Clement 16u finishes 3rd at Deep South Classic

Firecrackers finish 3-1 in National Division while in Raleigh, NC

The 16u Maine Firecrackers (National Team), Coached by Brian Clement, mounted a furious comeback to capture a lead with 2 minutes left to defeat the South Carolina 76ers 52-47 in game four of the Deep South Classic in front of over 20 coaches. The win secured a 3rd place finish in the 16u National A Bracket, the highest of three divisions for that age group at Deep South.

This one was intense and close from the opening tip to the final horn with neither team ever leading by more than 6 points. The game started with brilliant play by Jess Willerson, who scored the first six points (11 for the game) for Maine on assists from Sierra Tapley, Brie Wajer, and Emily Esposito. Then Esposito drained a triple to make the score 9-9 after 3 long balls from SC. Wajer converted on a misdirection handoff resembling Marcus Allen (who also wore #32) to make the score 23-21 SC before Alaina Birkel drained a long 2 on a heady out of bounds pass from Sierra Tapley to end the half deadlocked at 23.

The 76’ers started the second half in a 2-3 extended zone that slowed the Firecrackers down but with patience good shots would present themselves. After 2 SC 3 balls (they made 10 for the game) Alaina Birkel (7 points) responded with a bomb of her own that was as pure as Poland Spring water. Sierra Tapley orchestrated the zone offense judiciously before Brie Wajer caught SC overcommitted to Esposito and fired a rope to Danasia Fennie for an uncontested power layup and the score was 35-31 SC before Ironwoman Kelsey Shaw split the zone for a Pearl Washington like floater over the outstretched hands of the 6’4″ SC center to cut the lead to one. To their credit, the 76’ers once again they responded with a long 3. When Coach Clement barked at his scorekeeper PrinciPaul Butler “Which players are hitting them?” Butler (also known as Agent 45) calmly replied, “all of them.”

While SC stayed in their Karl Marx inspired zone the Firecrackers opted for the other end of the spectrum with an attacking man to man defense that would have made Joshua Chamberlain proud. Wajer, Tapley, and Birkel did a temendous job forcing turnovers with Katie Butler, Shaw, and Esposito cashing in the dividends but the highlight was a blocked shot/spike by the explosive Danasia Fennie that would have made Misty Mae Trainer proud.  Fennie tracked her own block down and exploded ahead of the pack to cash in her kill to the joy of the Firecracker bench and parents while several college coaches quickly scribbled down notes.

With the game in the balance over the final 4 minutes the most highly recruited player in Maine today stepped up once again and shredded the SC zone for 2 short jump shots and an impressive spin dribble into a power layup over a 6’1″ defender to take a 48-46 lead. A 76’er foul shot with 24 seconds left cut the lead to one but after an intentional foul, the unheralded but much appreciated Brie Wajer calmly stepped to the foul line and drained 2 foul shots that never touched any rim. With the FC defensive unit on the floor best at defending the long ball SC only got a desperation shot over Katie Butler’s extensive reach that was rebounded by Emily Esposito (20 points) and she calmly tapped a nail in the coffin with two more foul shots for a 52-47 final.

Over the weekend the team represented the Firecracker program, their families, towns, and state very well. Finishing 3-1 at the highest 16u level took contributions from every single player. The energy, unselfishness, and team play were a pleasure to watch. For the 3 day tournament over 60 different colleges watched the Mainers play and many of them have already contacted Coach Briggs and I. Among many others, the schools that watched our games were Duke, Marist, UNH, Maine, Brown,  St. Anselms, Stanford, Boston College, Holy Cross, Wake Forest, Albany, Ohio State, BU, Penn State, Adelphi, Colby, Coastal Carolina, Harvard, UMass, and DePaul.

Coach Briggs 14u team also competed well finishing 2-2 playing up in the sophomore division with his combination of 9th and 8th graders along with a precocious 7th grader. Credit to him for providing the young Mainers the opportunity to grow and develop against some of the best competition in the country. This collection of players has the potential to be a very good team.

Coach Clement