Youth Basketball Completes Its 2019-2020 Season With Post-Season Tournament

MADISON- The 2019-2020 season of youth basketball in Madison is complete. The Basketball Association of Madison (BAM) held its season-ending tournaments in all age divisions as 82 teams tipped off the season with sights set on winning a division championship.

There were nine division championships trophies to be won this season. The post-season tournament featured each of the teams seeded in their divisions by regular season won-loss records and was completed with “Gold” and “Silver” division championships. Each player on the championship and runner-up teams in both the Gold and Silver title games were given commemorative medals for their hard work.

18U-Boys

The Mavs ran a perfect 10-0 regular season record into the post-season tournament winning three additional games to win the 18U-Boys Division Gold Bracket claiming its fourth consecutive tournament championship. The top seeded Mavs (13-0) defeated the second seed Grizzlies 51-38. Trailing 22-19 at halftime, the Mavs outscored the Grizzlies (10-3) 32-16 in the second half for the victory. The Mavs won their three tournament games by an average of 21 points.

Logan Hittle had 14 points, including eight free throws in the fourth quarter, to lead the Mavs. Brady Clark added 12 points. Thomas Ballard chipped in nine points for the champs. John Mark Ingalls led the Grizzlies with 10 while Sujay Jakka had nine and John Murray eight.

The Silver Bracket featured the fourth seeded Spurs defeat the seventh seed Lakers 60-51. The Spurs (11-3) sprang to a 36-28 lead and never looked back. Devon Hadaway was the game’s top scorer leading the Spurs with 20 points. William Davis added 12.

For the Lakers (7-7) three players score in double figures: Spencer Baerlin-19, Matthew Whittemore-14, Triston Wilson-10.

14U-Boys

The sixth seeded Hawks who posted a 5-5 regular season record began tournament play defeating the Spurs 58-18. The big win boosted the squad to three more victories and a Gold Bracket championship. In the title game, it took an overtime period to determine the winner after a regulation tie with the fourth seeded Raptors. Three key free throws by Joey and Jake Crider in the extra period was the difference in the 45-42 Hawks (8-5) victory.

Down by 16 at halftime, the Raptors (9-4) roared back outscoring the Hawks 32-16 in the second half to force overtime. Matt Hailey led the squad with 14 points and Luke Johnson added 12. For the victors, seven players posted scores in the official scorebook led by Jake Parker’s 14. Ryan Burroughs popped in eight points.

In the Silver Bracket, another overtime game highlighted the 14U division with the fifth seeded Bucks (11-4) a 42-40 victor over the No. 1 seed Mavs (11-3). Down by five at intermission, the Bucks came back to force overtime. Francisco Ramirez led all scorers with 18 while Bowen Caves and Andrew Reed had eight points each.

The Mavs were led by the 16 points of Kestin Bell, who had all eight of the team’s points in the fourth quarter and Ayden Baerlin with 12.

14U-Girls

The Aces scored a perfect 11-0 season with two victories in the post-season tournament including a 32-21 victory over the Mystics in the Gold Bracket finals. Scoring was spread out amongst the Aces as every player on the roster posted a score in the championship matchup. Molly Halter and Sayde South scored eight points each while both Flo Canseco-Cruz and Ava Hill had six points each.

The third seeded Mystics (5-6) were led by Elizabeth Langston’s nine points and Aubry Gibson’s eight.

The Silver Bracket was won by the 5-5 Lynx with a 32-22 victory over the Sparks (0-10). A close contest opened up in the third quarter as the Lynx outscored the Sparks 8-3. Caroline Neely topped all scorers for the Lynx dominating play with 20 points. Isa Hayes added nine in the scorebook for the Lynx. The Sparks were led by Surai Kommidi with her 10 points while Jangata B. had nine points in support.

12U-Boys

The top seeded Clippers rolled through the Gold Bracket with three victories including the Gold Bracket championship game versus the seventh seeded Mavs 38-30.

Despite a tied contest after the first quarter, the Clippers (12-1) outscored the Mavs (8-6) in the second half for the victory. Ethan Mitchell scored 11 of his 13 points in the second half to lead the Clippers. Scott Sieja scored 9 and Sam Jackson added 8. For the Mavs, Peter Dobbs topped the team in scoring with 13 while Alex Adkins added 10.

