Five NC AAU Teams Make Bracket
July 29th, 2007 Posted in AAU Basketball
North Carolina is home to five of the 77 teams to reach the AAU 17U Boys Basketball national championship bracket. All four are at risk today, as Sunday features 44 games that will cut the field to 32. Of the teams vying to make Wednesday’s national championship final, the state’s most competitive are the same two squads that reached the North Carolina 17U state championships game. (Video and photo highlights here.) North Carolina’s Gaters won that game, and there’s every reason to believe that the Gaters might be able to march all the way through this year’s tournament field.
After all, the Gaters dominated Pool J, where they defended their No. 1 seed with three victories. The last of them was a 68-57 Saturday evening victory against the Rising Stars-Gimpel, of Metro New York. Nick Barbour led the Gaters with 28 points in that game.
The Gaters, though, aren’t the only strong team from the Tarheel State, which also is home to the highly-regarded Charlotte Royals, winners of Pool X. The Royals won 64-57 on Friday evening and followed that pool-play triumph on Saturday with 74-58 and 83-76 wins. Adam Raye scored 17 in the Royals pool-play finale. Lakeem Jackson, who had a team-high 22 points in the Royals’ Saturday morning tilt, added 16, and Ken Gabriel had a team-high 19 for the second-straight game.
In addition to the powerful Royals, the Kappa Magic made the field. Despite losing 89-60 on Saturday evening to a power-packed 16U team based in Orlando, Fla., the Magic earned their way into the tournament bracket with a 93-88 victory against Illinois Machine on Saturday morning.
The Garner Road Bulldogs also reached the championship bracket after going 2-1 in pool play. The Bulldogs secured their berth on Saturday afternoon with a 93-84 victory against the Bartram Beacon Blazers. The Carolina Crusaders also reached the championship bracket after holding off the Midstate Ballerz Blue, 72-64, on Saturday afternoon. The Crusaders finished pool play at 2-1.
The Tar River Raptors also will play in today’s championship bracket. The Raports finished second in Pool H. They defeated Dunbar Community Center of Massachusetts 65-63 on Saturday afternoon and then claimed a forfeit victory Saturday evening. Their 2-2 mark in the tournament’s lone five-team pool was enough to give them the tie-breaker over two other 2-2 squads.
Failing to reach the championship bracket were the Apex Force, the Charlotte Nets and the North Carolina Gaters Select.
[Where: 28201]
[Where: Orlando, FL]
