The 14U Arizona Gym Rats-2014 spent the weekend in California at the Hawthrone Athletic Center playing against the best California has to offer.
The pride of Arizona took on the number#2 California team in the state "California Supreme-RED" in their first pool play game and took it to them coming out with a 7-point win and what some say a big upset. California Supreme-Red features the number #1 point guard in the state and he is special as he was a one man show down the stetch trying to keep his team in the game. However, the Gym Rats stayed consistent with their ball movement and patience and prevailed with a 67-62 win.
Pool play games #2 (So Cal Elite) and #3 (Hoopmasters) were both very one sided as the Gym Rats played unselfish ball and defended extremely well going 3-0 in pool play which earned them the number #1 seed as championship play began.
The quarter finals game was versus the #3 team in California, NBA TNT's broadcaster and former Houston Rockets guard, Kenny "The Jet" Smith" Aim High. To say the Gym Rats were a bit fired up would have been an understatement. The boy's jumped on Aim High early with back to back to back 3-pointers to start the game. And the Gym Rats didn't let up until the final buzzer sounded, resulting in a 69-39 one-sided victory. The way the boy's played this game was special as their intensity and energy was unbelievable.
The Gym Rats cruised to an easy victory over the Manhattan Beach Bulldogs in the semi finals 72-39. Every player on the roster played a lot of minutes and every one contributed nicely.
The finals was set as California Supreme-Black steamrolled the Arizona Stars in the other semi finals. The two best teams made it to the finals and the stage was set for an exciting championship match up as the DJ, film crew and PA announcer had the place jumping. The tournament director held the game an extra 25-minutes so all other age divisions final games were completed to build the crowd up, which worked because the crowd was building ten rows deep.
Once again, the Gym Rats jumped out to a 10-point lead after only a few minutes with some great outside shooting but Cal Supreme-Black battled back to a one-point deficit by halftime.
The second half was a battle back and forth with numerous lead changes all the way down to 4-minutes left. After a timeout, the Gym Rats turned up the defense and worked the ball around to find the open man resulting in some easy looks. The Gym Rats finished out the game on a 22-5 run to capture the championship convincely.
Knocking off the #1, #2 and #3 California teams in one tournament is special and not too many teams get the opportunity to even attempt that feat. But especially the way the Gym Rats dominated each game from start to finish was special.
Many parents and coaches who attended the tournament from all different age divisions came up to Coach de letting him know what a pleasure it was to watch his kids play the game the correct way. Their unselfishness and their ability to defend as a team was impressive all weekend long.
Congrats again to the 14U Arizona Gym Rats-2014 squad: Tate de Laveaga, Nathan Markovich, Sam Jones, Casey Benson, Jaron Brown, John Horton, LaVonte' Benford and Romano Bottini. Way to represent Arizona and prove our top talent is just as good if not better than our sister state.
