One of the real values of the Rotary Basketball Tournament, said Notre Dame Coach Vinny Falleti, is that it focuses attention of female athletes.
"In my opinion, girls' sports in this area don't get as much of a run as boys', and I think that they should," Falleti said on Tuesday during Rotary's luncheon at the ARC Center on Woodrow Road. "There's a lot of great women athletes out there and girls who are really good representatives of what you want to be as you get older. And I think that's a big part of this tournament. It's really shining a light on a lot of young ladies who really do it the right way. And that goes for every school that's involved."
Tip-off for the first game is tonight (Tuesday) at 6:30 p.m. with Notre Dame against defending champs Cal-Mum.
The second first-round game is at 7:45, Batavia vs. Elba.
Elba is making its first tournament appearance in 30 years.
The championship game is at 7:45 p.m. on Thursday. The consolation game on Thursday starts at 6:30 p.m.