Sixteen high school basketball teams from across the province begin play today in metro St. John’s in the 2020 Hall of Fame Cup (Elite Eight) tournament.
The Holy Heart Highlanders are the No. 1 seeds in both the boys and girls divisions. Holy Heart is the defending girls champion, but the Waterford Valley Warriors took the girls title last year; it was the only major tournament not won by the Holy Heart girls in the 2018-19 season.
Today’s opening-round schedule is based on the rankings (1. vs 8, 2 vs 7, and so on). Teams were ranked by a selection committee using results from league, tournament and exhibition play up to early February. All teams will play again on Saturday, when losers from Friday meeting will square off in do-or-die contests.
The bulk of the girls games will be at the Gonzaga gym, while the majority of boys contests are at the Holy Heart gym. However, Sunday morning semifinals are at the Provincial Training Centre in St. John’s, with the Sunday afternoon championship contests will be played at the Old Gym at Memorial University.
This year’s Hall of Fame Cup was originally set to begin Feb. 7, but as with the case with many Newfoundland and Labrador Basketball Association tourneys, had to be rescheduled because of time lost during January’s winter snow storm and resulting states of emergency throughout the eastern part of the province.
2002 NLBA HALL OF FAME CUP
GIRLS DIVISION
Teams
(rankings in brackets)
1. Holy Heart of Mary
2. Waterford Valley
3. O’Donel
4. Holy Trinity
5. Gonzaga
6. St. Kevin’s
7. Corner Brook Regional
8. Prince of Wales Collegiate
Schedule
(All games at Gonzaga gym, except where noted in brackets)
Today
Game 1: 3:30 p.m., Holy Heart vs. PWC
Game 2: 5 p.m., Holy Trinity vs. Gonzaga
Game 3: 7 p.m., Waterford Valley vs. Corner Brook
Game 4: 8:30 p.m., O’Donel vs. St. Kevin’s
Saturday
Game 5: 9 a.m., Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2
Game 6: 10:30 a.m., Loser Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4
Game 7: 12:30 p.m., Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 4
Game 8: 2 p.m., Winner Game 2 vs. Winner Game 3
Game 9: 4 p.m., Loser Game 5 vs. Loser Game 6
Game 10: 5:30 p.m., Winner Game 5 vs. Loser Game 7
Game 11: 7:30 p.m., Winner Game 6 vs. Loser Game 8
Sunday
9 a.m., Semi-Final Winner 7 vs. Winner 11 (Parsons 1, NLSC)
9 a.m., Semi-Final Winner 8 vs. Winner 10 (Parsons 2, NLSC)
1 p.m., Championship Game - Semifinal winners (Old MUN Gym)
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BOYS DIVISION
Teams
(rankings in brackets)
1. Holy Heart of Mary
2. Gonzaga
3. O’Donel
4. Elwood
5. Exploits Valley
6. Waterford Valley
7. Mount Pearl
8. Corner Brook Regional
Today
(All games at Holy Heart gym, except where noted in brackets)
Game 1: 3:30 p.m., Gonzaga vs. Mount Pearl
Game 2: 5 p.m., O’Donel vs. Waterford Valley
Game 3: 7 p.m., Elwood vs. Exploits Valley
Game 4: 8:30 p.m., Holy Heart vs. Corner Brook
Saturday
Game 5: 9 a.m., Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2 (O’Donel gym)
Game 6: 10:30 a.m., Loser Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4 (O’Donel gym)
Game 7: 12:30 p.m., Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 3
Game 8: 2 p.m., Winner Game 2 vs. Winner Game 4
Game 9: 4 p.m., Loser Game 5 vs. Loser Game 6
Game 10: 5:30 p.m., Winner Game 5 vs. Loser Game 7
Game 11: 7:30 p.m., Winner Game 6 vs. Loser Game 8
Sunday
9 a.m., Semifinal - Winner 7 vs. Winner 10 (Crosby 1, NLSC)
9 a.m., Semifinal - Winner 8 vs. Winner 11 (Crosby 2, NLSC)
3 p.m., Championship Game - Semifinal winners (Old MUN Gym)