2009 GIRLS HIGH SCHOOL ELITE INVITATIONAL TOURNAMENT THIS WEEKEND IN WAUSAU
Wednesday, July 8th, 2009 -- 10:32 AM
One of the largest and most prestigious girls basketball tournaments in the state tips off Friday as the 2009 Girls High School Elite Invitational Tournament gets underway from Wausau. The event is a pseudo-state tournament for high school summer teams and is put on by the Great Northwest Basketball League. 89 teams will take part in the event, with all but a few of those teams coming from Wisconsin. Neillsville, coached by Michael Gaier, will be competing in the Division 3 field. A number of other Cloverbelt Conference teams are in the tournament as well, including Fall Creek, Osseo-Fairchild, Marshfield Columbus, Owen-Withee, and Thorp. The field is split into divisions based on a school's divisional placement in the WIAA, with pool play taking place Friday and Saturday. From there, teams enter into either a championship round or consolation round beginning Saturday afternoon, with games going through Sunday. Six teams that made it to the WIAA State Tournament last year (Middleton, Verona, Cuba City, Oostburg, Siren, and Black Hawk) are scheduled to participate, as well as a number of teams that made deep playoff runs last year and several that have high expectations this season. This year's event is being co-hosted by D.C. Everest, Wausau East, and Wausau West High Schools. Go to gnbl.org for more information and bracketsFeel free to contact us with questions and/or comments.