By Nate Beutel
Sal Constantino’s Niagara PAL Chiefs drew defending champion Waterloo (Ont.) in the opening round of the 12-team Alan Elia Sr. Memorial Basketball Tournament this weekend.
No problem.
On Tuesday, the Chiefs faced off against a team of former Wolverines that included Niagara University senior Rob Garrison, former University at Buffalo standout Greg Gamble and Minnesota Timberwolves rookie Jonny Flynn.
“I’m looking forward to the weekend and seeing us compete against some good talent, but we probably won’t get a better run than we got (Tuesday),” said Constantino, the tournament’s organizer. “That one (whipped) us into shape.”
The tournament tips at 9 a.m. Saturday at Niagara Falls High School with the Chiefs and Waterloo squaring off in the Wolvearena and the two other local teams, Harbor Hoops and J Ballers, playing in the auxiliary gym. Games will continue until 7 p.m. Saturday.
On Sunday, the action shifts to Niagara Catholic High School with the first semifinal set for 9 a.m. and the championship to start at 12:45 p.m.
Admission is $2 per day with all proceeds going to the PAL.
“This is always a strong tournament,” Constantino said. “We’ve brought in over 100 Division I players and five NBA players (Flynn, Jamaal Magloire, Andre Blatch, Sean Singletary and DaJuan Blair) since its inception.”
The event is also a recruiting haven for Division II, III, NAIA and junior college coaches, Constantino said.
“This whole thing is about getting kids an opportunity to play in front of college coaches and show what they can do,” he added. “And even though the D-I guys can’t be there, I always write an article for scout.com and send out e-mails to my list of coaches. If you play well, they’ll hear about it.”
