Firecrackers Clement Go 4-1 at Nationals
Front Row: Elizabeth Donato, Sarah Clement, Abby Hamilton, Olivia Dalphonse.
Back Row: Casey Simpson, Jess Willerson, Vic Lux, Ashley Storey, Katie McCrum
In our nation’s capital, Washington DC, the Firecrackers Clement produced another more than creditable performance at the US Junior Nationals, going 4-1 over the course of pool play and just missing out on a tie-breaker from progressing to the last eight of this 48 team tournament.
Day One – Game 1 vs Boo Williams
The 14u Maine Firecrackers (mostly rising sophomores) won their first pool play game today at US Jr Nationals beating Boo Williams team 41-32.
Boo Williams is one of the elite AAU programs in the country, with multiple kids earning high level Division 1 scholarships each year and, as expected, they pressed us the whole game. Other than a sloppy spell mid-way through the second half, the Firecrackers put on a display on how to break a zone press. There were a number of times the ball only hit the floor once or twice and resulted in layups. The Maine girls jumped out to a 23-14 lead behind 8 first half points from Sarah Clement, 6 from Ashley Storey, and 5 from Victoria Lux.
Boo Williams made a run midway through the second half. They cut the Firecracker lead to 6 before Olivia Dalphonse fed Jess Willerson for a basket, followed by Katie McCrum assisting on an Ashley Storey power layup to extend it to 10 points.
As the clock wound down the Firecracker guards continued to break the press,resulting in good shots for our post players. Elizabeth Donato showed her athleticism with a great steal, and full court layup, while McCrum and Casey Simpson did a great job holding Boo’s best shooter to 2 total points.
Storey had an exceptional all around game with 12 points(7 rebounds). Lux scored 10 (8 rebounds) and Clement 8 (along with5 assists). Dalphonse (5 assists) did a nice job handling the tenacious pressure along with Katie McCrum(2 points, 5 rebounds, 4 steals). Jess Willerson played well with 5 points and good perimeter defense, while Abby Hamilton had a solid all around game with contributions on both ends of the court.
In attendance were numerous division one coaches including Maryland, Penn State, and Holy Cross.
Day Two – Game 2 vs NY New Heights
The 14u Maine Firecrackers won their second pool play game today 41-34 against NY New Heights. Playing on a narrow court against a trapping 3-2 zone the Firecrackers struggled offensively in the first half and trailed 19-16.
In the second half the Maine girls moved the ball better for open looks with Ashley “Stretch” Storey and Victoria Lux finding open players on the perimeter. The Firecrackers took a 31-24 lead on Sarah Clements third 3-pointer of the half. Pressure defense from Olivia Dalphonse, Katie McCrum, and Elizabeth Donato caused 7 turnovers and led to baskets by Dalphonse and Lux.
The Firecrackers extended their lead to 37-31 before a New Heights 3-pointer cut the lead to 4. Dalphonse then intercepted a pass and beat her defender to the hoop for a layup making it 39-34. Ashley Storey calmly made 2 free throws with 24 seconds remaining to ice the game.
Sarah Clement led all scorers with 15 points, Dalphonse and Storey each had 8, Lux 4 (9 rebounds) McCrum 3 and another excellent defensive effort, and Simpson a beautiful 3 and her normal great intensity. Jess Willerson contributed 6 rebounds and solid play.
Game 3 vs Jersey Shore Wildcats
This game was a missed opportunity and the Firecrackers record falls to 2-1
While the temperature outside the gym hit 100 degrees, it couldn’t have been colder inside the gym for the Firecrackers. Perhaps it was an omen when it was as “dark as a pocket” due to several lights being out, but the Jersey Shore Wildcats jumped to a 20 point lead in the first half before the Firecrakers made a good second half run to close the gap to 40-27 at the final horn. The Wildcats are a good team and their defence limited the Maine kids, but the story was more “one of those poor shooting games” when the ball didn’t want to go in.
The NJ Shore Wildcats lost to Boo Williams this morning and with the Firecrackers beating Boo yesterday, it set up an opportunity for Maine to be in the drivers seat for winning the pool. Instead, they find themselves in a 3 way tie for first place.
To the credit of the kids, they never stopped competing after finding themselves in a huge hole. Ashley Storey led the team with 9 points and continues to make a good impression on the coaches here. Olivia Dalphonse added 5 points with steady guard play, Victoria Lux and Sarah Clement were limited to 4 points each, McCrum and Willerson each added a bucket, and Abby Hamilton added a foul shot. Elizabeth Donato and Casey Simpson didn’t score but played great defense as were part of the group that closed the gap to 11 at one point.
The Firecrackers will likely need to go 2-0 to have a chance to be one of the 8 of 48 teams to advance to the playoffs.
