Talent Shines

style="mso-spacerun: yes">   by Curt Spear

The

AAU Senior Boys National Championship, otherwise known as the AAU 19 &

Under National Championship, came to Hampton Roads last week.

style="mso-spacerun: yes">  The powerful Boo Williams Summer League team

(otherwise known as BWSL) gave the hometown crowd plenty of things to cheer

about as they took home the gold after a dramatic championship game.

Most

of the prestigious summer AAU tournaments are for 17 & under teams, so many

graduating seniors aren’t eligible to play in those events.

style="mso-spacerun: yes">  The Senior Boys event, however, gives some

older players a chance to compete in one last AAU tournament on the national

scale, and a couple of Hampton Roads products took advantage by suiting up for

BWSL this year.

6-8

F Jason Clark, formerly of Hargrave Military Academy and Kellam High School,

and 6-8 F James Smith, formerly of Cape Henry Collegiate, were stalwarts on

last season’s BWSL 17 & under national champions, and they returned to

Williams’ team for this event.  The

balance of the team was comprised mainly of players from Williams’ 17 &

under team, which tuned up for the 17 & under National Championship

tournament in Florida this week.  6-9

F/C Elton Brown (formerly of Warwick HS, headed to UVa next year), 6-5 G J.J.

Redick (rising senior at Cave Spring HS), 6-2 G John Gilchrist (rising senior

at Salem HS in Virginia Beach), 6-4 G Kiah Thomas (formerly of Granby HS,

headed to Old Dominion next year), 6-6 F Robert Strickland (formerly of Indian

River HS, headed for prep school next year) and 6-2 G Mario Taybron (rising

senior at Hampton HS, although rumors of a transfer to a private school are

swirling) were some of the other key cogs for BWSL.

yes">  Other contributors this week included 6-8 F Matt Towell (headed

to Hargrave for his senior season), 6-4 G/F Darrell Spriggs (Bethel HS), 6-3 G

John Neparlo (Walsingham Academy), 6-5 F Paul Johnson (Salem HS/Virginia

Beach), and 6-9 F/C Darian Townes (T.C. Williams HS), who joined the team on

the final day of competition.

BWSL

ripped through their first several games of pool play, winning by margins of

81, 72, 15 and 36 points before dropping their final pool-play game to the

Baltimore-based Oliver Owls, 87-82.

With

renewed intensity following the loss, BWSL marched through the first three

rounds of the playoffs by margins of 16 points or greater.

style="mso-spacerun: yes">  Gilchrist and Redick each poured in 20 in

the first round game.  Redick, Clark and

Brown led BWSL the rest of the way. 

Their only tight game came in the final, where they met Martin Brothers

Select, an Iowa-based team featuring two national top 60 players (6-3 combo

guard Jeff Horner and 6-7 combo forward Greg Brunner) who have committed to

Steve Alford’s Iowa Hawkeye program.

BWSL

opened the title game with a 20-4 run and looked like they might win it in a

walk.  But Horner and MBS roared back,

and tied the game at 28 just after the midway point of the first half.

style="mso-spacerun: yes">  Neither team led by more than seven points

the rest of the way.  It was a classic

matchup of two contrasting styles.  MBS

ran a Gonzaga-style motion offense with shooters at every position on the

floor, while BWSL ran primarily NBA-style sets to isolate their stars with

one-on-one or two-on-two matchups.  The

two teams slugged it out down to the wire.

Redick

didn’t sink as many jumpers as he would have liked, but a number of nifty

drives to the hoop got him to the foul line with regularity, and he

converted.  Brown and Clark supplied

plenty of muscle in the post.  Brown’s

post maneuvers and Clark’s work on the offensive and defensive board would

eventually prove too much for MBS to overcome. 

Clark in particular ruled the paint in the latter stages of regulation

and in the overtime.  He was blocking

shots, stealing passes, snaring rebounds in traffic and scoring under heavy

defensive duress down to the bitter end.

Still,

it looked like MBS would prevail late. 

Horner drilled what appeared to be a “dagger in the heart” three-pointer

to give MBS a four-point lead with just over a minute to go, but BWSL managed

to get within three and snag possession of the ball with about thirty seconds

to play.  With the entire house

expecting Redick to attempt the potential game-tying three-pointer, Kiah Thomas

found himself alone on the left wing. 

He got the ball, and buried the shot – off the glass, no less – with :24

remaining.  Fortunately for Thomas and

BWSL, the bank was still open, even at nearly 5:30 on a Friday afternoon.

style="mso-spacerun: yes">  Brown made a steal at the defensive end in

the closing seconds to preserve the tie, and the game headed to OT.

Once

in OT, there really wasn’t much doubt. 

Clark and Redick gave BWSL a quick five-point lead, and MBS could get no

closer.  Clark’s finishes around the rim

and clutch free-throws sealed a 91-82 OT win, and brought the gold home to

Hampton Roads.

In

addition to the gold medal and the championship trophy, BWSL took home some

additional hardware.  Brown was named

the tournament’s MVP – just as he was at the 17 & under national

championships a year ago – and Clark and Redick were also selected to the

All-Tournament team.

That

core group of players – Brown, Clark, Smith, Redick, Gilchrist, and a few

others  - has now captured the AAU’s 17

and under and 19 and under national titles in back-to-back years.

style="mso-spacerun: yes">  That’s no small feat.

style="mso-spacerun: yes">  

For Clark and Smith, the Senior Boys tournament is the end

of the line for their highly successful AAU careers.

yes">  Clark will head off to UVa next year, while Smith will be at

Hargrave to re-open his college recruitment following Jeff Capel’s departure from

Old Dominion.  Others such as Brown will

get their last AAU shot at the 17 & under nationals in Florida this week.

While

many of the players on BWSL’s team will move on from high school to prep school

or college next year, Gilchrist and Redick will be back at Salem and Cave

Spring, respectively, for their senior seasons.

yes">  For now, they will lead BWSL in their quest for back-to-back 17

& under National Titles.  Win or

lose at that event, Gilchrist and Redick remain two of the best guards in the

country, and two of the most accomplished summer-circuit players in the

Commonwealth’s history.

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