By Ryan Nagelhout Niagara Gazette The Niagara Gazette Sat Nov 26, 2011, 11:37 PM EST
NIAGARA FALLS — Less than a fortnight away from the season’s first tip, Niagara Falls is scrambling to fill a sudden hole in its schedule.
The Wolverines boys basketball team learned Saturday that the Primetime Shootout has been canceled by tournament organizers. The Shootout, scheduled for Feb. 11-12 at Kean University in New Jersey, had the Wolverines playing games against St. Benedict’s (N.J.) and Colts Neck (N.J.), now leaving Niagara Falls with two open non-league dates.
“It’s just disappointing because obviously we were going to play two elite teams,” Niagara Falls coach Sal Constantino said.
Niagara Falls hoped to use the Primetime Shootout as a late-season test to prepare for the Section VI playoffs. Now, the Wolverines are just looking for teams with an extra game.
“Unfortunately we might have to do a different date,” Constantino said. “We might not get to play them at the end of the year.”
Constantino said a tournament organized by Cathedral Prep at Gannon University may have an opening he’s inquired about. Otherwise the Wolverines will look up north, as Canadian high schools have no limits on their regular season schedules.
“We’ll fill the two spots,” Constantino said. “If we fall into (a spot) at Gannon we’ll be really, really fortunate because we’ll play some good teams. They won’t be the caliber of what St. Benedict’s was, but they’ll be up there.”
Primetime Shootout organizers cited a lack of sponsorship and a struggling economy for axing one of the top high school invitationals in the country. Niagara Falls had previously played in the Primetime Shootout in 2005 and 2007, facing some of the top high school programs in the nation.
“Because of the bad economy we have been experiencing over the past 3-4 years, it has been harder and harder every year to get financial support from my previous sponsors,” tournament organizer Jeff Hewitson wrote in an email to coaches on Saturday.
Constantino said Niagara Falls had already started fundraising for its trip to New Jersey, but will find other uses for the funds this season.
“We’re on our way to having it covered so we’re going to see what we need to do,” Constantino said. “If we end up not going (to a tournament) we’ll just have to find some other stuff to do with what they raised.”
Niagara Falls starts the regular season on Dec. 9 when it hosts Timon in the Cataract City Classic.
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