In the Silver title game, the Rockets outscored the Bulls 22-8 in the second half to rumble to a 36-22 victory. The fourth seed Rockets (10-4) were led by 12 points from Issac Waye and 11 from Kamron Myers. Logan Bishop led the Bulls (8-7) with six points while Jacob Moore put five on the scoreboard.

10U-Boys

The 16-team boys division, which is separated by East and West Divisions during the regular season, was captured by the Hawks, a No. 2 seed from the East as they defeated the Rockets, a No. 3 seed from the West 34-15 in the Gold Bracket matchup.

A five-point Hawks lead at the halftime increased bigtime in the second half as the champs outscored the Rockets 19-4 in the stanza. Matthew Evers led the Hawks (12-1) with 15 points and Brody Waite with 13. The Rockets (7-6) had just two players put their names in the scoreboard with Trey Redmon with 13 and Stephen Starek with two points.

The Silver Bracket title game the 10-5 Magic had two players score as Josiah Byrd had 19 points and Evan York four to lead the squad to a 23-20 victory over the Bucks (11-5). Three players from the Bucks scripted their names into the scorebook history with Carter Friend scoring eight, Ryland Holcomb scoring six and Jayden Hudson adding four.

10U-Girls

The Gold Bracket championship game featured a barn-burner fourth quarter as the Aces outscored the Fever 11-8, but it was the Fever’s 17-10 lead after three quarters that propelled the squad to a division title winning the battle 25-21.

Leah Brown was tops in the game scoring nine points while both Lorin Eso and Jaqmyn Rochazle added six points each for the fourth-seeded Fever (7-5). The Aces (7-5), a No. 3 seed squad, was led by Joelyn Clark with six and Nirvana Kajhardan five points.

The Silver Bracket contest was a close, low-scoring matchup with the Sky (10-3) defeating the Mystics (8-5) 8-6. Annie Schager scored four points and Coby Swann and Gerenamo Bryars with two points each for the champion Sky. A trio of players scored a bucket each for the Mystics- Sophia Koukos, Faith McKay and Ella Watts.

8U-Boys

The Gold Bracket finals showcased the second seeded Lakers defeat the No. 1 seed Raptors in surprising easy fashion 33-9. After a close first quarter, the Lakers exploded outscoring the Raptors 27-6 over the next three quarters. Add the fact of a stingy Lakers’ defense and you have the winning ways for the Lakers (10-2). Keelan Freeman was tops for the champs with 13 points and Thomas Barbee with 10 points. The Raptors (10-2) had just two players take the ball into the net with Hank Fyre with five and Ryan Veal with four.

The Silver Bracket finals was a more competitive outing at Dublin Memorial Park as the Spurs (10-4) defeated the Clippers (8-6) 18-14. Camden Powers was tops with nine points for the Spurs and both Laron Hicks and Sam Nance had four points each for the runner-up Clippers.

8U-Girls

The Sparks completed a perfect 12-0 season with a hard-fought 16-15 win over the No. 2 seed Lynx in the Gold Bracket title game. A close game the entire way, Makayla Mann scored 10 points for the victors with Christina Willingham scoring six. Both Ava White and Jenna Miller had four points each to pace the Lynx (9-3).

The Silver Bracket championship game was won by a forfeit as the Fever (5-8) was awarded a 1-0 win over the Sky (4-9).

7U-Boys

The No. 2 seed Clippers had the upset of the tournament beating the top seeded and undefeated Rockets 20-16 in the Gold Bracket championship game.

The Clippers (10-2) outscored the Rockets 11-6 in the fourth quarter to take the victory. Carter Holcompe led all scorers with 10 while Tyler Strother had five for the champions. Gavin Barnes scored eight points for the regular season champion Rockets (12-1).

In the matchup for the Silver Bracket title, despite being outscored 7-4 in the fourth quarter, the Warriors (9-5) defeated the Blazers (7-6) 22-21. Leyton and Makors had seven points each for the Warriors while Max had 10 and Brantley provided seven points for the runner-up.