The Youth 15/under tournament was an action packed day of pool play and single elimination playoffs for these exciting players. Pool play made for a long day but two games worth mentioning were a Philly Young Suns upset of the newly formed Philly Fastball Juniors, and a thrilling Washington CYC 15's comeback win over the NY USAB 15's.
In the Semifinals, up first was NY USAB 15's v/s the Philly Young Suns. The pool play matchup had produced a 61-22 drubbing of the Suns, but the playoff version was slightly closer as USAB wanted to reserve some energy for the Finals game. USAB won 52-18, Young guard Mitchell Cheung penetrated his way to 15 points and 2 dimes, and Thomas Cui also reached double digits with 10 and a trifecta. Jonathan Lai led the Suns with 5. In the other semifinals, the Fastball Juniors should have come in with a wave of confidence as they had upset the CYC 15's 41-40 in pool play. Instead, they looked flat, coming off an uninspiring 29-26 loss to the Young Suns. CYC was ready for the Fastball trapping and pressing style, as they countered with their own 3/4 court trap. The mastra of press against a pressing team held true. This caught Philly by surprise as all-universe 6-0 PG Drew Dowds (17 pts, 7-7 ft, 12 rebs, 2 assists) led the CYC attack. With Fastball trying to play catchup against a polished CYC team, many of the fastballers got into foul trouble. PG Ricky paced Philadelphia with 7 points, but CYC was able to get to ndout Peter Chin hit a 4 points. But in the end, USAB was able to execute when it counted, and went to the Finals with a 36-22 win.
The Championship game was a rematch of a 42-36 CYC win over USAB. The game started out with USAB taking a 6 point lead. Lefty PF Erick Wong (12points, 7 rebs) got out to finish on the break, and USAB was pestering CYC's do-it all guy Drew Dowds by sticking smaller, quicker players on him. CYC was forced to take a quick TO to change the game plan. CYC changed their plan, but MVP Thomas Cui registered 3 of 5 triples in the first half to give New York an 18-13 cushion. The two teams played about evenly at the start of the second half, but NYC’s lead swelled from 5 points to 11 in about a minute, as Kevin Cui and Erick Wong went on a 6-0 mini run. Drew Dowds and 8th grade standout Peter Chin made a couple big shots, and big man Jason Lee popped a trifecta to get CYC within 4. USAB started to buckle down a little on defense and did not allow Washington any more open looks. USAB took home the hardware 43-36. Both teams look solid heading into the Nationals.
Pool Y: Washington CYC 2-1, NY USAB 2 -1, Phila Young Suns 1-2, Phila Fastball Juniors 1-2.
Semifinals: NY USAB 15's def. Phila Young Suns 52-18. Washington CYC 15's def. Phila Fastball Juniors 36-22.
Finals: NY USAB 15's 43, Washington CYC 15's 36.
All Tournament Team:
Thomas Cui, NY USAB 15's (MVP)
William Loo, NY USAB 15's
Drew Dowds, Washington CYC 15's
Jason Lee, Washington CYC 15's
David Phay, Fastball Juniors
Hanlan Huang, Phila Young Suns
