Seven Georgia Teams In Championship Bracket
The Georgia Stars put an exclamation point on their run through pool play with a 104-48 victory against Lone Wolf, of northeastern Vermont, Saturday evening at the AAU 17U Boys Basketball National Tournament in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. (Full video and photo highlights here). With superior size and strength, the Stars forced Lone Wolf into a perimeter game and then turned the Vermont team’s missed jump shots into easy transition baskets.
The Stars, however, weren’t the only Georgia team to give a strong showing. The Georgia Stars Black were one of seven teams to reach the tournament bracket. That’s not bad for a tournament that only sends 77 teams into the championship bracket.
Also earning spots in the championship bracket, which will be pared down to 32 teams after today’s 44 games are played, are the Stars Black, who finished pool play with a 2-1 mark after falling 60-54 late Saturday to the top-seeded Arkansas Wings-White team. It wasn’t an easy run, though, for the Stars Black team, which squeezed past the Birmingham Bearcats 47-44 on Friday night and then rallied past Orange County PAL 68-63 on Saturday afternoon.
The Augusta Metro pulled off one of the tournament’s grand surprises. The Metro, seeded fourth in Pool B, eked out a 59-56 victory against the Northern Kentucky Jazz Saturday afternoon after pulling out a 76-75 victory on Friday evening to finish 3-0 in pool play. The Metro began their run with a 68-50 victory on Friday morning against Team Illinois, which also reached the championship bracket. The Metro’s one-point win came against the Martin Bros Select’s 16U team.
The Georgia Blazers reached the championship tournament despite beginning pool play with a loss. After falling to Florida’s Jacksonville Lee Bulls, the Blazers bounded back on Saturday with a 76-68 morning victory followed by a 75-53 win against the top-seeded Boo Williams 16U squad.
The Georgia Ballers also reached the championship bracket after pulling out an 81-79 victory against Middlesex Magic I on Saturday evening. The Ballers needed the victory after losing 81-74 to Tennessee’s YOMCA on Friday evening. The Ballers face another Georgia team, the Atlanta All-Stars at noon. Atlanta finished pool play with a 2-1 mark. The All-Stars lost 69-59 to the Philadelphia Patriots on Saturday evening after winning games 63-50 and 75-61.
Inner Strength-Black also reached the tournament bracket after defeating Ferrari, of Illinois, 63-45 on Saturday evening. That victory came just six hours after Inner Strength-Black pounded the Carlsbad Cavemen 93-44. The team’s lone loss was to Florida’s Team STAT.
Also earning a spot in the championship bracket was Team Georgia Elite, which rallied in the third quarter and held on Saturday afternoon for a 65-59 victory against the North Carolina Gaters Select. The Elite’s only loss was to eventual Pool V winner Matrin Bros Select, of Iowa.
Georgia Mark Trail, the Georgia Suns, the GT Stars Blue, Inner Strength-Red, the Team Albany Bearcats and the Metro Atlanta Gladiators failed to reach the championship bracket and will play consolation games.
