Stephen's Take: Team Takeover's 2012 Summer

Robert Stephens - Featured Writer

Organization had successful campaign.

Team Takeover one of the premier AAU programs in the
USA ended their season with their tournament at the Bowie
City gym.

In the featured game of the day Team Takeover 17’s
defeated Team United (Charlotte,N.C.) 59-53 with a second half comeback led by Jason Hart and Stan Robinson.
Hart (Sidwell Friends) and Robinson ( Paul VI )
led the way with 20 and 12 points. Robinson excelled on
the defensive end of the court. Nick Griffin (Magruder)
connected on 3 three pointers as they led the Takeover
charge.

The team also held Team United’s 6’8 center Kennedy
Meeks to six points as 6’9 Beejay Amaya ( DeMatha ) played tough defense on United’s heralded center.

Takeovers nationally ranked 16”s pulled off a mild
surprise defeating the 17’s 76-69 later that afternoon. The
16 and under team ended their summer nationally ranked
in all of the AAU summer league polls.

Takeovers’s 16’s won won three national tournaments
this season starting with the Southern Jam Fest at
Hampton, Va., the Memorial Day Showcase at Suwanee. Ga., and Live at AC at Atlanric City, N.J.

In the 16’s win they were led by Dion Wiley (Potomac)
with 23 points. Quadree Smith 6’7 (Paul VI) chipped in with 16 points and Phil Booth ( Mt. Saint Joseph ) totaled 14 as the 16’s performance showed that they will be a team to be reckoned with next year. Beejay Amaya the 17’s big man did not play.

Stan Robinson led the 17’s with 27 points. 6’8 Leonard
Freeman (St. John’s) chipped in with 23.
Team Takeovers 15’s need to be mentioned also for
having a successful season. 6’3 Franklin Howard (Paul VI ),
6’7 Marcus Derrickson ( Paul VI ), 5’11 Kevin Dorsey
( Paul VI ), and 5’9 Justin Jenifer ( John Carroll ) were
some of the top scorers on the team.

The senior group (17’s) competed in Nike’s (EYBL)
(Elite Youth Basketball League) which is comprised of 40
of the top AAU teams around the country and Canada.
Takeover was placed in the B bracket with Indy Spiece,
(Fort Wayne, Ind.), New Jersey Playaz (Patterson, N.J.),
The Family (Detroit), Mokan Elite (Kansas City, Ks.),
and Athlete’s First (Oklahoma City).

League play began April 20th at Minneapolis, Mn.
After round one play continued April 27-29th at Hampton,Va., the second round was held at Dallas with the final round being played at Oakland May 25th - May 28th.
Takeover finished pool play with a record of 12-8
advancing to the championship pool play at North Augusta, Ga.

Takeover was placed in Division D for the Peach Jam
Championship Classic. Division D consisted of The Family,
Each one Teach one (E1T1, Orlando, Fla.), All Ohio Red,
(Columbus, Ohio), Mean Streets (Chicago), and Baltimore
Elite.

Takeover was edged by EiTi 71-68 in their opening contest
at the Peach Jam. Joshua Hart led Takeover with 19 points and 10 rebounds. Lennard Freeman grabbed 15 rebounds and scored 14 points. Stan Robinson added 11 points and 4 assists.

Jairus Lyles was a Takeover staple this year.

The second contest saw the Family outscore Takeover
43-32 in the second half defeating the home squad 74-60.
Lennard Freeman led Takeover with 16 points. Stanford Robinson contributed 13 points while grabbing 5 rebounds. Joshua Hart finished with 11 points and 5 rebounds.

Takeover jumped into the winning circle with a 78-72
win over Mean Streets. Stanford Robinson led the way with
29 points. Beejay Anya scored 15 points and blocked 2 shots.

Lennard Freeman grabbed 13 rebounds while scoring 11
Points. Jairus Lyles (DeMatha) chipped in with 10 points.
Baltimore Elite was the Takeover’s second win in the
Tournament as they defeated their rivals 87-66. Joshua Hart
led Takeover with 26 points. Stanford Robinson chipped in with 20 points and 4 rebounds. Jairus Lyles scored 19 points and Lennard Freeman led the team grabbing 6 rebounds while scoring 10 points.

Takeover captured their third consecutive win defeating
Ohio Red 74-51. Joshua Hart led all scorers with 16 points.
Issac Fleming chipped in with 11 points as Takeover finished
their Peach Jam session with a record of 3-2.

Team Takeover CEO Keith Stevens and head coach
of the 17’after their season ending tournament at Bowie
reflected on the summer play. Here are some quotes:

“We had some ups and downs this summer but the
important thing is that the kids received exposure and
offers for college”.

“Those young men worked hard this summer and we
win together and we lose together”.

“Education is very important to this organization,
that’s what its about for me”.

So what does Stevens do now ?

“Get ready for our high school basketball tournament.
I am going to give some coaching clinics...Going
to spend some time with the family”.

Other key members of Takeover’s 17’s are 6’1
Will Ferguson (Herndon) the point guard who has sacfriced
his scoring for the benefit of the team. 6’6 Nnamdi Enechionia (St. James), 6 ’7 Cameron Gregory (O’Connell) and 6’5 Ishmael Wainwright (Montrose) who was injured.

Watch out next year for those 16’s !