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05-31-2011, 01:02 PM
The Kentucky Premier Elite team won the highly competitive Wildcat Memorial Day Showdown yesterday in Lexington.
Their tourney victory was highlighted by a semi-final win over an Essence Purple team from Florida that I thought looked as good as any AAU girls team I've seen in the last five years. They were loaded with size and athleticism, scoring, defense, and a deep bench, and included on their roster the No. 8 and No. 10 rated 2012 players per ESPN Hoopgurlz. As a team Essence is rated in the Top 10 AAU Girls teams in the country.
Summary of that game:
1. The Essence jumped to a 26-9 lead in the first 4-5 minutes and the game looked like a mismatch.
2. Premier coaches, head man Jarrad Parmley and assistant David Tapley, called a time-out and got their team in an aggressive full court zone press.
3. The Premier cut the lead down to about 4 with some great defensive pressure and trailed at the half 32-26 on two Essence free throws with 0.7 seconds left.
4. The second half bounced back and forth between a 3-4 point to a 6 point deficit for the Premier and finally jumped up to 8.
5. Another time-out got the Premier back in their aggressive defensive mode and they went on an 11-2 run to gain their first lead at 55-54 on two China Dow free throws.
6. The Premier held the lead, actually once by 5 before a turnover and a three by Essence tied the game with about 2 minutes left.
7. The teams proceeded to trade baskets for the next several trips with Premier getting a two point lead and Essence responding to tie (at least once with two pressure free throws).
8. The last Essence goal to tie came with about 24-25 seconds left. Premier brought the ball up without a timeout, getting instructions from the bench to get the ball to a posting Sydney Moss. Essence defended that and time got short. Bre Elder drove the right sideline hard and turned the baseline corner, harrassed by a pair of defenders. As I heard someone counting down the seconds.....4.....3.....2..., Elder flipped a nice lob to Moss just to the right of the lane and she immediately elevated and arched an 8-foot floater over her defender that split the net as the final buzzer sounded, giving the Premier a thrilling 79-77 win!
The Premier, who IMO had been playing pretty lack luster and without the required teamwork normally seen, really put it together in this game with excellent teamwork, good recognition and passing, hard-nosed defense, and with every player making contributions. And they responded well to some excellent coaching instructions.
Moss has been struggling with her shooting because of a cut on her right hand index finger which has 5 stitches that must be taped in such a way that the finger is fairly stiff. But she played extermely well in this game and stepped up big at crunchtime. She scored on three of the last four Premier possessions, including the game winner, to break ties (point guard Larryn Brooks gave the Premier the lead on the other possession with a tough driving lay up through the lane). Moss scored 9 points in the last 4-5 minutes of the game to finish with 23 points and 11 rebounds. But it was, as I said, truly a team win as every player on the roster made important contributions throughout the game. Dow and Brooks did very nice jobs at the point as the premier was without starter Makayla Epps who was at the USA U16 tryouts in Colorado. I could probably comment on every player but that would REALLY make this thing long! I will mention Elder who in addition to her final shot feed to Moss played a solid all-around game.
Premier then dispatched another Florida team, Central Florida Elite, in the championship game by a 69-62 score, using a defensive-led outburst part way through the second half to break open a close game, one in which they actually trailed by 9 in the first half.
Moss again led the Premier with 23 despite sitting most of the first half after a knee injury that occurred when she was sandwiched on a rebound and undercut by one of the defenders who fell on the back of her leg. She played in the second half and did well but was obviously in some discomfort.
This was a really good tourney win for the Premier and if they continue to play as they ended the weekend will be a handful for anybody.
Their tourney victory was highlighted by a semi-final win over an Essence Purple team from Florida that I thought looked as good as any AAU girls team I've seen in the last five years. They were loaded with size and athleticism, scoring, defense, and a deep bench, and included on their roster the No. 8 and No. 10 rated 2012 players per ESPN Hoopgurlz. As a team Essence is rated in the Top 10 AAU Girls teams in the country.
Summary of that game:
1. The Essence jumped to a 26-9 lead in the first 4-5 minutes and the game looked like a mismatch.
2. Premier coaches, head man Jarrad Parmley and assistant David Tapley, called a time-out and got their team in an aggressive full court zone press.
3. The Premier cut the lead down to about 4 with some great defensive pressure and trailed at the half 32-26 on two Essence free throws with 0.7 seconds left.
4. The second half bounced back and forth between a 3-4 point to a 6 point deficit for the Premier and finally jumped up to 8.
5. Another time-out got the Premier back in their aggressive defensive mode and they went on an 11-2 run to gain their first lead at 55-54 on two China Dow free throws.
6. The Premier held the lead, actually once by 5 before a turnover and a three by Essence tied the game with about 2 minutes left.
7. The teams proceeded to trade baskets for the next several trips with Premier getting a two point lead and Essence responding to tie (at least once with two pressure free throws).
8. The last Essence goal to tie came with about 24-25 seconds left. Premier brought the ball up without a timeout, getting instructions from the bench to get the ball to a posting Sydney Moss. Essence defended that and time got short. Bre Elder drove the right sideline hard and turned the baseline corner, harrassed by a pair of defenders. As I heard someone counting down the seconds.....4.....3.....2..., Elder flipped a nice lob to Moss just to the right of the lane and she immediately elevated and arched an 8-foot floater over her defender that split the net as the final buzzer sounded, giving the Premier a thrilling 79-77 win!
The Premier, who IMO had been playing pretty lack luster and without the required teamwork normally seen, really put it together in this game with excellent teamwork, good recognition and passing, hard-nosed defense, and with every player making contributions. And they responded well to some excellent coaching instructions.
Moss has been struggling with her shooting because of a cut on her right hand index finger which has 5 stitches that must be taped in such a way that the finger is fairly stiff. But she played extermely well in this game and stepped up big at crunchtime. She scored on three of the last four Premier possessions, including the game winner, to break ties (point guard Larryn Brooks gave the Premier the lead on the other possession with a tough driving lay up through the lane). Moss scored 9 points in the last 4-5 minutes of the game to finish with 23 points and 11 rebounds. But it was, as I said, truly a team win as every player on the roster made important contributions throughout the game. Dow and Brooks did very nice jobs at the point as the premier was without starter Makayla Epps who was at the USA U16 tryouts in Colorado. I could probably comment on every player but that would REALLY make this thing long! I will mention Elder who in addition to her final shot feed to Moss played a solid all-around game.
Premier then dispatched another Florida team, Central Florida Elite, in the championship game by a 69-62 score, using a defensive-led outburst part way through the second half to break open a close game, one in which they actually trailed by 9 in the first half.
Moss again led the Premier with 23 despite sitting most of the first half after a knee injury that occurred when she was sandwiched on a rebound and undercut by one of the defenders who fell on the back of her leg. She played in the second half and did well but was obviously in some discomfort.
This was a really good tourney win for the Premier and if they continue to play as they ended the weekend will be a handful for anybody.
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