Day 2 from Girls Best of the Best Tournament

May 31, 2009 Kevin Doyle

11U Finals

Hudson River Hornets 49 Springfield Lady Ballers 38

In an extremely physical game that featured two of the elite players in the 11U division squaring off against one another-Taya Brown (22 points) for the Ballers and Tony Johnson (12 points) for the Hornets-the team from the Empire state outlasted the Ballers by using a great inside-outside game with Johnson down low, and Mary Kendall (13 points) on the outside.

The game was a true battle that saw the opening half go back and forth with each team trading baskets, ultimately leading to a score of 23 apiece at intermission. The depth of the Hornets proved too much for the Ballers, however, as they simply ran out of gas in the game's final minutes which was when the Hornets made their run to secure the victory.

Although it was in a losing effort, the performance by Brown cannot go unnoticed. Whether it was hitting several shots from the perimeter, or going inside, she really made the Ballers click on offense. The Hornets simply had too many weapons in the end, however, that not even Brown could keep up with.

12U Semifinals

Connecticut Storm Premiere 52 vs. Springfield Lady Ballers 46

Led by the strong backcourt duo of Anna Schrecengost (14 points) and Maya Savino (12 points), the Storm utilized a big run to begin the second half and held on in the final minutes to move past the Lady Ballers of Springfield and onto the finals. The game was a tale of two runs by both teams, yet the Storm's run came in the second half when it mattered most. After the Storm took an early 12-4 lead, the Ballers went on a 24-11 run to end the half by feeding the ball into their big forwards down in the post.

The Storm began to force the issue right after halftime by looking to fast-break and get easy buckets in transition. This is where Savino made her presence felt as she ran the break to perfection; her Storm started the half on a 23-8 run en route to a six point victory. The Ballers would not go away, however, as they would close to within four points with just over a minute remaining, but the clutch shooting of Schrecengost in the waning minutes put the game on ice for the Storm.

The Storm earned themselves a date with the Bay State Jaguars in the finals. The Jaguars would go onto defeat the Storm in the finals to capture the 12U championship.

14U Semifinals

Team BSB 47 Vermont Lightning 19

After the first minute of play, one could see why Team BSB is such a potent and talented team by their first possession on offense and defense. After winning the tap, BSB point guard Joanna Dombrowski (10 points) proceeded to crisply run a play that gave the ball to arguably the best player in the 14U division, Vandel Andrade (10 points), in perfect position to lay the ball in with ease-which she did, of course. After the basket, BSB dropped into one of their many presses and stole the ball from the Lightning, leading to an easy bucket. It was apparent the Lightning would not have much of a shot at knocking off BSB today, nor would anyone else for that matter.

BSB ran out to a 34-6 halftime advantage, and called the dogs off after the break coasting to an easy 47-19 victory. With the victory, BSB set themselves up with a highly anticipated match up with the Wescon Fillies.

14U Finals

Team BSB 48 Wescon Fillies 37

In what may have been the premiere contest of the day, a contest Team BSB yearned would happen in this tournament as they wanted a shot to knock off the Fillies from Connecticut, the near flawless basketball exhibited by BSB pushed them past the talented squad from the Nutmeg state. With the exception of about a six minute lapse in the second half where BSB allowed Wescon to close what was a 21 point lead down to 11, the Lady Pride demonstrated what a complete team they are.

The early stages of the game were back and forth as BSB clung to a six point advantage (17-11 with 5:37 left in the first half) before the Pride went on a 13-6 run to close out the half. This run continued into the early parts of the second half before the Fillies went on the mini run of their own to shrink the deficit.

Unfortunately for the Fillies, they were never able to get within single digits as the closest they would find themselves was at 44-34 with just over two minutes remaining in regulation. The late charge down the stretch, led by the sharpshooting of Morgan Manz (8 points) demonstrated how deadly the Fillies could be when their shooters heated up, yet BSB made sure they would never get into this rhythm.

What made BSB so successful in the finals against Wescon, along with the rest of the tournament, is how disciplined and fundamentally sound they are as a team. Moreover, each player on this talented squad knows their role on the team. Joanna Dambrowski is the catalyst of the offense-she makes them go. Erin Reilly (6 points) and Ali Nunez (12 points) are both deadly from behind the arc and take their shot when it is presented to them-they combined to hit six 3-pointers. Arguably BSB's most talented player, Vandel Andrade (8 points), understands when to call for the ball in the low post and on the free throw line extended-she is the work horse of the team and a true hustle player.

Congratulations to both teams on a well-played tournament, and especially the Lady Pride from BSB on taking home the hardware by winning the championship.

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