Team Dennis

April 26-28, 2013

Team Dennis was coming off a championship at the Pittsburgh Hoopfest and was looking for back-to-back championships. Doing that was not going to be an easy task, especially opening up against Maryland Finest on Friday night, which is ranked 18th nationally.

Coach Dennis's team came out on fire by taking a commanding 30-13 lead. We knew they weren’t going to just let us keep going without a fight, and they closed the gap to 5 with 2 minutes to go. Several free throws by Rael Windley and David Dennis Jr. sealed the win. This was one of the biggest victories by any WGGBA team by beating a nationally ranked team at such a prestigious tournament.

Next, the team faced a team from Pittsburgh at 8:0am. MSA sports jumped on us by 12 points right away and held that lead for most of the game. Jack Cook, Jacob Wiseman, Dana Coffman, and Case Chamblin lead the team’s comeback to try and get back in the game. Down 2 points with 30 seconds to go, Jacob got a steal and couldn’t convert on the lay-up. MSA converted on their free throws and we lost by four.

Heading to the winners silver bracket, we had to bounce back and play KB hoops from Chicago, and we took our madness out on them by going on a 3 point arsenal. Everyone was hitting 3’s from everywhere in our impressive game. David Dennis, Jr. started the game off hot, making 5 3 pointer’s in a row getting the team up by 22 at halftime. Then we got lazy and took the game for granted and allowed them back into the game-winning only 73-70. On to the final four though and playing a familiar team, Who Got Game Austin. Wow, why did we have to meet them so early.

Team Dennis started off hot hitting 15-20 shots in the first and making their first 5. Their defense was on point making every shot attempt difficult for Team Austin. But Team Austin is a WGGBA team, so we knew they were going to fight back and that they did. They cut the lead to 5 points, but it never got closer. Great game by both teams.

On to the finals to play Rasheed Wallace(former NBA player) son and his team from Michigan. Team Dennis dominated the entire game. You can tell that we were on a mission to win and that we did. Winning impressively and taking their first King James tournament championship title. It was a well-deserved championship and one that will be remembered for years to come.

Team Austin

Team Austin made another good showing at the King James tournament fighting their way to the final four this past weekend! Team Austin started off the tournament Friday night with an impressive win over I90 Elite out of New York. After a back and forth battle Team Austin pulled away late in the second half with tough defense and efficiency on offense.

The following day team Austin ran into a stout NY Gauchos team and took a tough loss. With their back against the wall, Team Austin regrouped and came back with a victory against Ohio Elite. After a sluggish first-half Team, Austin turned up the intensity a notch in the second half and ran away with the game to move onto the next round.

Team Austin matched up with an Illinois team late Saturday night. With their sights set on the final four Teams, Austin came out strong and never looked back. They controlled the entire game with great team performance and sealed up a trip to the final 4. Special shout out to Jordan Clark who took 5 charges!

In the semi-finals, Team Austin matched up with Team Dennis. After an absolutely atrocious first-half performance, Team Austin trailed team Dennis by 20 at the half. In the second half Team Austin finally turned up their play and battled back to pull the game within 3 points. After a valiant effort to climb back in the game, it was too little too late and Team Austin dropped the game losing by 4 points.

Team Austin came away very disappointed with their performance in the semi-final game but overall it was another good team effort leading to a top 4 finish in a tough King James tournament! Team Austin is now looking forward to gearing up for a strong run at the Spiece tournament in Ft. Wayne Indiana this weekend!

Special mention from Coach Austin: Team Austin is built on total team play but would like to give special mention to Jordan Clark for his outstanding performance this weekend. He brought his total game, every game, and lead Team Austin by example this weekend. Did I mention he took 5 charges in 1 game!