Forty-four girls basketball teams from across eastern Ontario will converge on Kingston this weekend for the sixth annual Mega Tournament hosted by the Kingston Impact organization.
Competition will be held in six divisions at nine venues over three days, beginning Friday at 6 p.m.
The marquee tournament opener will pit Arnpior Valley and the Ottawa Shooting Stars in a major midget A game in the main gym of the Queen’s University Athletics and Recreation Centre at 6:30 p.m. That game will be followed at 7:30 by a major bantam A division game between the Kingston Cats and Ottawa Next Level.
Ten teams are entered in the biggest division, major bantam AA, where the Impact will open the tournament at 6 o’clock Friday against the Belleville Spirit at La Salle Secondary School. Games will be played all day at Saturday at La Salle, Queen Elizabeth Collegiate and Sir John A. Macdonald School, with the playoff round Sunday leading to the gold-medal game at La Salle at 2:30 p.m.
Eight teams will contest major midget AA division, played primarily at Holy Cross Secondary School, where the Impact will begin competition at 6 p.m. Friday against the Nepean Blue Devils, and where the championship game will be played at 3 o’clock Sunday afternoon.
The No. 2 Impact midget team will play its first game in the single-A tournament Friday at 7:30 p.m. at Bayridge Secondary School. Bayridge will be the site of most games in this division, including the gold-medal game Sunday afternoon at 3 o’clock.
Frontenac Secondary School will be the site of most games in major bantam A division, where the Impact will open against Ottawa South Friday at 6 p.m. The division final will be at Frontenac Sunday afternoon at 3.
There are two divisions of major atom girls. There are five teams in the AA tournament, all of whose games will be played at Sir John A. Macdonald School, where the Impact will open against Cornwall at 7:30 Friday night. In single-A division, where six teams will be seeking the title, all games will be played at Kingston Collegiate. The Impact will open against the Ottawa Shooting Stars at 6 p.m. Friday.
Both atom division finals will be played at 3 p.m. Sunday.
Competition in all age groups involves round-robin play, where teams will qualify for championship semifinals and a consolation final, with playoff rounds commencing Sunday morning.
The Impact won one division title last year, in major atom division.