NORTH AUGUSTA, S.C.—It’s a safe bet back in April had someone given odds on the winner of the first ever Nike Girls Elite Youth Basketball league you wouldn’t have found much action surrounding George Quintero’s California Storm – Team Taurasi. They lost their first three games during round one in Hampton, Virginia, but rebounded to win their next two, including a 59 – 47 win over Tree of Hope, ultimately their opponent in the EYBL / Nike Nationals championship game. Round two in Chicago saw them drop just one contest punching their ticket to Augusta with a 6 – 4 record. When all was said and done Wednesday, a dramatic come from behind 65 – 60 overtime win gave Team Taurasi their first ever Nike Nationals title and the inaugural Nike EYBL crown.
The win didn’t come easy. Trailing at the half by just three they saw Tree of Hope extend the lead to double figures several times and still faced a 10 point deficit with under eight minutes to go in the contest. Andee Velasco and Katie Campell weren’t quite ready to surrender and began a barrage of threes that narrowed the gap and kept Team Taurasi within reach. Velasco cut the margin to three with the shot clock off and Tree of Hope left the door open missing the front end of a one and one keeping the game at one possession. Velasco, who was 5 of 15 from three point range, had one more left in her and nailed the long ball at the buzzer to send the game into overtime.
The overtime period saw Brijanee Moore pick off three of her seven steals on consecutive plays and Velasco sealed the win going four of four at the line in a 6 – 1 extra frame. Team Taurasi played the extra period without standout forward Leonna Odom who had fouled out as did fellow junior, 6-0 Valerie Higgins.
For the game, Tree of Hope won the battle on the boards and was more effective as a team from the floor hitting 47.6 percent of their attempts while Taurasi shot 36.2. Velasco and Campbell had all nine of the team’s threes in the win with Campbell going four for four in just 10 minutes of playing time. Velasco paced the scoring with 19 while Odom had 16 to go with Campbell’s 12. Deja Strother continued her dominant play that saw her average a double – double over the course of the event. In the loss she was seven of eight from the floor leading to 19 points while pulling down 12 rebounds. Juanita Agosto and Jayla Russ both added 10 with Russ going three of seven from long range.
Team Taurasi had just 13 turnovers on their way to the win while Tree of Hope had 20 including several critical possessions down the stretch. Moore’s seven steals were half of an impressive 14 total that helped trigger the comeback late in the game. The champs also took advantage of a dismal 16 for 30 free throw effort from their Northwest neighbors by knocking down 14 of their own 18 free throws attempts.
While the Junior Division wasn’t the byproduct of their own EYBL competition, the title was still a hard earned process for the Georgia Pistols. When the smoke cleared Tuesday night the Pistols and the Philadelphia Belles were the two left standing for Wednesday morning’s championship match up. Unfortunately for the Belles they stumbled at the worst possible time against a talented team from neighboring Georgia. A rash of turnovers out of the gate and an ultra-frosty 3 for 22 second half shooting performance turned a three point halftime deficit into a 15 point loss. Of course, the aggressive defense of the Pistols had a hand in the Belles struggles forcing 19 turnovers before the final horn had sounded.
Khayla Pointer, a 2017 guard, and classmate, 6-2 Autumn Newby both had 14 in the win. Felicia Ayieotan went six of nine from the floor and had five boards as well as five blocks for the Belles.
The third and fourth place teams out of pool play get the opportunity to compete in the Silver Bracket each year in Augusta. With 10 EYBL teams not qualifying for Nike Nationals and eight more being eliminated after three days of play there’s still plenty of competitive basketball to be played among some strong teams. Texas United got by the Central Florida Elite in one Silver semifinal 71 – 68 while the New Jersey Sparks eliminated the Fairfax Stars with a 62 – 53 win to advance. The championship game saw Texas Untied grab a four point lead at the break before opening things up in the second half to post a 66 – 48 win.
Lauren Cox finished with a double – double of 23 points and 11 rebounds while teammate Jordan Moore added one of her own with 16 and 12. Cox and Moore combined for 15 of 25 shooting that was part of a 24 of 48 ( 50%) team effort in the win. Forward Samantha Fuehring had 22 for the Sparks in the loss to go with nine rebounds and four steals. While Texas United was shooting 50 percent from the floor the Sparks were ice cold finishing 20 of 65 at just 30.8 percent. Cox and Moore’s rebound effort gave the winners a nine rebound edge 41 – 32 but the Sparks did force them into 18 turnovers by way of their 14 steals.
EYBL Gold Bracket Qualifiers
Only 24 of the 32 EYBL teams qualify for Nike Nationals and of that group just eight move into the coveted gold bracket for a chance at all the marbles. With a total of seven gold match ups decided by an average of six points per game the competition is as stiff as it gets on the club circuit and no bragging rights come with more credibility. Below are the eight gold bracket teams starting with the finalists followed by those who lost in the semis and then the quarterfinal departures. We’ll have more on the teams and standouts from Nike Nationals in the coming days as well as coverage from Blue Star nationals and other events from the homestretch of the July evaluation period.
