A True Team Win for BABC in the 9th Grade National Championship
Posted on July 10th 2011
Boston's own AAU basketball power, the BABC, took home another National Championship on Saturday evening as they defeated the Ascension Jaguars of Louisiana 78-66 in Little Rock, Arkansas.
It was a long week for first year head coach Eggie McRae's 9th grade BABC squad. They came to Little Rock with only nine players as they were missing guard Wayne Selden, who was off playing at the NIKE run Lebron James Academy in Ohio. BABC ran through pool play by defeating their opponents by an average of 29 points per game.
"Everyone played well," McRae told New England Prep Stars. "But the player who really came into his own was Roxbury's Damion Smith."
Smith lead BABC in scoring as he averaged 26 points and pulled down seven rebounds per game throughout the tournament.
Point guard Jonathan Joseph also came up big for BABC over the long week. The talented floor general played in every second of the Elite 8, the Overtime Final Four game as well as the National Championship game. Despite playing all of those minutes in the short time frame he averaged eight assists to only 1.1 TO per game.
"He just ran the show all week," said McRae. "He scored huge buckets when needed and was the main reason we won eight tough games in five days."
Fall River natives Curtis Cobb and Tyree Robinson also played important roles in the run to the title for BABC. The young freshmen each took turns contributing in different ways in each game. In the Elite 8 game vs. Sports U of New Jersey, Cobb played the entire game and hit some big shots in the win. Robinson had a very consistent tournament but saved his best game of the tournament for the final where he netted 15 points, pulled down nine rebounds and had five big blocked shots. Robinson's athleticism was a key factor in the victory.
Bobby Ahearn of Marshfield played his best game in the semi-final match-up vs. the Jackson Tigers of Mississippi. Ahearn's rebounding and defense helped control crucial possessions for BABC down the stretch.
Joey O'Connell of Holyoke came up with two huge baskets and had two big steals in the final quarter of the Championship game.
"It is that kind of hustle and production that makes Joe a great player," said McRae.
Forward Bonzie Colson of New Bedford was the pinnacle of consistency throughout the tournament as the St. Andrews school forward averaged a double double over the course of the week and capped off the week by scoring 18 points and grabbing 11 rebounds in the final.
6-foot-8 center Gerard Adams of Norwood and Catholic Memorial and 6-foot-6 forward Marcel Pettway of North Providence, RI and Wilbraham & Munson also contributed to the championship run with their post play and work on the glass and on the defensive end.
Selden's story of making the trip to Arkansas for the final game is one for the AAU story books. The highly ranked Selden (pictured below) joined the team the morning of the championship game because he received the invitation to the Lebron Skills Academy in Ohio.
"We knew we would need to make the final for Wayne to come down to Little Rock," said McRae. "So when we won the semi-final game as he finished camp, our assistant coach and operations director, Jay Demings, spent the night talking to him and making travel arrangements."
Selden was dropped off at the airport in Akron at 3:30 a.m. He then jumped on a 7 a.m. flight from Akron to Atlanta and then another from Atlanta to Little Rock to reach his team for the Championship game. Demings picked Selden up at the airport, got him signed in to the tournament and after a team lunch they headed straight for the game.
"With dead legs from a week of intense camp, Wayne started slow," said McRae. "He came on in the fourth quarter to score 10 of his team high 20 points which allowed us to pull away for the win."
Selden did all of this on one hour of sleep on a plane.
"He is such an unselfish kid," said McRae. "He simply wanted to do whatever was needed to bring a title back to Boston."
A lot goes into a championship run on and off the court. The efforts of the BABC development program lead by Leo Papile and his staff of coaches and volunteers are key to success on the National level.
Demings as well as assistant coach Jason Green played huge roles in the team victory.
"Jason is just a tremendous asset to have in the organization and I am lucky to have him on the bench with me," said McRae. " His knowledge of the game and his ability to settle our guys in every situation is a huge reason why we have been successful. He is going to make an outstanding head coach one day very soon."
This is the 14th National Championship for the prestigious BABC program.
