8th Grade Girls Take 2nd Place in Seattle High School Tourney

Hoop Dreams 8th Grade Girls Take 2nd Place in Seattle High School Tourney April 16-17

The 8th Grade Girls Hoop Dreams Black team decided to see if they were ready for the next level of competition. Coach Sham, Dave and the team headed to Seattle for the MSNM Spring Tournament, April 16th. Their first game put them up against a team from Snohomish, WA. The ladies came out of the gate strong, outscoring their opponent 29-15 in the first half. Destiny Slocum and Riley Helmick lead the scoring with 15 and 13 points in the game. Riley went 5 for 6 from the line and 2 for 2 from behind the arch. Danielle Jardine and Ebony Norman pulled down 6 rebounds each, and Tori Williams lead the team with 5 steals. The Dreamers got the 17 point victory, finishing 57-40.

The second game of the day put the ladies head to head with a familiar club, the Spokane Dawgs. The Dawgs team included Juniors and Sophomores that won their first game of the tourney as well. The Dawgs came out strong, taking a 12-0 lead in the first half. The Hoop Dreams TEAM proved why every member of the team is important with outstanding play from the bench to fire up the offense and show the Dawgs what “Dreamer Defense” is all about. Olivia Haney scored 4 off the bench, as did Tori Williams in the first half. Raquel Jardine ended the game with 16 points and 10 rebounds for a double-double, while Molly Adcox and Dominique Williams put up 6 points each. Ebony Norman took a pretty hard hit while going after a rebound and Destiny Slocum was mis-treated by a fan from the Dawgs sidelines, but Hoop Dreams “Class” was evident by how the girls handled themselves.

Day 2 of the competition earned the ladies a spot in the semi-finals of the Red All-Star division against Walla Walla. Oddly enough, the same Walla Walla team that handed this Hoop Dreams team their first loss of the 2009-2010 season with a last second “Hail Mary” shot to take an overtime win in Pendleton. Walla Walla was playing with Freshman and Sophomores, and just as it happened in their first meeting, the game was a close one from beginning to end. The Jardine Twins played great defense accounting for 4 and 5 steals each. Destiny Slocum had a team high 12 points in the 39-36 victory.

This Lady Dreamers team has seen many championship games, but this was their first “High School” level championship. This challenge brought a new level of competition and the girls rose to the occasion. Snohomish Triple Threat had some very big, physical players, and not one Dreamer backed down from the challenge. The Triple Threat played “in your face” defense, with a full court press from the start to the finish. After the first half, the Dreamers found themselves down by 10 points. This team wouldn’t go down without a fight. Tori Williams, the only 6th grader on the Black team, stepped it up with the team high 14 points, going 5 for 6 from the 2 point range. Tori, Molly Adcox, and Raquel Jardine were perfect from the free throw line, and the team went 18 for 24 from the charity stripe. The ladies pulled ahead late in the second half with a 3 point lead, but the clock was against them, ultimately falling 3 points short when the buzzer went off. Cora Ianniciello played great defense, as usual, and the “Bigs” (Ebony Norman, Olivia Haney, Raquel and Danielle Jardine) held the Triple Threat bigs scoreless. Coach Sham and Coach David were impressed with the ladies play, as the girls never backed down, no matter the size, age, or skill of their opponents.