BMaze Elite 14u Fall One Point Short

NASHVILLE, TN -- Sunday evening a six-man, condensed BMaze Elite 14u squad dropped the NYBA Tournament of Champions title game, 58-57. Despite several player absences the assembled troops battled Sunday morning and afternoon. They fought their way into the finals. Along the way BMaze Elite 14u got retribution against a KY-based outfit who defeated them earlier in the weekend.

Gametime

Both teams has excuses available. BMaze's team was short-handed and three of 's players were doubling up, playing all 14u and 15u games. This resulted in 's three best players competing in essentially five consecutive AAU basketball games to conclude Sunday. But excuses be damned a championship is a championship and both teams gave it all. BMaze Elite 14u Roster

PG Miles Versa (2021)
G Quante Berry (2022)
G B.J. Edwards (2022)
F Jasaun Wooden (2020)
G David Sanger (2021)
F Tobe Crabtree (2o21)

14u hopped out to an early lead. Trailing 12-4 late in the first quarter, Sanger popped a turnaround jumper to close the game to 12-6. The 2-3 zone was decently effective early. The backcourt lacked height and strength, but in a zone the smaller guards were able to bounce from player to player without the team's defensive integrity crumbling. The first quarter wrapped 12-9 . At this point the players emanated fatigure. They were drained from playing back-to-back-to-back games. With 5:34 remaining in the first half, BMaze Elite took their first lead of the game. A quick 3-pointer from 's shooter snatched the lead back 18-17. It was in the second quarter Jasaun Wooden (pictured below) began to establish a post presence. ran out a few tall opponents, but they were no match on the low blocks for Wooden. Jasaun Wooden

Second Half

BMaze came out half with energy. David Sanger curled out to the wing, caught a pass, and buried the triple. His conversion opened the game up to 38-33, but answered with a 3-pointer of their own. Sanger's energy was relentless on both ends. Seconds later Sanger lost a scrambled attempt at a defensive rebound. As the ball bounded out-of-bounds both teams caught their breaths. The third quarter contained numerous fastbreaks both directions. With 4:10 left in the third quarter, 's Konata Werts (Brentwood Academy) operated near the wing. He swung the ball around the arc to Kobe Tibbs (Wilson Central). Tibbs missed a three-pointer. Sanger rebounded. In his attempt to start the break Sanger was stripped. could not capitalize though. Again 's three stars (Tibbs, Werts, and particularly Isaiah Farrior-Clarksville NW) were visibly drained. The East Tennessee men made a layup to put BMaze Elite up 38-36. Both teams were drained. Sanger drew a foul. Unfortunately, Sanger missed both free throws. His third game of the day proved how tenacious he could be, but the legs started to go. BMaze's defense lacked the typical fire. Players struggled to close out on the shooters. BMaze 14u gave up an offensive rebound. Almost immediately capitalized with 3-pointer from Tibbs. Wooden kept pounding away on the blocks and BMaze found another lead, 40-39. Defensive stops were too infrequent for BMaze Elite 14u though. 's backup guard sliced up the BMaze 2-3 zone with his dribble, 41-40 . Trying to answer BMaze's reliable big Wooden charged, accidentally bowling over a defender along the baseline. Charge on Wooden. On the next possession Wooden scored in the paint. The third quarter ended as the game started, tied. Tied at 42, either team was capable of capturing the title. Legs were gone, but the coaches prodded their players onward. scored the first four points of the fourth quarter. Farrior contributed to the central Nashville team and 46-42 became the new normal. Wooden and Sanger shared the scoring burden. Sanger worked his way to the paint, but his layup rattled out. Bad news for BMaze. The game started to open up. Isaiah Farrior got an offensive rebound over Wooden and put it back in, 48-42. Perhaps sensing the enormity of the moment Class of 2022 wing BJ Edwards got assertive. He took it right at the basket and scored. created a gaping hole in the score next. Werts scored back-to-back shots against a collapsing BMaze Elite defense, 53-44. BMaze Elite 14u Elite Head Coach Miles McDowell stopped the bleeding. His perfectly called timeout needed to happen. Only 5:30 remained and BMaze trailed by nine points.

Final Push

In the toughest of times, Wooden scored. And then he scored again. Wooden buried another floater. He can score against 6'2” and under players easily. While Wooden projects as a taller wing he can really score on the low blocks at this early stage of his career. The defense of BMaze came to life. The sense in the gym was that had already counted their chickens before they hatched. The hometown team already had a win against BMaze Saturday and their momentary 9-point lead late certainly gave them a dangerous complacency. BMaze hit with a quick 4-0 run, culminating with an Edwards offensive rebound putback. As Edwards came to life late the team started to take on a more threatening air. Needling closer Edwards bounced a 40-foot outlet bounce pass to Wooden, splitting three defenders. Incredible find. The run continued. After an airball from 's PG nicknamed 'Twin', BMaze Elite 14u recaptured the lead, mostly on transition buckets, 54-43. The suddenly spry BMazers had run off 10 straight points. tried coasting to finish and BMaze was not letting them. B.J. Edwards and Miles Versa sprinted up the floor. Together they created problems for a shook unit. Head Coach Marcus Tibbs earned the game's first technical foul at a pivotal juncture, with 2:09 left and the game tight. Angered at a perceived whistle omission, Coach Tibbs' action granted BMaze two free throw attempts. BMaze Head Coach McDowell elected Edwards to shoot the pair. He made the first and missed the second. The game was now tied 55-55 with 2:09 left. Berry missed a corner pocket triple that would have helped. Twin at the line. Free throw good! Free throw bad! now led 56-55 with 1:47 left. Sanger's biggest shot of the tournament fell! 57-56 BMaze up! The two teams traded misses. As the seconds dwindled Konata Werts dropped an enormous mid-range jumper on BMaze Elite 14u, 57-57. BMaze rushed into a missed shot and a made free throw sealed the title. A single point separated BMaze Elite 14u from rattling off three straight Sunday wins. This was the final fight from a supremely successful summer. You can read more about the wonderful BMaze Elite 14u season here.