AAU Odds & Ends, 2010

 

This page is set aside for miscellaneous AAU stuff that falls outside of our coach/parent submitted team reports.  Most recent shown first.

 

Tigers 10U Nationals Report

(posted 08-13-10)

Photo courtesy Dennis Leizear

Top row, left to right:  Olivia Craig, Lindsay Bollinger, Sarah Metz, Lexi Bromwell, Ally Walls, Jasmine Fisher

Bottom row:  Lindsay Brown, Annie Brush, Margaret Sullivan, Bridgette Hoy, Olivia Winslow

 

The Wilmington Tigers 10U team attended the AAU National Tournament as the only team from the Mid-Atlantic region to participate.  While our 1-5 record would not seem to indicate it, we represented the region well.  After losing our opener 28-23 to the Maryland Sure Shots (the eventual runner-up in the consolidation bracket), we dropped two more in pool play; a 37-34 loss to the eventual 5th place Minnesota Midtown Monarchs and a 25-17 loss to the eventual 10th place Team Arkansas Elite.  Opening up double elimination bracket play, we faced the eventual DII Champions, the Boston Showstoppers.  Down 14-12 at half, our shots just would not fall and we dropped the game 36-26.  In our next game, and facing elimination, we matched up against the North Carolina Surry Storm.  We came out strong and played great defense on our way to a 28-20 victory.  Our last game, a 28-18 loss the Potomac Valley Matrix Green closed out our tournament.  In this game we just could not find the net and it seemed that the Green hit every shot they took.  We walked away from the tournament knowing that we were able to compete with some of the best teams in the nation and what we need to do in the off season to prepare to beat them next year.

 

For the tournament every player scored at least one basket and we saw many of our girls shine on the national stage. Alexis Bromwell led all scorers with 34 points. Annie Brush finished with 29 points (including 5 3-pointers). Other scorers included: Olivia Winslow 20, Olivia Craig 18, Bridgette Hoy 16, Sarah Metz 8, Jasmine Fisher 7, Ally Walls 4, Lindsay Bollinger 4, Lindsay Brown 4, Margaret Sullivan 2.

 

Tom and I were very proud of how well the girls represented the Tiger organization. We played with heart, and showed a level of sportsmanship unmatched in the tournament.

 

Submitted by Coach Dennis Leizear

The key to a good young team usually begins at point guard.  The Tigers have a fine one in Annie Brush.

Olivia Winslow brings a truckload of skills to the roster.  Over the course of the year, she developed into the best straight up man defender on the team, was 2nd in rebounds and 5th in scoring.

 

Lexi Bromwell paced the offense for most of the year with the Tigers and continued to do so at Nationals, collecting a team high 34 points.  (Her regular season point total was 231, which represented 26% of the team total!)

 

Lexi sets a pick while Annie heads for friendlier territory.

 

Margaret Sullivan advances the ball while behind her, Bridgette Hoy creates a little space between ballhandler and defender.

 

Lexi readies to pass to an open Sarah Metz.

 

In the first tournaments of the season back in April, Lindsay Bollinger looked like she might be a little overmatched in AAU.  But she worked hard, made adjustments, and finished very strong.  She ended up with 50 points on the year, and was 3rd on the team in rebounds with 118.

 

The sole participating team from the Mid-Atlantic Region at 10U Nationals, the Wilmington Tigers.

 

All Tiger 10U photos courtesy Dennis Leizear

 

Tying Up Loose Ends

(posted 06-21-10)

A couple of weeks back, there was a tournament in Ocean City, Maryland called "Beach Bound II."

Both Delaware Angels 13U teams entered, and guess what?  They both faced each other in the finals!

Above is the Angels 13B.

 

...And here is the 13A team.  The girls had a lot of fun turning the finals into an "All Angels" event!

 

Left to right, Claudia Seeman's (Angels 13A) shows off her skills on defense, with ball handling, and shooting.

Claudia is also playing for St. Mark's in summer league.

 

 

A Practice To Remember

(posted 5-26-10)

University of Delaware players Meghan McLean (left) and Elena Delle Donne (right) work on a coordination exercise with the Wilmington Tigers 10U team Tuesday night.

 

Elena and Meghan weren't the only guest coaches in the house.  UA Varsity Coach, John Noonan, brought along his own expertise . . . and energy!  At the far right edge of the frame is DGB.com's own Tom Dunn, Assistant Coach of the 10U team.

 

 

Coach Noonan took the 5th graders through various advanced drills that would be very challenging, even to varsity high school girls.  He also pushed the girls to get out of their comfort zone and do things harder and more forcefully than they may ever have before.

 

The practice was so productive that Lindsay Brown even learned how to dunk!

 

A group shot.

 

Tiger 10U Head Coach, Dennis Leizear, believes that his young student-athletes have a far greater capacity to learn and absorb the game than most of us would suspect.  To that end, he will, from time to time, bring in special "guest coaches" to take his players through a typical -- even a tougher than usual -- high school practice.  Just a couple of weeks ago, St. Mark's coaches, John Fiorelli and Michelle Albanese worked with these girls.  You can see in the girls' faces how much fun they had with their special guests on Tuesday.

