of the teams had already agreed to participate in other tournaments, so the draw has been slashed dramatically.
While that is frustrating, Sarah Hagman, who organizes the event with fellow Twin Lakes teacher April Davidson, said the competition will be fierce. “Saltfleet District High School from Hamilton is undefeated and displays a wide point spread in Tier 1 league play, and our local hopeful, Orillia Secondary School, is also undefeated in league play and is very competitive on the tournament circuit,” Hagman said, noting OSS has won the Tomahawk Tournament and the Bramelea Broncos Classic this year.
In addition to OSS and Saltfleet, senior teams from Twin Lakes, Patrick Fogarty, St. Thomas Aquinas and Dr. G. Williams Secondary School (Aurora) will compete for the Blackball trophy.
There are eight teams in the junior division this year – including representatives from all three local high schools. Hagman said a team to watch will be the G.L. Roberts Grade 10 travel team from Oshawa which only competes in tournaments against the top teams in the province. She also noted Saltfleet District High School is ranked No. 1 in their competitive league and Huntsville High School is undefeated to date.
“There is no admission cost and there will be some great basketball played at all three local high-school gyms,” said Hagman. “We’d love to see lots of people in the stands to cheer on our athletes.”
For results and game times, follow along on Twitter: @BlackballBBall.
