Firecrackers 14U compete at Gym Rat Challenge

The Firecrackers 14U continued their preparation for Nationals with good competition at the Gym Rat Challenge in Albany, NY. This is one of the most high profile tournaments in the Northeast with 2,200 players from 14 US states and Canadian provinces. In the 14U age-group there were 36 teams in 9 pools. In the end, the Firecrackers lost in the quarterfinals to the Long Island Lightning. In hindsight, their chances in this game were not helped having to play an extra game on Sunday morning just to get to this stage.

Pool Play

Game #1 Firecrackers 48 vs. Connecticut Cobras 25

After a 4 hour ride to Albany, NY on Friday evening, the Firecrackers opened the Gym Rat Challenge with an 8:00am game against the Connecticut Cobra’s. The Firecrackers jumped out to an early lead and never looked back in a very physical and loosely officiated game. Up 17pts at the half the Firecrackers substituted liberally and controlled the game in the second half. With the potential of 5 games on Sunday, keeping all the players fresh was almost as important as winning the game.

Allie Clement led the team with 19pts with many coming on the fast break. Nina Davenport and Olivia Smith added 9pts and 8pts respectively

Game #2 Firecrackers 44 vs. Ring City Elite 34

Ring City Elite is a program run by former NBA star Ron Harper and is sponsored by Nike. It was a fast paced, exciting game with full-court pressure the entire 32 minutes. For the first three quarters of the game the Firecrackers managed this pressure well and built a 23pt lead. To their credit, the RC Elite team never quit and caused several turnovers late in the game with more aggressive trapping. The Firecrackers withstood the pressure, and ultimately closed out the game by hitting 5-6 foul shots. A three at the buzzer by Ring City closed the scoring on a 10pt win for the Firecrackers. This was a good win against a well coached, athletic team.

Allie Clement led the Firecracker balanced attack with 10 pts, followed by Camille Giardina 8pts, Nina Davenport,  Olivia Smith, and Ashley Briggs with 7 pts each. Alisha Starbird led the team with 6 rebounds.

Game #3 Firecrackers 54 vs. Mass Hoops Jags 23

This was the only uncompetitive game of the tournament. The Firecrackers took command early behind the hot shooting of Alisha Starbird (12pts) and built a 40-9 halftime lead. With a running clock in the second half, and working on offensive execution every time down the floor, the Firecracker’s scoring was limited in the second period. Once again a conscious effort was made to conserve energy for the games ahead.

In a game where everyone scored, Sam Frost knocked down 2 three’s and finished with 9pts, Nina Davenport 7pts, Allie Clement and Olivia Shaw 6pts each. Bailey Cote had 6 rebounds and went 3-4 from the foul line.

Championship Round

In the Championship round the pool winners were re-seeded, and crucially the Firecrackers just missed out on one of the top four seeds, that would have given them a bye in the first round. Two of the teams that received byes were Ct Storm (a team the Firecrackers have beaten 3 times, the last time at the NE Elite Showcase by 24pts) and the Albany Capitals (a team the Firecrackers have played twice this year and beaten by 30+ both times)

Game #4 Firecrackers   36   vs.   NH Rivals 24

Once again the team defense was the key to the Firecracker’s success. The team did not play well in this first round of Championship play. There were a lot of unforced errors and they did not shoot well. It could be best summed up as a grind. For the first time in a long while, the Firecrackers were down at half-time and this in a game they felt going in, they should win. The struggle continued in the second half, but the girls generated just enough offense, and Ashley Briggs (5-6) hit her foul shots down the stretch to put the game away.

The balanced scoring the team had shown in the previous game was non-existent in this one, with only 4 players getting into the scoring column: Allie Clement led the way with 12pts, Ashley Briggs finished with 11pts, and Olivia Smith added 10pts.

Game #5 Firecrackers 24   vs. Long Island Lightning 35

For the Firecrackers, their 3rd game in 5hrs proved to be one too many. It came against the most athletic team they faced in the tournament. The Lightning were very well coached, disciplined offensively and created havoc with their defense. The Firecrackers battled like they always do, but could not find a rhythm on offense. There were a lot of good looks at the basket, but not many makes. True to form, the defense once again kept the Firecrackers in the game, trailing by just 7 at halftime. The start of the 2nd half was decisive. The Lightning came out and drilled 2 three’s and a lay up off a steal. The 7 point deficit grew to 15 in the matter of a minute. The Firecrackers were behind by as much as 23pts, before the team was able to build some consistency on offense, closing the gap to 8 with about 2 minutes to play. There were a couple of late opportunities, but the Firecrackers didn’t take advantage and lost by the final margin of 11. One small crumb of consolation was that they held a team averaging 64 points to just 35.

The lack of offence was obviously disappointing, to score only 24pts as a team. Individually, Allie Clement with 12pts was the leading scorer. Alisha Starbird (5pts), Ashley Briggs (4pts), and Olivia Shaw (3pts) completed the Firecracker scoring.

The overall experience was awesome. It was a great tournament – well organized, good facilities, and very good competition. If the Firecrackers had received a bye on Sunday morning then a semi-final berth was a possibility. Looking at the other teams in the tournament, there were two teams that really stood out. These were the team that won the tournament, the Philly Freedom Stars, and the LI Lightning team we played. The Firecrackers are right there with the best of them.

The team defense was the highlight of the weekend with key contributions from Brianne Maloney, Bailey Cote, and Sam Frost. Camille Giardina gave the team some depth on the perimeter with both her offense and defense, as she joined the 14u team for the weekend (usually plays on the 13u team). There are 3 practices left before Nationals (July 5th – 10th) at the ESPN Center in Orlando