Just short: Firecrackers fall in AAU national final
8th-grade Firecrackers run out of gas, drop title game to Cincy Swish (OH)
Trailing 25-24 at the end of the first half, the 8th-grade Firecracker shots stopped dropping at an inopportune time in the second half and the Mainers had to settle for a second place finish at Division II Nationals at ESPN Wide World of Sports Wednesday. In what proved to be poor pool seeding of the 33 entered teams, the final two teams had already competed in pool play, when the Firecrackers defeated Cincy Swish 52-47.
After giving up a trey to start the game, Maggie Whitmore powered in a drop step on a feed from Julz Colby, who then scored on a fast break of her own to make the score 6-4 Cincinnati. Gabrielle Wener then connected on a bomb but the versatile Swish center made two of her own and the Firecrackers trailed 12-9 at the end of one.
In the second, Brooke Obar got on the board with a nifty finish and Julz Colby dropped in a floater as the Firecrackers led 13-12 before Cincy went on another run to take back a 23-16 lead but Wener hit a second 3 and Maggie Whitmore scored on three consecutive possessions to make the score 25-24 Ohio at the midway mark.
The second half proved to be one of the coldest halves of the season for Maine but credit Cincy with taking away much of that offense. While limiting Ohio to just 8 points, the long court and prior 6 games began to take a toll and the Mainers only garnered a three from Obar and one foul shot from Whitmore in the quarter.
The Firecrackers warmed up a bit in the 4th and cut the lead to 4 but were forced to foul late and Cincy went 4-4 to finish the game with a 50-40 win.
No Firecracker played her best game but Whitmore was gritty inside and out once again with 15 points(6 rebounds), Obar netted 8, Wener and Colby 7 each, and Mower 3 (with another good defensive effort). Madison Blanche, Camille Clement, and Jacqui Hamilton played meaningful minutes but none of them scored for the first time this week, contributing to the scoring woes. Emily Huntington and Hope Olson didn’t get many minutes but competed well in the ones they got.
Defense did its job for the most part as the Firecrackers held the Swish to 50 this time (47 last time) but offensively it was a grind as the team shot just 15-54 from the field, 6-12 from the foul line, and 4-24 from 3. Cincy took a whopping 38 long balls and only connected on 7 but managed 10 more FG attempts and was 9-13 from the foul line.
The Firecrackers girls were very disappointed after the loss, especially given the prior victory against Cincy but the Swish was the #1 seed in the tournament and in the end earned that ranking. In spite of past Firecracker finishes of 14th, 2nd, and 3 National titles in 5 appearances at AAU D2 Nationals, the 8th graders were given a 9 seed and were able to prove that wrong.
Final record for the tournament was 6-1 with 3 blowouts and competitive games of 3, 5, 7, and 10 points so from a competitive standpoint Division II was probably the right division.
With a little time the players will bounce back and remember a fantastic week of staying with teammate’s, catching lizards, enjoying rides at Disney, card games, swimming with Dolphins, and playing mini golf, just to name a few.
Thanks to all back in Maine for the incredible support we received while down here. We are anxious to get back to our friends and family in the great state of Maine.