Pool Play Comes to a Close at Nationals

NewEnglandRecruitingReport.com | Monday, July 28th, 2008

For BABC, it almost seems as if losing is never an option or nowhere close to their thought process. They were able to run through Garner Road Elite 81-68 in their final pool play game at the AAU Nationals in Orlando.

Leo Papile's group was able to generate much of their offense through a pressure zone defense which made things tough for Garner Road  Elite. Much of the scenario was the same in the first quarter, whatever shots Garner Elite could get inside was altered by Alex Oriakhi, leading to fast break points by Gerard Coleman in the open floor. The early defensive effort put BABC ahead 24-10 after one and they pretty much never looked back.

Phil Pressey was able to get into the middle of the lane at will and find a teammate every time down. Whether it was hitting big man Darryl Cato-Bishop for a layup (2nd quarter) or finding Oriahki for a rim rocking dunk (2nd quarter) that seemed to take the life out of Garner Road Elite. Going into the half, BABC took a 48-29 lead.

The second half saw much of the same thing as Pressey and Coleman penetrated through the lane for easy dish off passes or layups of their own.

It was another impressive outing for BABC as they ended up with a 3-0 pool play record heading into the playoffs.

Connecticut Basketball Club 17U Wins Pool

The CBC 17U team also wrapped a 3-0 pool record with a 69-36 win over Maine Liberty. For CBC it was a luck of the draw as they were far more superior than Maine Liberty, but used the game as preparation for better opponents.

The first quarter saw CBC use pressure defense forcing Maine Liberty to turnover the ball on numerous occasions and baskets on the other end. After a Dominique Langston lay-up in the first quarter off a steal, the score read 29-15 in CBC's favor and Maine Liberty looked as if they were in for a long morning.

It was much of the same thing the rest of the way as the defense told the story with plays by Steven Samuels, Shawn Holley and Jeremy Moore made things difficult for Maine Liberty to get the ball above half court.