NAPLES, Fla.—The world waits for the stroke of midnight, millions crowd Times Square, down under they gather at Sydney Harbor and in Naples, Florida they play basketball. New Year’s Eve 2014 once again wrapped up three days of action and saw the completion of the 16th annual Naples Holiday Shootout less than two hours before the advent of the new calendar year.
Over the course of the event teams from 10 states and the District of Columbia went head to head in 20 separate contests on the floor of St. John Neumann High School. Two separate divisions of competition as well as a four team “Beach Bash” held the attention of over 40 college recruiters and kept the stands full through Wednesday’s championship games. When all was said and done North Little Rock (Little Rock, Ark.) and Long Island Lutheran (Brookville, N.Y.) claimed hard fought titles in the National and American divisions of play.
North Little Rock advanced to the National title game with a semifinal win over a talented Edgewater (Orlando, Fla.) team. Their final round opponent, St. Francis (Alpharetta, Ga.) moved into the final round by way of their win over a youthful but very promising St. John’s College (Washington, D.C.) squad. The Lady Charging Wildcats jumped out quickly behind the play of Arkansas signee Malica Monk who found her way to the rim virtually at will. At the end of the first period of play NLR held a 12 – 7 edge only to see St. Francis settle down and cut the gap to just two at the half, 19 – 17. Monk, a 5-5 point guard, posted 11 points over the first 16 minutes while St. Francis got six from sophomore 6-4 post Kasiyahna Kushituah. Monk was 5 of 10 from the floor and added two steals and two assists for good measure.
The third period saw things go back and forth and the lead extended by just one point with North Little Rock still up 29 – 26 entering the final quarter. Senior guard Camdyn McDaniel decided it was her turn to carry the load as she posted 10 of her game total of 12 in the home stretch including two backbreakers from behind the arch. NLR created a cushion in the last two minutes ringing in the New Year with a 46 – 36 win. The Knights, very youthful and talented themselves, didn’t help their cause shooting just 29 percent from the floor and a woeful 16 percent at the line including a nightmare 0 for 8 for Kushituah.
Monk finished with 23 and five assists with McDaniel adding her 12 points for the only other player in double figures. North Little Rock controlled the boards with a 34 – 27 margin on their way to the title. Sophomore point guard Nichel Tampa posted 10 to lead the way in the loss for the Knights while fellow backcourt and classmate Tara Cummings had seven assists. Abby Grant had three threes in the loss but the senior for St. Francis set a new tournament record tallying 16 over the course of the event.
Long Island Lutheran and championship opponent Miami Country Day (Miami Shores, Fla.) provided a slugfest from start to finish of the tournament finale. LIL, who had beaten Rockbridge (Columbia, Missouri) in the semis, jumped out quickly but were only on top by one after the first by virtue of a least second steal and layup by tourney MVP Boogie Brozoski. The Michigan bound Brozoski played some of her best basketball over the course of the tournament and challenged defenders from deep and off the drive. By half her Lady Crusaders held just a three point lead behind Boogie’s 10 points. The sophomore backcourt tandem of Channise Lewis and Kelsey Marshall both had seven for the Spartans over the first two periods on a combined 5 for 13 shooting.
The third didn’t help the cause for MCD but they were still just two possessions away at 44 – 39 entering the final stanza. Marshall’s free throws at the 5:45 mark finally gave them their first lead which they extended to four before things were locked up again at 49 with 3:36 to go. Things went back and forth again before Seton Hall signee Taylor Byrne made one of two free throws to give Long Island Lutheran a 53 – 51 lead with just :36 seconds remaining. Byrne attempted to draw a charge at the other end but got the block instead putting Marshall on the line where the sophomore nailed two to knot things up at 53 with: :29.7 to go. Following multiple time outs Byrne came through on the offensive end in an unlikely manner banking in a three from the top with just 1.5 seconds on the clock. She also picked off the ensuing long inbounds pass to seal the win 56 – 53.
Coach Rich Slater’s crew had four in double figures on their way to the championship. Byrne finished with 14 as did hot senior perimeter shooter Erin Stock. Boogie had just three in the second half to come home with 13 and junior forward Jenna Silletti added 11 more in the winning cause. Lewis paced the Lady Spartans with 17 while dynamic post Ogechi Anyagaligbo produced 13 points to go with her matching 13 boards. Marshall added 11 but shot just 4 for 12 including 1 of 8 from deep. LIL also won the battle on the boards holding a 33 – 23 edge for the game.
As mentioned earlier, Brozoski claimed MVP honors. Byrne joined her on the All-Tournament team as did Lewis from Miami Country Day. North Little Rock’s Monk got the nod as did long ball shooter Abby Grant from St. Francis. Others honored were Erin Boley – Elizabethtown (Elizabethtown, Ky.), Sophie Cunningham – Rockbridge (Columbia, Mo.), Vivian Gray – Argyle (Argyle, Texas), Angela Jernigan – Edgewater (Orlando, Fla.), Eliza Matthews – Long Beach Poly (Long Beach, Calif.), Sarah Overcash – St. John’s College H.S. (Washington, D.C.), Faith Suggs – Homewood Flossmoor (Flossmoor, Ill.), Destinee Walker – Lake Highland Prep (Orlando, Fla.).
Check back again with Blue Star Media for evaluations and images of several of the players above as well as some of the other standouts on hand in Naples.
