Youth Basketball Completes Season With Championship Tournaments
MADISON- The 2018-2019 youth basketball season is now in the record books as 77 teams, which made the annual trek up and down the court in the season that began in November, completed the latest season of play with its annual End of Season Tournament.
The tourney action included championship games in both gold and silver brackets in both boys and girls divisions.
18-BOYS
The Mavs won its third consecutive tournament championship despite losing three games during the regular season. Winning four games in the post-season tournament, the Mavs finished the season at 11-3 with a 57-51 win over the Grizzlies (11-3) in the division’s finals.
Thomas Ballard led the Mavs with 22 points while Logan Little had 14 and Joseph Dobbs had 13. For the Grizzlies, John Murray had 19 and Ryan Crawford scored 13.
The game was basically decided after the first quarter as the Mavs opened a 17-4 lead after the first stanza.
In the Silver Bracket, the Warriors, who lost to the Mavs in the semi-finals and were the top seed going into the extra action, defeated the Thunder 74-65 for the bracket title. The Warriors (13-1) were led by U. Godwin with 33 points while Louis Russ added 20. The Thunder (7-7) fell into the silver bracket with a tournament opening loss before clawing back to the silver finals. They were led by Connor Grant and his 34 points. D.J. Holter added 14.
14-BOYS
In a battle of the top two seeds, the second seed Heat upset the No. 1 seed and undefeated Sixers 62-60 in overtime in the Gold Bracket championship finals. Tied at 55 at the end of regulation, the Heat edged the Sixers 7-5 in the extra period.
Gunner Amsler led the Heat (11-2) with 16 points, including a game-winning three-pointer in overtime. Jake Parker added 14 and Hunter Scruggs 13 for the victors. Kaiden Tippie of the Sixers had a game-high 25 including 11 in the fourth quarter to lead the Sixers’ comeback to tie the game. Alex Canale had 14 and Elijah Byrd added 10 for the Sixers (12-1).
In the Silver Bracket title game, the Warriors outscored the Celtics 11-4 in the fourth quarter to post a 45-38 victory for the win. Colby Bong and Malach Bailey each had 11 points for the Warriors while Harrisson Deas posted 17 points for the Celtics. The Warriors ended the 2019 campaign at 8-6 while the Celtics finished 9-4.
12-BOYS
The 15-team 12-under division was broken into East and West divisions with both the Sixers and Kings posting 9-1 records to lead the seeds going into the post-season tournament.
In the finals of the 12-U Gold Bracket, the two finalists were co-second seeds. The Heat worked their way through the tourney, including a victory over the top-seeded Sixers before winning the championship trophy with a 35-25 victory over co-second seeded Grizzlies. The Heat outscored the Grizzlies 15-5 in the fourth quarter after the game was tied heading into the final stanza.
Chandler Vaughn scored eight of his game-high 14 points in the fourth quarter to lead the Heat (12-2). Ben Thomason added 11 including six of the Heat’s eight points in the first quarter. Jacob Moore posted eight and Randall Lewis six for the Grizzlies (11-3).
In the Silver Bracket title game, fourth seeded Celtics defeated the Sixers 34-25. Jon David Hankins led all scorers with 16 to lead the Celtics (10-6) while Jack Shaw had eight and Jonah Brooks six for the Sixers (11-3).
10-BOYS
An overtime loss to the Raptors caused the undefeated and top seed Spurs to fall from the top in the Gold Bracket finals of the 10-Boys Division. The No. 2 seeded Raptors outscored the Spurs three-nothing in an overtime period to take a 39-35 victory. Nicholas Koukos was a one-player wrecking crew scoring 25 of the Raptors’ 39 points, but it was a 3-point shot by Elijah Moore in the extra period that won the game for the Raptors (13-1).
Mick Terrel had 15 points and Trent Gilbert added 14 for the Spurs (12-1).
In the Sliver Bracket title contest, the Celtics outscored the Thunder 4-2 in the fourth quarter to take a 13-12 win. Louis Johnson scored seven points to lead the Celtics, a No. 3 seed. Kaden Hope tallied four points to lead the Thunder, a fifth seed. The Celtics completed the 2019 season at 11-3 while the Thunder was 9-6.
8-BOYS
The Knicks capped off a perfect season by posting an overall 11-0 record with a 29-24 victory over the third-seed Grizzlies (7-6) to take the Gold Bracket. Jacob Spiler had 10 points and Drennen Scrivner added eight to lead the Knicks. Only two players scored for the Grizzlies as Blake Randall had 14 and Andrew Edwards added 10.
The second seeded Lakers (11-2) rolled their way through the Silver Bracket while they posted a 25-19 victory over the Heat (7-7) to win the consolation title. Trey Risher scored 13 for the winning Lakers while Gabriel Pierce added eight. The Heat was led by a game-high 15 by Keelan Freeman while Levi added four as the only two players to post on the final scoresheet.
7-BOYS
The No. 1 seed Lakers lived up to their billing by nailing down the Gold Bracket championship with a 22-20 victory over the third seed Spurs (8-4). Trey Redmon led all scorers with 20 for the Lakers (10-1), but it was a lone basket made in the fourth quarter by Gavin Barnes that was the difference in the very competitive finals game. Bryce Whatley was tops for the Spurs scoring 13.
In the Silver Bracket, the Warriors blasted the Mavs 13-4 for the championship game victory. Hank Tyrell scored 11 of the 13 points for the Warriors (10-2). Carson Hicks and Lanoon Lee scored two points each for the Mavs (5-7).
13-GIRLS
The top seed and undefeated Mystics were upset by the fourth seed Sky in round one of the Gold Bracket action allowing the second seeded Storm (6-5) to earn the championship with a hard-fought 23-13 overtime victory over the Sky (3-8). Elizabeth Langston was tops for the Storm with 11 points, including eight in the overtime period where the Storm outscored the Sky 10-nothing. Madison Bowden and Emily McDonald scored four each for the Sky.
In the Silver Bracket, the Mystics easily took care of business with a 29-17 victory over the Fever (3-9). A five point lead after the first quarter gave the Mystics the push they needed for the win. Aarkeria Morris led all players with 18 points for the Mystics (11-1). Kendall Watts had 12 for the Fever.
10-GIRLS
The Storm lived up its name by storming past the Mystics 33-14 for the Gold Bracket trophy. Ella Watts had 13, Rhyin Holloway 10 and Olivia Lawrence added eight to guide the Storm (11-0) to the title. Lorin Eso dropped seven points for the Mystics (7-4).
In the Silver Bracket, The Fever (4-8) hung on for an 11-10 victory over the Lynx (4-10). Sayde South scored six to lead the victors while Taylor Malone had four points for the Lynx.
8-GIRLS
Geneviere Bryars scored seven of the Fever’s 15 for the 15-8 win over the Lynx in the Gold Bracket. Tied at halftime, the Fever, a co-top seed, outscored the Lynx 9-2 including 5-0 in the fourth quarter to open up the game. Aniyan Jones scored all eight of the points for the Lynx (5-5). The Fever completed the 2018-2019 campaign at 9-2.
In the Silver Bracket, the Sky (8-3) outlasted the Storm (0-11) 19-16. Raegun Corry topped the game scoring with 12 while Zoe Baerlin had four points from the Storm.