 

AAU 13U Regionals

(posted 5-17-10)

 

Photo courtesy of the Delaware Angels.

Front Row (sitting):  Brittany Conner, Claudia Seemans, Hannah Gladnick, and Laura Hurff

Front Row (standing):  Hannah Schlegel, Cassidy Flanigan, Maddy Waegele, Rachel Liszkiewicz, and Emma Matthews

Back Row:  Amber Cale, Ashley Muschiatti, and Sabrina Hackendorn

Not pictured:  Christy McDermott

 

The Chesco Lightning club hosted this year’s 13U Mid-Atlantic Regional Qualifier on May 15th & 16th.  Only two Delaware Clubs were represented:  The Lady Sharks and the Angels, the latter entering two teams.

 

Hat’s off to the Angels, who cobbled together a near perfect team entry strategy.  Their second team, who might have had a challenging go of it in Division II, entered as a Division I team, guaranteeing themselves no worse a result than an automatic seed at Division II Nationals.  While the Angels first team, a very talented bunch, who might’ve done well in Division I, but likely not finished as D1 Regional Champions, decided to drop down to Division II.  In short, this strategy placed the Angels, as a club, in the best possible position:  Have your lower team take their lumps in the higher division, but go home with a guaranteed D2 slot at Nationals, and have your higher team run the table in the D2 wing and walk out D2 Regional Champs (also with a guaranteed D2 Nationals slot).  The two teams get to go to Nationals together and have great time that they’ll always treasure.

 

Photo courtesy of the Philadelphia Belles 13U.

Head Coach Sean Costello and Coach Allison Eachus.  Players left to right, front row:  Carly Brew, Asia Ellison, Adrianna Hahn, Alex Louin, Tamesha (Sox) Alexander, Kennedy Johnson;  Back row:  Olivia Askin, Colleen Walsh, Asia Baker, Avory Marz, and Caroline Davis.

 

In the top division, the Philadelphia Belles rang out loud and clear.  We saw them in the D1 semis and finals, and they were never really tested.  Definitely the cream of the crop in the Mid-Atlantic.  Conveniently, there is a Delaware connection.  Two, to be exact.  First State elite talents, Caroline Davis and Adrianna Hahn play for the Belles 13U.  And they are playing up, as they are both 7th graders, while the AAU 13U age group is considered 8th grade.  Hahn even started in the Championship Game.  We had heard that Caroline had a tremendous day on Saturday, and when we joined the tourney on Sunday, Adrianna was the one showing off her skills.  Nine times out of ten, I’m against Delaware girls going out-of-state to play their AAU ball.  I wish the reality was such that Delaware clubs could meet all the needs of the top elite players, but apparently, we ain’t there yet.  And so, I have to confess that the Belles have had a demonstrable positive effect on growing Davis’ and Hahn’s games.  Both girls are now playing as well as I’ve ever seen them.

 

Congratulations to Adrianna & Caroline on the Belles’ Regionals D1 Championship and congratulations to the Angels A team for winning the D2 Title!  Great job, ladies!

 

 

Amber Cale is a new signee to the 13U Angels.  She's out of the Middletown area and will attend Appoquinimink High School in the fall.

 

Brittany Conner does a great job at guard for the Angels, but doesn't get a lot of attention.

We're trying to fix that, Brittany!

 

Hannah Schlegel spends most of her winters trying to figure out how to beat her teammates.

You see, she's been playing for St. John the Beloved while the preponderance of her AAU teammates have been playing for Holy Angels.

 

Former iPOW winner, Rachel Liszkiewicz.  Like Hannah, Rachel, too, does battle in the winter with her Holy Angels teammates.  In fact, this year, her St. Mary of the Assumption Hawks provided the best rivalry and the closest games for Holy Angels.

 

 

AAU Regionals

Tigers 11U

(posted 05-11-10)

The Wilmington Tigers 11U (6th grade) team was foiled in their bid for a Division I (A Bracket) berth at Nationals this year.  The Mid-Atlantic Regional Qualifier Tournament saw the Tigers lose three games by very competitive scores to the likes of the Delaware Valley Comets, Mid-Atlantic Magic, and Northeast Rockers.  The girls played well and will likely play in the Division II leg at Nationals this summer.

 

Here are some pics from the tournament, Saturday, May 8th:

Taylor Samuels gets better each time we see her!  Good sized forward out of Elkton Middle School.

This is her rookie AAU season.

 

This team is loaded with great point guards.  One of them is Alyssa Irons.

 

For Regionals, the job of first string point guard went to Gabby Julian.

Gab has sort of worked herself into this role.  She has a great three-point shot, draining three of them against the Comets alone, and hitting others during the day.  She logged major minutes on the day and probably slept well Saturday night!

 

In Pennsylvania or New Jersey, Julia Furey-Bastian would probably be playing the 2-guard.  But, Delaware is a little short on height (get it?  Short on height?), so she ends up playing low post for the Tigers.  Could be the best 6th grade post in the State.

