Three Florida Teams Still Running At AAU Nationals
Sunday brought an end to the championship tournament runs of 44 teams at the AAU 17U Boys Basketball nationals at The Milkhouse in Lake Buena Vista, Fla (photos and video highlights here). Hope springs eternal, though, for three Florida teams that survived Sunday’s 44 games, which featured 77 different teams.
The time is now for Team Breakdown, based in Plantation. At 11:30 a.m., the team faces Shining Star-Callahan, which reached the round of 32 with a 60-57 victory against the Pittsburgh Storm on Sunday afternoon. Team Breakdown’s road to Monday’s bracket was smooth. Breakdown coasted to a 100-63 victory Sunday evening against Del Val USA behind a 25-point night from rising Pine Crest sophomore Brandon Knight. Kenny Boynton, a 6-1 rising junior guard from Ely High, added 18 points, and 6-7 rising senior Bo Reliford, who attends Dillard High, added 16 for Team Breakdown.
The Tampa Fastbreak also reached the round of 32 after slipping past Team Melo 50-48 Sunday afternoon. Evan Ravenel, a 6-9 rising senior at Brandon High, scored a game-high 15 points for the Fastbreak. It was the Fastbreak’s second narrow victory of the day. In Sunday’s early action, the Fastbreak defeated the OBC Elite, also a Florida squad, 54-49. The path to the Sweet Sixteen, though, features a key roadblock. The Tampa Fastbreak face the highly-regarded Georgia Stars at 10 a.m. The Stars won the 17U Georgia state championship. The winner moves on to Monday’s 4 p.m. game against the winner of the Cincinnati Royals-Spiece Select game.
Florida’s Team STAT also reached Monday’s winner’s bracket. Team STAT, based in Lake Wales, defeated the Georgia Stars-Black 73-68 Sunday evening. Kevin Foster, a 6-7 forward, scored a game-high 24 points for Team STAT.
One of Florida’s other teams nearly pulled off a key upset on Sunday evening. The Florida Elite-Black built an early lead against the Westchester Hawks Select before falling 66-56. In that game, Steve Coleman again showed why he is being recruited by several Florida Division I colleges and a few highly-regarded out-of-state mid-major universities. Coleman, 6-4 rising senior guard at Eau Gallie, had 21 points, and he scored via an effortless style. Elite Black Coach Jeffrey Foss marveled at Coleman’s skilled play. Foss noted that Coleman is almost always in control. “He’s very unselfish, and he’s a great passer. Sometimes, though, he’s a little too unselfish,” said Foss,who thinks one of Coleman’s best assets is his ability to burst past defenders precisely when they least expect it.
