Tourney Tune-Up heats up this weekend

Margaretta High School is the place to be this weekend. The Tourney Tune-Up takes place with seven games across Saturday and Sunday. Four boys games will take place Saturday before three girls games happen Sunday. "The response has been great," Margaretta athletic director Drew Grahl said. "There is a lot of excitement from people throughout the area. We think it will be an incredible two days of basketball at the Iceberg." Games start at 3 p.m. Saturday with Div. V No. 2 Genoa (13-0) taking on Keystone (13-4). Then, Div. II No. 7 Toledo St. John's (11-5) battles Big Walnut (8-5). At 6 p.m., Div. II state semifinalist from last year Toledo St. Francis (7-5) faces Elyria (11-4). In the primetime matchup, Div. V No. 3 Margaretta (14-2) takes on Div. III No. 1 Toledo Central Catholic (11-2). "Tourney Tune-Up has been a great reaction from the community and its participating teams," said Margaretta assistant boys basketball coach, Spy Report founder and Tourney Tune-Up organizer Jake Meisler. "Coaches, players and fan bases are excited to see such talent under one roof. "We are fortunate to get to host this thing inside our own gym. I give a lot of credit to the staff of every school. They're willing to come and play great competition at little ole Margaretta. That's just awesome." There won't be a shortage of talent from the four boys games. Margaretta is led by Div. I Dayton signee Julian Washington while Central Catholic counters with Div. I Eastern Michigan signee Manny Johnson. St. John's has Div. I Bradley signee Race Kowlczyk and St. Francis is led by Div. I Miami (OH) signee Alan Horton. Also, Genoa is paced by Div. II Ashland signee Walter Plantz and Margaretta is led at the point guard position by Judah Keller, who will play Div. II football. Meisler said others with high profiles include Eli Stumpf of Big Walnut, who will be a Division I quarterback. He noted Carson Scholl from Big Walnut might be the best shooter in the state at 6-foot-8, Ethan James of St. John's will be a Div. I point guard, Chris Poellnitz of St. Francis is widely considered a top 2 or 3 player in the entire sophomore class, Kendyll Compton of Elyria is a no-brainer talent at Div. I or Div. II and Liam Goran of Keystone is one of the best players in Northeast Ohio in Div. V. "I could rattle off about 10 more, too," Meisler said. The battle for Margaretta against Central Catholic will be a tough one. After opening the season with a loss at Detroit Catholic Central, the Irish won their next five games. TCC then lost at home to Div. II No. 4 Lima Senior (62-58), but have won its last six games since. "It's still another game," Meisler said. "A big one, yes, but at the end of the day, we need to control the controllables and not get too high or too low. We'll make plays, we won't make plays, but at the end of the day we hope games like this in environments like this can strengthen us as a basketball family. We are here to compete and we have kids who want to do that every day. "We'll feed off of our home crowd like we do every time in The Iceberg and give them everything we've got. Should be a lot of fun." TCC coach Mike Floyd was highly complimentary of the Polar Bears, who travel to Edison on Friday before Saturday's showdown. "The biggest thing that stands out is how well-coached they are and how well they guard on the defensive end," Floyd said. "They do some things to make you passive on the offensive end and almost second guess yourself. They run some really good stuff on the offensive end that puts you in situations that are difficult to defend. "Figuring out how to slow down Julian is a tall task because Judah is playing very well and the supporting cast can beat you in multiple ways. It is going to be a very difficult game for us Saturday." Two of the seven defending state champions will be one under roof Sunday when the girls hit the court. First up, Norwalk (12-5) faces Lima Bath (11-5) at 3 p.m. Then, reigning Div. IV state champion and current No. 1 Bellevue (14-0) battles Div. III runner-up Avon Lake (12-4). At 6 p.m., Div. VI No. 2 Margaretta (15-1) takes on Div. VI No. 5 Columbus Grove (15-2) in a rematch of a regional semifinal from last year. After defeating Margaretta, Grove went on to win the Div. VI state title. Bellevue is led by Div. I Youngstown State signee Kaitlyn Turinsky while Margaretta has college committed players in Cassidy Lane (Div. I Gardner-Webb), Kenadie Saylor (Heidelberg) and Ellyse Schaefer (Southeastern University). "It will be really incredible," Grahl said. "Not only do we have tremendous individual talent at Margaretta High School this weekend with players already accepting Division I, II, and III scholarships, but many of the schools attending have had a tremendous amount of team success in recent years. There should be some very good basketball at the Iceberg." Grahl said he hopes to continue the event during the 2027-2028 school year. Margaretta is in the process of building a new school and will be moving to a new Sandusky Bay Conference format next season. With some uncertainty with the construction timeline and with so many changes to the basketball schedules next year, the hopes is to take one year off before resuming Tourney Tune-Up. "This event is definitely something we would like to continue into the future," Grahl said. "We thought it would be really cool to showcase the history of our current gym and school building by putting on a huge showcase event like this. With the construction of our new school building, we think we will be able to offer one of the best gyms in the area to host this type of event annually." Tickets will be $12 for adults and $8 for students or seniors. The gym will not be emptied between games, meaning one ticket is good for all four games Saturday or all three games Sunday. Those that hold Margaretta all-sports passes can use them at Tourney Tune-Up, but only for the Margaretta contest each day. "There's a lot of high-level players that are going to be taking the floor Saturday and Sunday," Meisler said. "When you can get commitments and gather these type of players, a lot of those benefits take care of themselves. From the moment I announced this thing on social media, I was getting phone calls, texts and emails with some important people wanting to come." Grahl, Meisler and girls assistant coach Corey Britton have come together to produce an epic two-day basketball event for the fans. Meisler said Danny's Cafe in Rossford, Bias Investments, Tony Haerr Insurance, Hula Construction, Northcoast Tournaments and Downing Billiards & Awards have been major sponsors for this year's event. Danny's Cafe has donated gift cards to every head coach and assistant coach while Bias Investments, Tony Haerr Insurance, Hula Construction and Northcoast Tournaments have helped support live play-by-play coverage. Downing Billiards & Awards sponsored MVP award trophies that will be awarded to one player from each winning team. "It is really a team effort," Grahl said. "We have had a ton of people step up to offer their help for the weekend. That is going to be critical in our success. When you are hosting this type of event, you need a lot of hands on deck, so I am appreciative to everyone who has volunteered to help us out."