 

A scholastic winter teammate of Julia's is Nina Budishak.  Nina had a solid day that included a terrific block that was ruled a foul.  I thought it was completely clean.  I asked Nina about it, and she said, under oath, that it was indeed all ball.

 

Kiera Wendel, a solid forward for the Tigers, is seen at the top of her flight to the basket.

Who says forwards can't go sky?

 

I think this photo captures the fighting spirit of 4th grader, Maggie Connolly.

Maggie is gifted beyond her years, so, she's right at home on this competitive 6th grade team.

 

Kailyn Kampert adds a nice dimension to the team as a swing player who can play a variety of positions.

 

Alena "Snake" Skowronski is yet another great 1-guard on this team.

Alena is known for her three-pointers and for her strange knack for getting rebounds despite not being very tall.

 

Emilie Hager during a break in play.  Emilie seems to be in the middle of a big growth spurt.  Every time we see her, she just keeps getting taller and taller.  Very athletic.  Built like a track star and runs like one, too.

 

 

A couple of encore pictures.  On the left, Nina executes a pass.  On the right, Gabby is actually chatting with the referee, who is just outside of the frame.

 

Julia Furey-Bastian

 

A Very Delawarey Weekend in New Jersey

(posted 5-3-10)

The Lizzie Haddon AAU Tournament in Haddonfield, New Jersey (May 1 & 2), featured a LOT of Delaware AAU teams, including all eight Wilmington Tigers teams.  Everywhere we looked, Delaware teams were being competitive and demonstrating their skills -- individually and collectively.  We even ran into a couple of Delaware girls playing for a Pennsylvania club.  We tried to get pics of a good random sampling of these teams and players.

 

A couple of players from the 11u/12u Delaware PAL Wildcats.

 

A Wildcat outnumbered under the basket.

 

This is Tiger Julie Kulesza.  Julie plays on the 9u (4th grade) team despite only being in 2nd grade!

 

Allie Olmstead & Olivia Tucker for the Tiger 9u.

 

Sara Weiss doing a good job at guard for the 16u Delaware Angels.

 

Adrianna Hahn & Caroline Davis -- both First State athletes -- playing for the Philly Belles.

Also seen in these photos are Kat Durbano and Jenna Wolff of the Tigers 15u team.

 

Adrianna Hahn

 

Jenna Wolff did double duty on the weekend, playing for both her Tiger 15u team and the shorthanded Tiger 16u. 

 

Stefanie & Julie Kulesza show their support for the Tiger 15u team.

 

On the right is Tiger 10u point guard extraordinaire, "Hurricane" Annie Brush.

Annie scored her 100th (and 101st) points of the season this weekend.

 

Earlier in the day, Annie's 10u teammate, guard/forward Lexi Bromwell scored her 100th point.

Both girls' achievements were duly recognized with a Tiger timeout and celebration.  Above is Lexi's timeout.  The Tiger 10u team is currently 11 - 5 and scoring wins over 11u teams along the way.

 

Kiera Wendel concentrates on her free throw.  Kiera plays for the Tiger 11u.

 

Kailyn Kampert executes a pass in the left-hand photo, while Taylor Samuels gets tangled up with a Tar Heel in the right-hand photo.  Both are 11u players.

 

Kris Vlard protecting the ball for the Tiger 11u.  Like Taylor, Kris is an AAU rookie this year.  Also, like Taylor, both girls hail from Elkton, Maryland.

 

Here's some AAU action from Saturday, April 10th, up at the West Town School.  This was a West Chester Sparks tournament.  Happy to report that the Sparks provided 16 minute halves for all age brackets.  They are to be commended for not being like the stingier Philly area clubs who like shorting the kids.

 

Tigers 13u standout, Miranda Schiccatano.

 

Paige Lacek is one of the finest outside shooters in girls ball at the 8th grade (or any grade) level.  Tom and I once saw her hit 13 threes in one minute in a shooting contest.  That's a three-pointer every 4.61 seconds!

 

The hard-working Kate Payne, driving to the hoop.

 

And here she is again in the open floor.

 

Broghan Heron

 

Jocelyn Rodriguez

 

Gabby Eisele

 

While at West Town, we caught Coach Welcher's 14u Tigers team (above).  They took the Cobras to overtime in the sole game of theirs that we saw.  Don't know if they won as we had to leave their game for another just as overtime was beginning.

 

Allie Olmstead of the Tigers 9u team.

 

...And teammate, Natalie DePaulo.

 

Allie hit a clutch 3-pointer at the end of a game on Saturday that turned what would've been a 15 - 13 loss into a 16 - 15 win.

 

For the latest on the 11u Tigers, see their newly submitted report in the old Team Reports section.

 

Our friends in the other Delaware clubs have not been as responsive this year in sending in reports as they were last year.  We'd love to know how the Angels, Wildcats and everybody else are doing.  Along those lines, see the following two paragraphs...