Girls: GymRat Challenge Championships
M. LIbert
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY- Over Memorial Day weekend there was the GymRat Challenge for the boys, and over this Father’s Day weekend it was the girls turn with some of the best and brightest from throughout the Northeast region making the trip up to the Capital Region for one of the marquee tournaments in the state.
The 16u playoffs at the GymRat are split up into 4 brackets with the 3-0 teams from pool play with the best +/- differential making it to the Platinum Bracket. The next 6 were them put into the Gold Bracket meaning that the best truly took on the best.
We at NYCHoops.net were on hand all weekend long up in Saratoga Springs to take in the top 16u action and it proved to be a thrilling Sunday with New York teams taking home the hardware in both the Platinum and Gold showing that the teams from the Empire State are truly among the very best.
In the Platinum Bracket the teams qualifying were all deep and talented with I-90 Elite taking the #1 seed, the Boston Showstoppers were seeded #2, Hudson Valley Elite garnered the #3 seed, seeded at #4 was the Empire State Basketball Club, #5 was Albany City Rocks, and then coming it with the #6 seed was Mass Frenzy.
Just as deep and talented was the Gold Bracket, the next six teams in line with the NY Havoc taking the #1 seed there, the Connecticut Starters were the #2 seed, Philly Freedom Stars landed the #3 seed, WBA Lady Knicks came in locked at seed #4, Hoopers NY (Bunkley) held the #5 seed, and the last team in the Gold with the #6 seed was BNY Select out of Binghamton.
It was great on both ends with a lot of top level teams and Division 1 talent on the court, and being able to take in all the action, here is a recap of the play from both the Platinum and Gold Brackets from the Father’s Day action at the GymRat Challenge.
Platinum Bracket
M. LIbert
I-90 Elite and the Boston Showstoppers each received byes into the semifinals, and while Hudson Valley Elite ran away with a 30-point victory in their quarterfinal against Mass Frenzy, the game between City Rocks and Empire State Basketball Club came down to the wire.
City Rocks had taken an 8-point lead with just over 3 minutes to play but Avery LaBarbera (Harrison '18) was able to get Empire State back within 1 with a great shooting touch from the outside, while showing the ability to create for others with her dynamic play on the ball in the open floor.
LaBarbera had over 20 points in the game, but the effort from the likes of Makaila Wilson (Penfield '18) and Travia Breedlove (Our Lady of Mercy '18) proved to be too much as Wilson connected on a driving layup down the right side to make it a three-point game, and while Caleigh Ryan (Dalton '18) had a shot to tie things up late with a three from the left side late, the shot fell short and City Rocks held on to move on.
The win by City Rocks put them in a semifinal game against I-90 Elite, a matchup of two of the premier teams from the Albany, Rochester, Syracuse region. It would be an intriguing matchup between the two teams with many of the I-90 coaches having coached with City Rocks in the past, and with I-90 having gotten the best of their rivals earlier this spring in a game in Massachusetts, there was once again a good amount of local bragging rights on the line.
It was a back and forth contest throughout that could've gone either way in the end. Wilson was a huge factor throughout using her craftiness and versatility to score from both inside and out, while the interior play of Ruth Koang (Our Lady of Mercy '18) and Olivia Owens (Niskayuna '18) also kept the I-90 guards from getting good looks once they got into the driving lanes.
Cameron Tooley (Shenendehowa '18) and Danielle Rauch (Bishop Ludden '18) were solid when they did get their chances around the rim, especially in transition when they were able to push and beat the City Rocks defense, and Micaela Ryan (Sacred Heart '18) hit a huge shot to put I-90 up by 2 with just over 5 minutes to go.
Needing a response, City Rocks got an enormous three ball from Kerry Flaherty (Saratoga Springs '19) as she helped them retake the lead quickly, and with Wilson and Owens coming up clutch from the charity stripe late, I-90 was never able to recapture the lead as City Rocks held on and go revenge on their early season loss to take a 3-point win.
Their opponents in the Platinum title game would be Hudson Valley Elite as led by Maddie Plank (Briarcliff '19) and Alexa Kellner (Stamford, CT '18), they were able to push past a fresh Boston Showstopper’s team, a team that had many pieces from last year's team that took the Platinum bracket, and take a 13-point victory.
So, it was City Rocks to take on Hudson Valley Elite for the big championship, and while City Rocks stayed close for a while, they expended a lot of energy to knock off I-90 Elite in the semifinals, and Kellner proved to be nearly unstoppable in what would be a 60-43 title game victory.
Kellner, a versatile 6'1" wing who is committed to UMass, connected on 3 first half three balls and had 15 points in the opening half, helping Hudson Valley close the half on a 10-2 run to take a close game and make it 33-21 at the break.
