About the tournament• Fees: $116 for registration and $6 to sign up online.
• Location: Courtland Center, northeast of I-69 and Center Road. • Burton hours: From 8 a.m.-to 5 p.m. today. • Details: www.macker.com BURTON — The sun was shining. The crowd was smiling. Basketballs were flying. That was the scene Saturday at the Gus Macker basketball tournament, which filled the back lot of Courtland Center in Burton. “We wanted to do something over the Memorial Day weekend,” said tournament chairwoman Peggy Green of Millington. “The tournament brings the community together, helps area businesses and the proceeds go to charity.” Registration for the international tournament, now in its second year locally, is down slightly from last year, but attendance is up and expected to exceed 5,000 people before the tournament ends today. “I get to watch my dad play basketball,” said Omari Johnson, 8, of Pontiac. “He’s a good player.” Chelsea Brintnell coached a team of high school girls from Sarnia, Ontario. They started coming to Burton after the Macker tournament in London, Ontario, was canceled.
“It gives the girls a chance to play other teams of the same caliber,” Brintnell said. The Macker pits three-member teams against each other until one emerges as an undefeated winner. Losers get to compete in the “Toilet Bowl,” a chance to redeem themselves from the agony of defeat.