DAY ONE
Every year the NCAA evaluation period of July starts off with one of the biggest, most prestigious tournaments in the country, hosted in Oregon City, Oregon and surrounding areas. It is a mecca of talent for young high school female basketball players. Though a large number of teams and players are from the west and northwest region of the country, teams travel from all over the country to participate in the Nike EOT Tournament and this year even boasted teams from British Columbia, Hawaii and New Zealand. The tournament is limited to 224 teams that were divided into two divisions, National and American. The National division had four brackets of which the winners of each would make up the final four for the National Division Championship. The American had three divisions of which the winners of each bracket would make up a semi-final and final game for the overall American Division Championship.
I arrived early Wednesday morning to PDX, Portland airport and with barely taking a breathe I jumped in the rental car and raced my way to Oregon City high school, not wanting to miss a moment of the action. Throughout the day I jumped around from gym to gym taking in what the teams had to offer taking special notes of particular players, teams and programs. Many of the kids I have seen first hand but there was more than a handful I've only heard or read about that I needed to see in action. The teams expected to dominate did just that the first day but there was one game in particular that I had special interest in. It had the billing of a heavy weight match-up and was a perfectly arranged exhibition game between two top notch teams with some of the better young talent coming up, AZ Warriors and Team Concept (heat).
The AZ Warriors have only two players going into their senior year of high school and Team Concept has only three. Team Concept has four players from the class of 2013 and the Warriors have five. TC also has two 2014's, Jaime Nared and new addition Lexi Bando, while the Warriors have Courtney Ekmark as their lone 2014. The game was held at Old Oregon City high school at 5pm, the summer sun still beaming on the old gym making it warmer than usual and the smell of old wood and old finish filled the arena. The setting was perfect and the one sideline and one baseline of the court was lined with college coaches. Being from Arizona I have seen my share of the Warriors play. I have also followed Team Concept the past couple years but had yet seen them with their three new additions in Russell, Scott, and Bando that weren't with them on the recent trip to Arizona at the AZ Elite Classic in April. I had a feeling it was going to be a great game. Team Concept had the size, skill, athleticism, while the Warriors had experience, a relentless pressing back court and unique way of playing that deciphers defenses with the passing game. Team Concept had no problem with the Warriors press and the Warriors did their usual passing till they found a cutting player in the gaps created by their ball movement or underneath the zone. No team having favorable momentum, it was a tight game that often exchanged leads but by never more than a possession or two. It wasn't till the last minute of the first half that Team Concept seemed to gain a favorable push. The new additions made their presence known, as Russell blocked shots inside and out on the perimeter and Scott and Bando Knocked down open shots helping TC take a 42-36 lead into half. In the second half, even with Shilpa Tummala knocking down her patented big shot after big shot, TC's length, athleticism and skill was proving to be too much for the Warriors. As TC kept gaining momentum and a sizable lead the Warriors looked more and more defeated and they were facing an uphill battle. In the end Team Concept would prove to me and the others in the room that they were no longer the young kid on the block. As quoted in the Oregon Live, Michael Abraham said, "But we've paid our dues. This team has taken beatings in this tournament.” Well, now might be their time and this game was sending a message.
DAY TWO
Sorry to change the note on you. Just know that I was everywhere on this day in every gym watching, taking notes and appreciating the effort and play of so many. I took most my notes on day two. I like to give a shout out to so many, but too many and too many that with all my effort still didn't get seen. So how can I give a true objective opinion of an all-tournament team if I couldn't see every player and every team. My evaluations will be submitted to She Can Play. Contact Coach Billy Carson for access to player profiles. Give time for all content to be input.
