Finals Live Up to Billing in Shootout
Ron Bailey, Publisher
May 23, 2006 – To paraphrase the unforgettable movie character Forrest Gump, AAU tournament finals are like a box of chocolates, you never know what you are going to get. Those attending the Triple Threat Shootout’s finals Sunday uncovered tasty treats, as the host team’s 16 and 17 and under teams locked horns with Team Melo’s entries. Both games would be hotly contested until the final horn.
16 and Under Final: Team Melo 45, Triple Threat 44
Triple Threat would fall behind by eight points at the 5:22 mark of the
first half, prompting one of their coaches, Curt Smith,
to shout “Walk it (the ball) up”, in an attempt to get his
team to focus on running their offensive sets as opposed to playing haphazardly.
Soon thereafter Smith screamed “Time out”, in an effort to
better bring composure, to his team.
Almost immediately after that break, sophomore guard Jason Barnes (13 points) did what he does frequently at Bishop O’Connell High School in Arlington, VA – stealing the ball and converted a fast break layup fore Triple Threat. His exploits were more or less answered by those of Team Melo’s sophomore forward Brandon Green (11 points), who would dunk on a fast break, and immediately after hit a jumper from the elbow. This student at Towson Catholic in suburban Baltimore was central to Team Melo’s 24-17 half time lead.
Team Melo's Brandon Green
Whatever was said during intermission by Triple Threat’s coaching staff worked, as the team went on a 17-3 run during the first eight minutes of the second stanza. Team Melo answered with a 9-2 scoring advantage of their own, equalizing the score at 36 apiece, with 5:51 to play.
At this point, Triple Threat’s base defense was an effective 3-2 zone that created multiple turnovers. Kevon Moore (5 points), a junior at Spaulding of Severn, MD, then stole the ball, which more or less epitomized his team’s defensive effort. Fortunately for Team Melo, they couldn’t capitalize, as the score remained tied for almost the next three and a half minutes.
Kevon Moore of Triple Threat
Breaking the scoreboard logjam was Team Melo’s 6’5” freshman guard, Najee Hibbert’s (9 points) three pointer. To attack the formidable Triple Threat 3-2 zone, the squad’s coach, Derek Oliver, shared his team’s game plan was to “attack the baseline…set a man at the foul line. If the man (defender) in the box steps out, he just dumps it to the man in the middle for an easy layup”. His squad did just that, with Green and Southern Maryland Christian Academy sophomore Ernest Watson (5 points) scoring back to back layups on the left baseline.
Triple Threat finished the game outscoring their opponents from Baltimore, 6-2 over the next minute or so, but would still fall 45-44. Despite winning, Oliver was not particularly happy afterward indicating “I still think we need to do a better job of taking care of the basketball down the stretch” - a direct reference to his squad’s inability to score for that significant three and a half minute period. He also felt his charges “have to convert. We missed too many layups today”.
Being a coach who expects his team to max-out every game, those sentiments
are to be expected. But both teams should be commended for competing hard
throughout the tournament. Both Triple Threat and Team Melo will be well
represented in AAU play going forward.