Fantasy of Lights tournament goes down under

The 30th anniversary of the 76-team, two-day, two-gender basketball extravaganza in Wichita Falls, Texas, known as the Fantasy of Lights, boasts a visitor from down under in 2010.

A boys traveling team from Sydney, Australia – a national championship squad, according to Assistant Tournament Director Terry Shelton – is one of 13 in the top Division I "Big Boys" Division.

The Victoria Metro Nationals, a group of 16-to-18-year-olds who are home-schooled and on a three-month U.S. tour, will need to knock off defending champion and Kansas power Sunrise Christian Academy (Bel Aire, Kan.), that won four tough games here last season, including 49-41 over Mansfield Timberview in the finals.

That tough road seemed to help the Buffaloes who wound up 22-2 after going 25-3 the season before. The team did lose front-liners Raphael Akepejori (6-foot-9), now at the University of Miami, and Renjidis Gibouskis (6-8) to graduation but coach Kyle Lindsted should have his team ready to defend its title.

Akepejori, along with Leon Cooper and Janis Matulis were each All-Tournament selections last year, but all three have graduated.

"Besides Australia, they are the only out-of-state squad," Shelton said. "So they must be pretty serious again."

What everyone wants to know is just how tough will Australia be.

"None of us really know," Shelton said. "They had seen some information on our tournament, contacted us and wanted to play. We told them to just come on down."

Another top "Big Boys" division team to watch is Estacado (Lubbock, Texas), which went 34-5 last season and is off to a 2-0 start. The Matadors lost just two starters off last year's team and return their top two scorers, 5-8 now senior guard Kevin Wagner (17.5 points per game) and 6-2 guard Clarence Willard (16.0).

The economy has somewhat effected the tourney, which opens today and concludes Saturday and normally hovers around 82 teams. It's still very healthy.

Some 130 games will be played over 48 hours and more than half of the teams this year (39) are girls, which battle in four divisions compared to three for the boys.

Among the boys returning are defending state 1A and tournament Division III champion Nazareth, which graduated all three of its All-Tournament selections, including MVP Sage Black.

The Swifts are off to an 0-3 start early this season, but coach Zach Boxell figures it will take some time for his team to jell. The team in Division III that may very well vie for the title is Leggett, which is off to a 2-0 start this season.

All four divisions of the girls divisions are wide open, but don't be surprised if the local school Wichita Falls, which lost just three girls to graduation off last year's 15-9 should compete for the Division I division. They return Carolyn Taylor, who earned a spot on the All-Tournament team last year.

One of the top girls teams to keep an eye on is at Division III, where Muenster, which lost six seniors off last year's 28-7 team, could easily challenge for a state title.

The team is off to a 3-1 start thus far and feature two potent players, Taylor Klement (18.5 ppg) and Demi Koelzer (11.5 ppg).

In Division II (3A), Iowa Park is back to defend its title, including all-Tourney selection Shelbye Boren. A pair all-tourney selections from Paris - Ariole Jenkins and Tiara Hall – return and should give Iowa Park some trouble.



About the Tournament

Founded in 1981 by the late John Seddon, the tournament was created as a fundraiser for the Southwest Kiwanis Club, which manned the event for years. Seddon was a retired Air Force pilot, Seddon was a teacher and administrator at Midwestern State and an academic advisor to the teams at the university. He was married 56 years to Genevieve and they have two daughters who live in Wichita Falls.

The retired teacher’s association took over the tournament following Seddon’s passing. Carmen Lozipone, a good friend of Seddon, took over as Executive Director in 2003 and with the great assistance of Shelton have kept the largely-popular event going strong. In 2003 the event peaked at 92 teams over 11 events.

“It had dropped to almost 40 teams at one time,” Shelton said. “When we got to 92 it was almost too much."

It’s a year-round undertaking to keep the event going and many of the proceeds go right back to housing and feeding the teams each year. Though those offers still stood this year, many squads, Shelton said couldn’t afford the long travel and had to bow out.

Other local teams have stepped in to fill all the brackets.

The tournament concludes Saturday with championship games at MSU’s D.L. Ligon Coliseum starting at noon. The last game, the Division I boys matchup, is slated at 9 p.m. amid the annual Fantasy of Lights show around the campus. The outdoor showcase is filled with Christmas lights, Disney and holiday displays.

“It’s just a gorgeous sight,” Shelton said. “It’s just a wonderful event.”