Teammate Basketball National Championship: Pennsylvania Teams

<p>This past weekend Teammate Basketball held their 2021 AAU National Championship Tournament in Virginia. The event brought a variety of teams throughout many states to the Virginia Beach Sports Center located less than one mile from the beautiful coastline of Virginia Beach. With the courts packed all weekend with talented players, college coaches were checking out the games each day. Not only were the coaches impressed with the competition, but the fans bought into the excitement as well. From overtime games to buzzer beaters, the extravaganza concluded on Sunday afternoon with the championship games. Despite the long commute from Pennsylvania, some teams made the trip to Virginia Beach for the National Championship Tournament.</p> <p>From the Pittsburgh area, Urban Impact brought three teams, and the Legendz program headed down to Virginia with their one high school level team. The Total Skills organization made the trip with their two teams from Doylestown, PA, and Sideline Cancer attended the tournament with their one team. Also, the Court Kings team ventured to the beach with one team as well. For the families and friends that couldn’t make the drive to Virginia Beach, all the games were filmed "live" by Baller TV.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Class of 2022 PA Teams</strong></span></p> <p>Urban Impact (Finished 5th in the Gold Division) - Led by [player_tooltip player_id="1188543" first="Jaden" last="Gales"], a 6’6 wing forward from Bishop Canevin, the Urban Impact team got out to a fast start in Virginia Beach. He dominated inside the post and out on the wing while finishing many times at the rim with thunderous slam dunks. Jaden averaged close to 20 points a game. </p> <p>Legendz (Finished 3rd in the Gold Division) - One of the main players on the Legendz team is a member of the 2023 class, [player_tooltip player_id="991370" first="Kaleb" last="Pryor"]. This 5’11 combo guard from Gateway put on a show in multiple games throughout the weekend. He nailed a 35-foot three-pointer at the buzzer to win an extremely competitive contest. </p> <p>Court Kings (Lost in the Championship of the Silver Division) - This program continues to improve throughout the summer and more players are getting accustomed to playing together this AAU season. They made a great sprint to the championship game on Sunday.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Class of 2023 PA Teams</strong></span></p> <p>Urban Impact (Won the Silver Division Championship) - After a slow start in pool play, these guys stepped up their game when it mattered most in bracket play. Led by the trio of [player_tooltip player_id="991350" first="Damon" last="Astorino"], a 6’2 combo guard out of Ambridge, [player_tooltip player_id="1202035" first="Jason" last="Rodrigguez"], a 6’5 power forward from Westinghouse, and [player_tooltip player_id="1186484" first="Xzavier" last="Rodgers"], a 6’2 combo guard from Obama Academy, Urban Impact blew away the competition in bracket play. Astorino had three games scoring over 30 points in each contest and shot over 90% from the free-throw line. He scored in a variety of ways and tallied a triple-double in the championship game. Rodrigguez had multiple double-double games and dominated the paint all tournament. He was a man among boys in all six contests. Rodgers took over games with his energy on the defensive end of the court. Also, he had two games scoring over 20 points. </p> <p>Total Skills (Lost in the Final Four of the Gold Division) - Tyler Meinel and Kyle Berndt, two top players of Total Skills dominated games with their ability to score and play quality defense. Also, Nolan Jacob worked hard on both ends of the floor in each contest.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Class of 2024 PA Teams</strong></span></p> <p>Urban Impact (Finished 11th in the Silver Division) - These young men have been working well together all spring/summer on the AAU scene. One standout player from the group is Rayshawn Saunders, a quick point guard from Obama Academy. He creates opportunities for his team, as well as himself with his shifty, evasive moves on the court. He had some high-scoring games in this tournament.</p> <p>Sideline Cancer (Lost in the Silver Division Championship) - This team made a terrific run in bracket play losing in the championship game to an extremely competitive and talented squad. </p> <p>Total Skills (Finished 7th in the Gold Division) - Carson Bethea had a high-scoring tournament with multiple 20 point games this weekend. Also, Tyler Dandrea did a great job performing at an all-around level each game as well. These guys are growing and maturing as a team this AAU summer.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>Overall this was an extremely competitive and entertaining weekend of basketball. We anticipate even more production from these teams in the future.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p>