The 14th annual National Invitational Scholastic Showcase for the Governor’s Cup began Friday and continues through Sunday at Northwest Arena in downtown Jamestown.

Sixteen varsity hockey teams from New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Ohio and Canada are competing for the championship.

Each school will play three round-robin games within its bracket, with the four schools who win their bracket advancing to the medal round on Sunday. Eight preliminary-round games were played Friday. Preliminary-round games will continue today, running from 8 a.m. to 8:45 p.m.

Medal-round action on Sunday will feature the semifinals, beginning at 8:30 a.m. on Rink 1 and 8:45 a.m. on Rink 2. The championship game is scheduled for 1 p.m.

“This is going to be another great tournament,” said tournament director Jeff Mauro. “This is a culmination of many years of putting teams together that have competed very well in their local area for state championships. … The idea is to bring these teams together that don’t face one another ever and put them in a round-robin format and see who comes out for Sunday.”

Between players and their families, Mauro, who hails from Pittsburgh, anticipates between 500-700 people to be in town for the weekend.

“The facility is second to none, that’s number one,” he said. “Number two, the people who run this facility are terrific people.

Mauro anticipates three things in the next two days: a lot of people in the building who just enjoy watching hockey; plenty of outstanding games; and a keen interest around the scoreboard as players, coaches and fans try to figure out possible scenarios for the medal round on Sunday.

“The competitive juices come out,” Mauro said. “If you ask me to predict the winner, I can’t tell you.”