9th annual Lou Athanas Basketball League invitational tournament set for Feb. 20-24

LACONIA — The Laconia Lou Athanas Basketball League will wrap up the season with its annual tournament on Wednesday through Sunday, Feb. 20-24.

Thirty-six teams from across the state, with elementary- and middle school-aged players, will compete in 70 games at Laconia Middle School, Laconia High School, and the Laconia Community Center.

For the first time, the league has partnered with local businesses to help support the tournament. Irwin Automotive Group is this year’s presenting sponsor, with Watermark Marine, Melcher and Prescott and AutoServ all signing on as gold sponsors.

During the league season, 340 children from Laconia played on 26 teams in 1-2 coed, 3-4 coed, 5-6 boys, 5-9 girls, and 7-9 boys graded divisions. The league sponsored four all-star travel teams, two of which took the place of Laconia Middle School B teams that were eliminated due to budget cuts three years ago.

Supporting the teams this year were Massage Mechanics, Scott Compton Builders, Meredith Village Savings Bank, Irwin Automotive Group, Rafferty Auto Sales, the Brickfront Restaurant, Best Built Construction, the Laconia Police Relief Association, Osteria Poggio, the Local Eatery, Laconia Rotary, the Soda Shoppe, the Crazy Gringo, Laconia Refrigeration, Cantin Chevrolet, Foley Oil, Happy Cow, Piches, Stafford Oil, NH Ball Bearing, Lakes Region Party and Supply, Wilkinson Beane, Mainstay Technologies, Tradesman Builders, Patrick’s Pub and Eatery, and Faro Express.