Wilson did all she could with 8 points in the opening half of play, but they were struggling on the glass and the Hudson Valley pressure caused too many mistakes as the lead continued to grow early in the second half.
Continuing her strong play as the game went on, Kellner was able to keep the City Rocks defense on their toes hitting on her 4th three of the game, and with Plank able to control the game and beat defenders off the dribble from the lead guard spot, and Maddie Siegrist (Our Lady of Lourdes '18) getting in good positions against a worn-down City Rocks frontline to finish, the lead for Hudson Valley Elite ballooned up to as big as 20.
It was a great effort from the entire Hudson Valley Elite team all-tournament long though that proved them to be the best as led by head coach John Reilly, they finished at the top of the heap, taking down a good City Rocks team 60-43.
In the title game win Kellner had 22 points to lead Hudson Valley Elite, being named Platinum GymRat MVP in the process. Siegrist and Plank also came up with great outings adding 13 and 9 points respectively in the win.
A tough way to end a great tournament overall, Allure Simmons (Bishop Kearney '18) placed City Rocks in the defeat with 12 points, doing a great job of getting to the rim all game long, while Wilson added 11 points as well in the loss.
Gold Bracket
M. LIbert
From the very start this seemed like it was the Havoc's title to take home as many considered them among the teams that could've competed for a Platinum title, but with all 6 teams in the Platinum winning by the max +20 in each of their games it meant the Havoc had to be perfect, and while two of their twins were blowout +20's, one was only a 17-point win meaning they were in the Gold here.
They had an opening round bye and were to meet the winner of the Hoopers NY/WBA Lady Knicks game. The Hoopers led for most of the way but a strong late comeback by the Lady Knicks enabled them to rally and take a 2-point victory to knock off a Hoopers team that was led by Teisha Hyman (Woodlands '19).
In the other quarterfinal opening round matchup, Philly Freedom Stars were able to use their size and physicality inside to push past BNY Select by 7 in a game that saw a lot of chippiness go down late that caused some hard feelings on both sides.
Philly Freedom Stars ended up running out of gas and falling to the Connecticut Starters in the one semifinal that saw Janette Wadolowski (Southington, CT '18) dominate from her backcourt spot to the tune of 24 points in what ended up being a 16-point win.
The Havoc had an even easier time in their semifinal game against the Lady Knicks as they would open up a lead of as big as 30 at one point in the rout as both Grace Heeps (Northfield Mount Hermon, MA '19) and Jenna Zimmerman (South Jefferson '18) proved to be unstoppable, Heeps from long range, and Zimmerman using her length and versatility around the rim.
M. LIbert
It was an exciting title tilt here in the Gold Bracket as well with two teams in strong form meeting up for the crown with the Havoc hoping to take the Gold now one year after winning the title in the Silver Division, while the CT Starters were looking to spoil that party.
What may have looked like an intriguing matchup on paper proved to be all Havoc as Heeps and Shyla Sanford (Shaker '18) got off to fine shooting starts each connecting from long range in the opening two minutes, and with Zimmerman and Catherine Almeida (Shenendehowa '18) blocking anything that came their way on the defensive end, the Havoc ran out to a 26-2 lead.
Going scoreless for over 8 minutes, the Starters drought was finally broken when Loren D'Agostino (East Windsor, CT '18) finished on a two on one fast break. The damage was done though as the halftime lead for the Havoc was 30-10.
It didn't get any better for the Starters in the second half as Heeps showed off her deep range with a crossover, step back three from well beyond the arc, and Zimmerman was able to steal a pass and push up the court on her own at 6'2" and finish with ease driving to the basket.
An impressive performance from start to finish by everyone on the Havoc, including head coach Terrance Florence who had his team thoroughly ready each time out, ended with Heeps being named Gold Bracket GymRat MVP as they were able to roll away and take a 49-20 championship game victory.
Heeps had 13 points to lead the Havoc in the win, but it was a total team effort with everyone getting in the scorebook as Sanford and Zimmerman each had 10 points of their own as well in helping them to the title.
Wadolowski had 7 points to pace the Starters in what was a solid overall tournament from the Connecticut based program, while Amber Raisner (Hall, CT '18) chipped in with 6 points in the loss.
It wasn't just those two brackets in the 16u Division as all 4 brackets that were played would finish with New York teams as champions as the WNY Lady Lakers would take the Silver Bracket of the GymRat Challenge, while the Long Island Renegades came up to the tournament a bit shorthanded but still played well and did enough with what they had to take home the Bronze making it a perfect 4 for 4 from New York teams in what truly was a dominant overall GymRat showing.