DAY THREE
Day Three is the day where the rubber begin to meet the road and no more easy passes. Semi's and finals for each bracket started early Friday morning. My final four were all still in the race but the Platinum had a big question mark. In my opinion there was no clear favorite. The bracket could go to EBX, Tree of Hope, Minn Metro Stars or WC Premier (valley). Here my first bracket got busted as a EBX team minus Gabby Green, who left to play for Cal Storm (Taurasi), fell to a Katie Collier led Tree of Hope. Metro Stars took care of the athletic play of miss Lopez and WC Premier behind the steady play of Scherber and Johnson. My favorite, Team Concept kept steam rolling through the Daniels bracket not even faded by the tough play of the Hood sisters and Plum of the Wiggin Waves. TC showed in the Daniels Bracket Championship that they are not just all offense and fluff. They showed their versatility, using their length and athleticism to shut down the shooting of Kelsey Plum and team defense to stop the attack of Maya Hood. My favorite to win the tournament, Cal Swish never seeming to be firing on all pistons, would scratch their way atop the Gold bracket but not after getting a good scare from the Gonzalez twins, Dakota and Dylan. The two sisters Dakota and Dylan do it all and play with no hesitation but are always on the attack mode. In the silver bracket Jaime Weisner became a household name receiving the praises of many as she blazed the nets for 33pts against Oregon City Elite, followed by another stellar performance, 28pts against the AZ Warriors. I told you people in my last post that she is clutch, a scorer and is as strong if not stronger in the 4th late in a tournament as she is in the very 1st quarter of the first game. She gets it from the line, mid-range, three and all kinds of off-balance shots. NW Blazers did surprise me. I had the AZ Warriors getting out of the silver bracket. I didn't think the Blazers were equipped to beat the Warriors relentless pressure. So the final four was set for the overall National Championship:
Minnesota Metro Stars
Cal Swish
Team Concept
NW Blazers
DAY FOUR
Championship Day!
Team Concept and Minnesota Metro Stars would be the first to hit the floor for a 9am tip off. TC wasted no time taking control of the game from the tip. It was evident from the beginning the Stars were going to have their hands full trying to defend the high/lo offense of Kailee Johnson and Mercedes Russell. TC would often throw Jordyn Peacock into the high post, who demonstrated from that vantage point with her size and length to be a meticulous passer. Jordyn is also well versed in knocking down the 15ft shot from the high post and short corner areas. If that wasn't enough to consider, when TC flashed Jaime Nared to the middle, her athleticism and quickness was too much for Metro Stars. The Metro Stars didn't go down without a fight. Coach Meinhardt of the Stars strategically used timeouts to try and stifle TC's offense and settle his troops but on the defensive end TC was too long and quick. The Stars got nothing easy and several times were called for shot clock violation. Team Concept would go on to win by a sizable margin and await the winner of the Cal Swish/NW Blazers game.
Cal Swish had a couple games where they had seemed to be struggling putting the ball in the net and were earnestly waiting on that game they know so well to come to them. Finally in the Gold bracket championship against the Cal Stars Elite, Swish seemed to have found their way. Now if they could just reproduce another game like that against Cal Stars, the National Championship would be in their grasp. NW Blazers who implement a variety of defenses primarily chose to go man against Swish, really sticking on their shooters and never allowing them to get comfortable. The Blazers scrambled and covered each other but never allowed for an uncontested shot. Then the Weisner show begin. Weisner a 5'9 athletically built shooting guard who plays the game tough as nails was stroking it from everywhere on the court. One word that can identify Jaime is "Scorer". She simply knows how to put up points and she does it in a variety of ways. Her output along with her back court partner Karlee Wilson would prove to be too much for the Struggling Cal Swish team. The championship game was set North West Blazers vs Team Concept, familiar foes.
It was a nice warm afternoon in Oregon City, Oregon about 2:15 pm as I made my way to the gym at Oregon City high school one last time during this tenure of the EOT 2011. As I made my way to the bleachers my first thought was, "where are the 224 teams that participated in the Nike EOT?". In the day, if you didn't make the championship or play at the same time you brought your behind to the game. It is a respect thing and a sincere desire to see the best of your class compete in a game you so passionately wished you were in. Now days it seems if teams don't make the "Chip", they are on the first ship out of town. I honestly believe it's only the right thing to do, to pay homage to the players that worked hard to get to where all players should want to be. OK, I will get off my soap box now.
