This weekend Casa Grande is hosting the ninth annual Brett Callan Memorial Tournament and it has one of the best lineups of any local tournament.  One example of that is the last game of the first night  between Analy and Casa Grande.  Not too long ago this was the game of the year in the SCL and is still one of the marque matchups in the local basketball scene.  Both teams are under .500 in the early season and yet the eight teams still have a combined record of (unofficially) 23-16.
The Analy-Casa Grande game is one of two NBL-SCL matchups in the first round.  The other opens the tournament Thursday at 3:30 pm when Windsor meets Petaluma.
Three of the four teams in the two games in between, are from out of the area.  The only one who isn’t is Cardinal Newman, who has started the season 4-0 and won its own Rose City Tournament last weekend.  Cardinal Newman meets Fairfield in the tournament second game at 5 pm.  Fairfield is the tournament defending champions, went 25-8 last season and qualified for the Nor Cal playoffs.
The third game of the night is between Miramonte and Washington of San Francisco, who go into the game with a combined record of 10-2.  Miramonte also qualified for the Nor Cal playoffs last season.

 
The tournament is named after Brett Callan, who at the age of 16 died in a traffic accident in 2004. The tournament wants to shed light on the accident to help remind teenagers to drive safely. The accident happened because for a lack of a better phrase, teenagers being teenagers.  The accident happened in a car that was going way too fast for the road that it was being driven on.  The driver was also a teenager and Brett’s best friend.
The stats for teen age driver deaths are not pretty.  Teen age drivers are involved in three times more traffic accidents than people over 20 are involved in.
That is what the tournament is all about.
It also has some pretty good basketball too.
 
NINTH ANNUAL BRETT CALLAN MEMORIAL TOURNAMENT
AT CASA GRANDE HIGH SCHOOL
3:30…Windsor (3-1) vs. Petaluma (3-5)
5 pm…Cardinal Newman (4-0) vs. Fairfield (2-3)
6:30…Washington (SF)(6-1) vs. Miramonte (4-1)
8 pm…Analy (1-3) vs. Casa Grande (1-2)
The bracket goes in order of the games.
The second round starts Friday at 3:30.
The action on Saturday starts with the 7th place game at 1:30 pm. The championship game is scheduled for Saturday at 6 pm.
My email address is jacpasquini@comcast.net