By Tom Nader

Publisher and Editor

The 10th annual Bailey Simons Memorial Alumni Basketball Tournament will be held on Saturday at Rootstown High School.

The tournament is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. and will feature six different teams.

Crestwood is the event’s reigning champion, winning its third title in four years at last year’s event. The Red Devils’ team will be joined by teams from Field, Mogadore, Rootstown, Streetsboro and Waterloo.

First-round games will be played at 3 and 4 p.m., semifinal games at 5 and 6 p.m. and the championship game is scheduled for 7 p.m.

Tickets are $5 at the door, with free admission for seniors and any child 5-and-under.

All proceeds raised from the tournament are directly donated to the Bailey Simons/Frank Family Scholarship, which is coordinated by The Portage Foundation.

Simons was a Rootstown High School student and died in an automobile accident in February 2015.

Since the tournament’s inception, it has acted as the scholarship’s primary sponsor and has raised more than $25,000.

To date, 24 scholarships have been awarded to graduating Rootstown seniors, including 2025 recipients Kelsey Bittecuffer, Abbigail Borbely, Blake Postlethwait and Nella Strebler.

Other scholarship recipients include: Matt Colpo (2015), Jacob Dudley and Sarah Graham (2016), Chandler England and Brendan Mohan (2017), Allison Chapple and Chanelle Waligura (2018), Tricia Fowler and Steffanie Graham (2019), Lauren Housley and Savannah Munger (2020), Madeline Billock and Ava Brunty (2021) and Gyllien Anderson, Donnie Birkett and Clara Butcher (2022); Tracey Lohman and Alexis Waligura (2023); Taylor Banks, Audrey Francis, Dominic Siglow and Porter Smith (2024).

The schedule for the 2024 tournament includes:

FIRST ROUND GAMES

Field vs. Mogadore, 3 p.m.

Rootstown vs. Streetsboro, 4 p.m.

SEMIFINAL

Crestwood vs. Field-Mogadore winner, 5 p.m.

Waterloo vs. Rootstown-Streetsboro winner, 6 p.m.

CHAMPIONSHIP

Teams TBD, 7 p.m.

The team rosters are:

• CRESTWOOD: Dekota Johnson, Steven Lincoln, Trent Jakacki, Austin Johnson, Mason Angle, Blaze Angle, Cole Fannin, Mason Jakacki, Aaron Czerny, Matt Czerny, Josh Jakacki.
• FIELD: Caleb Wohlwend, Jake Lupardus, Andrew Johnson, Jay Wilson, Jacob Gartner, Caleb Gartner, Mason Campanelli, Jaheim James, Bryson Silveus.
• MOGADORE: Stephen Stott, Zedekiah Pollock, Kole Jaber, Eli Robertson, Kyle Coffman, David Wolverton, Lukas Swartz, Kody Jaber, Nick Coffman.
• ROOTSTOWN: Connor Formick, Tyler Lane, Donovan Birkett, Brandan Nicholas, Xavier Birkett, Adam Whitacre, Will Postlethwait, Tom Nader, Adam Bailey, Nathan Moore, Chandler England, Nick Wancik.
• STREETSBORO: Nick Marcini, Jerry Judd, Avery Van Reeth, Nick Wilson, Tommy Stokcard, Deonte Lewis, Trevor Murray, Charles Ivory, Jack Batten, Rocky Orr, John Zelenak.
• WATERLOO: Dale Miller, Navarre Alhassan, Luke Simons, Kyle Shockley, Jack Sandel, Kam Shockley, Gavin English.

As the tournament’s reigning champions, Crestwood receives the honor in playing in purple jerseys as a special way to remember Simons and her favorite color.