There was no need for note taking in this game. I've seen both teams before and a number of times this year and this tournament. If anything stood out to me I would just make a mental note. I was here to purely enjoy watching great young talent, decipher the game and admire what separates the best from the rest. I hate to always state the obvious, but evident every game for Team Concept is there abundance of skill, talent, size, length and athleticism. On the other hand, even though the NW Blazers don't always awe you or pass the look test, they consistently outplay teams in effort, smarts and they have a great scorer in Jaime Weisner. Early in the game it was evident the Blazers were going to have a hard time stopping the high/low offense of TC, with Russell, Johnson and Peacock down low. TC could play big with any of the three before mentioned playing intermittent roles high or low. TC can also go a little smaller and faster using 6'1 Nared as their small forward. One jaw breaking moment, to give you an idea of the versatility of Team Concept, is when 6'5 Russell started a break seamlessly, dribbling in the back court and kicked it up to a 6'4 Johnson who was running the wing. The Blazers would fight to stay in the game, and in previously match-ups were able to stay in games against more talented teams with the relentless scoring ability of Weisner. This day was not to be, as it was the first time I saw Weisner without an answer. The length of Nared and Reynolds gave Weisner fits. Team Concept would run away with the championship game in a lopsided 62-40 win and Reynolds would get MVP honors.
Cal Swish had a couple games where they had seemed to be struggling putting the ball in the net and were earnestly waiting on that game they know so well to come to them. Finally in the Gold bracket championship against the Cal Stars Elite, Swish seemed to have found their way. Now if they could just reproduce another game like that against Cal Stars, the National Championship would be in their grasp. NW Blazers who implement a variety of defenses primarily chose to go man against Swish, really sticking on their shooters and never allowing them to get comfortable. The Blazers scrambled and covered each other but never allowed for an uncontested shot. Then the Weisner show begin. Weisner a 5'9 athletically built shooting guard who plays the game tough as nails was stroking it from everywhere on the court. One word that can identify Jaime is "Scorer". She simply knows how to put up points and she does it in a variety of ways. Her output along with her back court partner Karlee Wilson would prove to be too much for the Struggling Cal Swish team. The championship game was set North West Blazers vs Team Concept, familiar foes.
It was a nice warm afternoon in Oregon City, Oregon about 2:15 pm as I made my way to the gym at Oregon City high school one last time during this tenure of the EOT 2011. As I made my way to the bleachers my first thought was, "where are the 224 teams that participated in the Nike EOT?". In the day, if you didn't make the championship or play at the same time you brought your behind to the game. It is a respect thing and a sincere desire to see the best of your class compete in a game you so passionately wished you were in. Now days it seems if teams don't make the "Chip", they are on the first ship out of town. I honestly believe it's only the right thing to do, to pay homage to the players that worked hard to get to where all players should want to be. OK, I will get off my soap box now.
There was no need for note taking in this game. I've seen both teams before and a number of times this year and this tournament. If anything stood out to me I would just make a mental note. I was here to purely enjoy watching great young talent, decipher the game and admire what separates the best from the rest. I hate to always state the obvious, but evident every game for Team Concept is there abundance of skill, talent, size, length and athleticism. On the other hand, even though the NW Blazers don't always awe you or pass the look test, they consistently outplay teams in effort, smarts and they have a great scorer in Jaime Weisner. Early in the game it was evident the Blazers were going to have a hard time stopping the high/low offense of TC, with Russell, Johnson and Peacock down low. TC could play big with any of the three before mentioned playing intermittent roles high or low. TC can also go a little smaller and faster using 6'1 Nared as their small forward. One jaw breaking moment, to give you an idea of the versatility of Team Concept, is when 6'5 Russell started a break seamlessly, dribbling in the back court and kicked it up to a 6'4 Johnson who was running the wing. The Blazers would fight to stay in the game, and in previously match-ups were able to stay in games against more talented teams with the relentless scoring ability of Weisner. This day was not to be, as it was the first time I saw Weisner without an answer. The length of Nared and Reynolds gave Weisner fits. Team Concept would run away with the championship game in a lopsided 62-40 win and Reynolds would get MVP honors.
Team Concept Nike EOT National Champions 2011
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| R-L: Rachel Mendelsohn, Kailee Johnson, Abby Scott, Mercedes Russell, Anjenae Torregano, Jordyn Peacock, Lexi Bando, Jordan Reynolds, Jaime Nared |
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