CT AAU Championships Decided

New England Recruiting Report | Sunday, May 13th, 2012

The Connecticut AAU state championships were decided this weekend in the u17, u16, and u15 divisions.  

Connecticut Basketball Club – Donnelly took the gold medal in the junior division, finishing with a 5-0 record on the weekend.  

Kurt Steidl led the way offensively for the team.  On Saturday, he went for 25, 21, and 16 points during the team’s first three games before being held out of Sunday morning’s semifinals because of illness.  He returned just in time for the final and put up a 30 point performance, knocking down five three-pointers and going 7-7 from free-throw line.  

With Steidl out of the lineup in the semis, Bernard Brantley stepped up to lead the team offensively, dropping a game high 25 points while Jeff Racy chipped in with 17 including three three-pointers.  

CBC found themselves trailing Connecticut Select late in the final, but got a big three-pointer from Racy and a subsequent three-point play from Paschal Chukwu to pull out the championship victory.  

Chukwu led the way defensively throughout the weekend, patrolling the lane with his shot-blocking prowess while Austin Woods finished with double figured rebounds in both the semis and the finals.  Jacob Clark and Dominic Migliaro provided a steadying presence in the backcourt by taking care of the ball and making tough shots.  

Select got contributions from a variety of different players on their run to the finals.  Keith Porter scored a team high 16 points in the semifinals of the winner’s bracket while Bobby Bynum chipped in with 13 and Andre Anderson 10.  Tre Preston proved to be a tough match-up in the final, going for 14 points while Porter added 12 and Anderson 10.  Bynum also earned praise for his performance on the defensive end of the floor in the final.  

After earning a silver medal in the u17 division, Connecticut Select would capture gold in the u16 by knocking off Connecticut Elite in the final.  Select got contributions from a variety of players over the weekend.  Ian Gardner and Raiquan Clark both stepped up at various points to score points and lead the team offensively.  

Crosby High School’s Tyshon Rogers, an under the radar guard in the 2014 class also made notable contributions as an athletic guard who can attack the basket and also lock-up on the defensive end, while Tyler Ancrum brought stability to the team by running the show at the point guard spot.  

Quarron Sturges stepped up to control the paint for Select, providing a physical interior presence to score and rebound around the rim.  

Connecticut Elite took home the gold medal in the u15 division.