Day Three – Game 4 vs Charlottsville Elite
The 14u Maine Firecrackers moved to 3-1 in pool play with a hard fought 49-43 win against the Charlottsville Elite.
Katie McCrum started the game with a beautiful pull up jump shot and Ashley Storey had another great start with 8 first half points as she, Victoria Lux, and Jess Willerson battled against the 6’4″, 6’2″, and 6’1″ front line of the Elite.
Abby Hamilton drained a long 2, Willerson had 2 nice put backs followed by a Sarah Clement 3 to finish the half up 29-23.
Lux (11 rebounds) started the second half strong with two power layups(one from Dalphonse and one from Clement) and then Clement knocked down a 3 and left handed finish over the 6’4″ mountain in the middle. Casey Simpson then out hustled the pack down the court for a layup on a beautiful pass from Katie McCrum and Dalphonse came up with a steal and bucket to make the score 42-34 but the Elite cut the lead to 4 with two minutes remaining. One foul shot by Willerson and two by Clement iced the win.
Storey (8 rebounds) and Clement (4 assists) led the team with 12 points each, Lux added 7,
Willerson had another good performance with 6 and 5 rebounds, Dalphonse had a good floor game and added 4 points with 4 steals, Katie “Ironwoman” McCrum once again did a great job defending the Elites best player and added 2 nice jump shots, while Hamilton and Simspon added buckets. Elizabeth Donato led the team with 5 steals and continued to match up well with the better athletes at this tournament.
Game 5 vs Maryland Sharks
The 14u Maine Firecrackers finished pool play today with a decisive 44-15 victory over the Maryland Sharks to finish 4-1, tied for first place in their pool.
The Maine girls struggled to find a rythym early and missed numerous opportunities but settled down and pulled out to a 13-4 lead thanks to 2 buckets each from Victoria Lux and Ashley Storey along with a layup and 3 ball from Sarah Clement. Katie McCrum sparked the defense with 3 first half steals while getting to the foul line twice. The team got a tremendous effort from Elizabeth Donato, with 6 steals, 4 points, and a coach-pleasing hustle play on a sure back court violation when the Shark guard jogged back to retrieve the ball. Donato looked like she was shot out of a cannon and tracked down the ball before getting fouled in the act of shooting to the delight of the Firecracker players and parents. Donato and Casey Simpson sparked the defense that pushed the Firecrackers to a 24-9 lead at halftime.
In the second half the Sharks switched to a 2-3 zone and the Maine girls patiently picked it apart with passes from Storey and Abby Hamilton leading to baskets for Lux. Sarah Clement threaded the needle on a fast break to Lux for another basket making it 32-14.
Lux led all scorers with 12 points, Storey (9 rebounds) and Clement (3 assists) each had 8, Willerson 5 (6 rebounds), McCrum and Donato 4 each, while Dalphonse added a bucket to go along with 3 assists, and Casey Simpson knocked in a foul shot.
As a side note- new additions to the team were 8th grader Jess Willerson, who has made huge improvements and will be a player many talk about over the next few years as she hits the high school scene with Cheverus. Elizabeth Donato made an easy transition and helped the team a great deal, and Olivia Dalphonse stepped up in a big way and made a huge impact on the team. She and Clement work well together and Dalphonse has been a great teammate- she is unselfish, takes care of the ball, and works as hard on the defensive end as the offensive end.
Unfortunately, only 8 of the 48 teams advance to the playoffs and the Firecrackers lost the tiebreaker (two teams were 4-1) to the Jersey Shore Wildcats so did not advance to play on Saturday but the team showed again this year (last year finished 2nd in D2 at AAU Nationals) that they can compete well nationally in their age group. Playing against bigger and faster players will hopefully pay dividends for these girls down the line and as they go back to their high school teams.
Coach Clement commented, ” I am really proud of the way our kids competed and played together throughout the tournament. There are some very good teams here but there isn’t one I would rather coach because of their work ethic, humility, unselfishness, and high character. They are young and have lots to improve upon, but they play the right way and it is a pleasure to coach them.” Clement wanted to thank the people back in Maine for all the support and also the Firecracker parents who stepped up all week doing laundry, keeping the kids fed, helping with transportation, doing scorebooks, videotaping, etc.
Finally, on behalf of the Firecracker organization Clement wanted to congratulate Coach Kingsley and the 14u Icebreakers on a fine showing, and also congratulate the 16u Icebreakers and 16u Maine Wave on their success in DC but also on running their programs so well over the years and improving girls basketball in Maine. Both teams played their last games as their kids will be off to college next year. Coach Libby and Coach Winchester have both done a great job and had tons of success with those teams and the Firecrackers are grateful to have been able to compete against both teams over the years while enjoying the friendships formed. The 16u Wave and 16u Icebreakers are full of talented players, many of whom will be playing college ball in just over a year and we wish them all well and will be rooting for them throughout their college careers.