Lori Piestewa Tournament: top scorers
The FMD basketball club took home the championship of the Lori Piestewa Native American Tournament on July 22, winning four consecutive games and finishing off with a 69-60 victory over Assist Outbreak.
Here are some of the top scorers from a competition that showed just how well the Natives can hoop.
- Russ Lingruen-Thain of the AZ Warriors played a quality offensive style throughout the tournament, helping his team reach the semifinals. His production came mostly near the basket with lay ups and short jumpers off assists from other Warriors, such as his brother Tommie Lingruen-Thain, but he also flashed some ability to hit jump shots from outside the arc.
- Yoann Djassa of Assist Outbreak was more of a facilitator in this tournament, but showed some of the best scoring ability when that appeared to be his objective. He hit a few key jumpers that won close games and helped the team squeeze out a final berth in the bracket. In the final game, he did a nice job getting to the basket and drawing fouls at the rim.
- FMD‘s BJ Burries was tough to guard from pool play all the way to the championship round. His go-to move was the outside jumper, which he hit consistently for three points, seemingly whenever FMD needed it most. That was not all he did on offense, though, as his dribbling skills and ability to get to the rim were on display, especially after steals and in transition.
- The fourth semifinal team in the tournament was Miami Vikings, who were led by Matthew Riddle. Riddle played some of the competition’s best all-around offense, attacking the basket in a variety of ways to hit lay ups and shoot jumpers from all over the key, contested and open. He played a big man role on a relatively small team and scored a lot against larger opponents who guarded him.
- Perhaps the tournament’s top-scoring big man, FMD‘s Tanner Poeschl did not play a traditional post position, even as the tallest player on the floor a majority of the time. He preferred to face the basket with the ball, using his long arms and height to finish around the rim with lay ups, and was the only player in the tournament that showed consistent in-game dunking ability. He also hit some shots from the top of the key on the pick-and-pop.