Plenty of hoopla
Basketball classic features youth from elementary through high schools
School kids fast break to success in tourney play.
Cooper City’s Elijah Wyche and his Blue Storm teammates had the right mindset as they took on Team Breakdown in the sixthgrade division finals of the recent United States Basketball Association (USBA) Under Armour Showcase in Coral Springs.
The Pembroke Pines-based Blue Storm had reached the championship game but came up short in two prior tournaments, while Team Breakdown from Boca Raton entered this year’s competition in the Coral Springs High School gymnasium with four championships to its credit.
“I felt we could win this,” said the 11-year-old Wyche, who attends Pioneer Middle School. “It was really big. I was jumping up and down. I was happy. These guys are likemy brothers and I feel really close to them.”
Blue Storm teammate Bryce Maxey, 12, of Pembroke Pines, also enjoyed the opportunity to play for a championship.
“It was big to win because we were working for it every day in practice,” said Maxey, a student at Glades Middle School. “We just wanted to get this championship. We didn’t want [to settle for] for runner-up trophy.”
Tournament Director Ben Bridges was thrilled with the wide range of participating clubs, starting at the second-grade level and continuing up through the 11th grade.
There were 56 squads and about 600 players in the tournament.
“Basketball is a great sport because it creates a sense of togetherness,” said Bridges, who will hold the USBA All Under One Roof tournament May 14-15 at sites throughout Broward County. “The sport creates a team atmosphere and helps you in later life because competition teaches you to push through adversity.”
First-year Blue Storm coach Dwight Stewart said the sixthgrade team has been showing steady improvement. There are four teams in the program, ranging from the fifth through the eighth grades.
“We play in at least 10 tournaments a year,” Stewart said. “For us to be playing in the championship game in this one and to win it is huge. We hadn’t won one yet so this was an opportunity for these kids to do something special.”
Stewart said the team’s goal before the tournament was to play in the title game.
“I tell them they always have the opportunity to win no matter who they play against,” he noted. “As long as they come to play and are focused they have a chance to win.”
Stewart went onto say how impressed he is with youth basketball in general in South Florida, and that the overall talent level continues to grow.
“It makes me feel good to work with these guys and see them go out and do something good,” he said. “it is real cool to see those kids growand mature and develop into stellar athletes.”
The 10th-grade finals featured a battle of Coral Springs teams as the St. Andrew’s Cardinals emerged with a 59-44 victory over the South Florida Elite. With the win, the Cardinals avenged a 56-55 loss to the South Florida Elite squad in pool play.
St. Andrew’s built a 39-22 lead at halftime and maintained its advantage over the final two quarters.
“We know some of the kids who go to our school, so there is some trash talking (but also) respect,” said Raymond Lopez, 17, a 10th-grade student at Coral Glades High School. “Most of us [play] varsity at school and we are fighting for spots on the team.”
Lopez likes the fact that tournament provides many different challenges.
“It is fun playing in tournaments like this because it is different competition every day,” Lopez added. “You just give it your all.”
South Florida won all three of its games in pool play, while St. Andrew’s checked into the title encounter at 2-1. Both teams won their morning semifinals to advance to the finals.
“Before the game, we were saying we had to give it all we got. There were some things in that [previous loss to the Elite] that we didn’t do right and we did it today and that’s why we won,” Lopez said. “We were more aggressive. We crashed the boards and we played better defense.”
Fort Lauderdale’s Alex London had a game-high 19 points for the Cardinals, who are currently No. 4 in the state in the United States Specialty Sports Association (USSSA) rankings.
“They have come along way from where they started,” said coach Johnny Lopez, who noted the team will also compete this year in tournaments in Orlando, Tampa, Miami and West Palm Beach.
It was more of a learning experience for the South Florida Elite squad, which consisted of mostly ninth-graders playing up a grade in the Under Armour Showcase. Many of those on the roster also play on Coach Joel Miller’s Coral Springs Explosion team.
“It was extremely tough to lose this one,” Miller said. “[The Cardinals] cameto play and I don’t think we brought our ‘A’ game. They were hot. The first half is where they really put it on us. They hit like five or six three-pointers in a row.”
Miller said playing in the tournament should help build character for his players.
“I am hoping that the kids learn something from this experience,” Miller said. “We are going to learn from this and I am sure we are going to grow from it. We are going to get better.”
Jordan Rito and Miller’s son Chris, each had 15 points in the loss. Rito, 15 and a ninth-grader at Cardinal Gibbons High School, feels the setback can turn into a positive in several ways.
“Since we were playing up a grade, I think it brings us together and helps us with chemistry,” Rito said. “Because we are playing tougher teams, it just gets us better. [The Cardinals] had more energy, so next time we just have to pick it up, turn the light on and catch fire.”