June Issue:           

Mid State Ballerz @ YOMCA

       The Ballerz jumped on the favorite YOMCA in the first couple of minutes of the contest. Commanding a double digit lead and maintaining it for majority of the game, the Ballerz fought off a late rally by the YOMCA in a 55-46 victory for the Ballerz and AAU State Championship honors. YOMCA was without highly touted Leslie McDonald (Briarcrest) due to injury. Coach Schulman had the Ballerz well prepared and coached for this tournament. Turmoil on the YOMCA bench between coaches was a distraction for the players.

      The Ballerz were patient on offense for good shots and ran when the opportunity arose. YOMCA was out of sync the first half and shot under 30% for the game. An 18-10 margin for the Ballerz at the end of the first quarter that ballooned to 34-16 at the break. Nathan Parker (Knoxville Bearden) was very consistent with his game high 18 points as 9 points were scored each half accordingly. 

     YOMCA came out in the third quarter with a strong rally led by Johnny Williams (Briarcrest) monstrous dunk with his left hand coming form the right side of the court. Showed great versatility with that move and ignited YOMCA to get the score under double digits.  

     The Ballerz Skylar McBee (Rutledge High) thwarted a Y rally with some long three pointers and at the right time to nullify the surge and end up with 14 points. The fourth quarter started off with a dunk from Farrakhon Hall (Memphis White Station) who ended with a team high 11 points for YOMCA respectively. .

      C.J. Crittenden (Dyer County) anchored the back court with some decisive ball handling against a stingy YOMCA defense. Ian Clark (Germantown) nailed some nice shots from long range.

Key Points of The Game: The Ballerz patience on offense and shooting over 58% for the game. The Ballerz big men balanced the size difference from the YOMCA and the Y's poor shooting was a hamper.  

 

By Staff Writer Harold Rivera