The Buffalo Defenders 13u team coached by John Reinholz and Charlie Panapinto attended the AAU D-II National Championship Tournament in Kingsport, Tennessee in July 2008, finishing tied for 9th place. The 34-team field had some of the best 13u teams from around the country. The tournament is designed with 8 pools of four or five teams, and to qualify for the 16-team championship bracket it was necessary to come in the top two in the pool. The Defenders ended up finishing second in their pool and advanced to the championship bracket as a 2 seed.

Pool play:
7/10/08 - Defenders lost their tournament opener 42-40 in heart-breaking fashion as the Brevard (FL) Blue Thunder hit a 17-foot jumpshot at the buzzer. Sarah Pawlak had 22 points and Kallie Banker finished with 7 points in the loss. The Blue Thunder ended up winning the pool with a 3 and 0 record and went on to finish 5th in the tournament.

7/10/08 - Defenders beat the Bristol (TN) Pink Panther 45-36. Sarah Pawlak had 14, Kylie Reinholz 8, and Sami Wozniak finished with 6. Katie Healy and Taylor Rooks of the Defenders 12u team joined the 13u team for the tournament and contibuted with 5 and 3 points, respectively.

7/11/08 - Defenders finished pool play by beating the Reebok Select team out of Greensboro, NC 60-44. Sarah Pawlak dominated on both ends of the court grabbing 15 rebounds and scoring 33 points. Ashley Smith contributed with 10, Kylie Reinholz had 8, and Candis Kapuscinski added 4.

Bracket play:
7/12/08 - Defenders lost to the Winchester (VA) Rising Stars 49-42 in a hard fought battle against the team that went on to win the tournament and was undefeated throughout. Ashley Smith and Kylie Reinholz led the Defenders with 10 points each, while Sarah Pawlak added 8 and Bridget Andrews finished with 7.

7/13/08 - Defenders bounced back with an outstanding 62-49 win against a very talented North Carolina Nighthawks team. In a game that was tight throughout, the Defenders broke it open down the stretch to advance to the round of 12 teams. Bridget Andrews led the team with 17 points, while Kylie Reinholz and Sarah Pawlak had 12 and 11, respectively. Mikaela Connelly added 7 points and 10 rebounds, and played her best game of the tournament.

7/13/08 - Defenders were eliminated from the tournament after a tough loss to the Dayton (OH) Hoopstars, 48-41. Sarah Pawlak led the team with 20 points, while Mikaela Connelly contributed with 7, and Katie Healy had 6. With the loss, the Buffalo Defenders 13u team finished the tournament tied for 9th place.

The tournament brackets can be viewed on-line at: http://www.aauresults.org/girlsb/re_nationals.php?lkid=&s=125&y=2008

The girls 15 and under team attending the Nike Summer Slam Classic held in and around the Jersey City, New Jersey area and finished with a respectable 3-2 record with both losses coming by just 2 points. The girls opened the tournament against a Nike sponsored New England Crusaders team and dropped a 49-47 decision to the eventual tournament champion. Julie Hagner continued her season long strong play leading the team with 17 points. Meagan Heldwein had 8 points to go along with 8 rebounds. THe second game saw the girls defeat the Maryland Hurricanes 62-32. Shannon Dougherty hit 4 3 pointers and led the team with 16 points. Erin O'Brien scored 15 first half points and added 4 assists. Haley Pickett added 9 points and 5 rebounds. The 3rd game saw the girls defeat the New Jersey Extreme 60-52. The team dominated the inside with Pickett scoring 13 points, Hedwein added 12 points and Sarah Federico added 11 points. Obrien continued her steller floor play with 10 points and 5 assists. The girls then dropped a heart breaking game to Virginia Hoop-Booth 56-54. Shannon Dougherty scored all 16 of her points in the second half. Julie Hagner scored 11 points and Meg Heldwein had 10 points to go with her 10 rebounds. Free throw shooting was the difference as the girls hit just 13 of 32 free throws. THe girls then closed the tournament defeateing the Elmira Lady Express 66-46. Heldwein led the team with 14 ponts. Mia Manzella had 3 three pointers and had 11 points.

Defenders 13u and 14u teams had an outstanding weekend in Hershey! The 14u team was 3 and 2 with two close losses and the 13u team ended up 4 and 1 coming in 9th overall out of the 36 teams in the tournament. The only loss came at the hands of the PA Chillies, who went on to win the tournament. Both teams played extremely hard all weekend, were very fundamentally sound, and played great team basketball.

It was a very successful weekend for the 13u and 14u teams. The 14u team won the 15u bracket by winning their pool and then the crossover game championship. The 13u team won the 14u bracket by winning their pool with great wins against a very good Rochester Warriors Meir's 14u team and by avenging an early season loss to the Empire Dragons with a 77-33 blowout. The 13u team then beat the Rochester Warriors O'Keefe team (63-37) in the crossover game championship - this is the team that has beaten us in close games our previous two tournaments.

I'd also like to congratulate Coach Charlie's 12u team for winning their 13u pool and then winning the crossover championship game by beating the Defenders' 13u Kanally team in a triple OT thriller.

The 13u team (playing in the 14u division) won its first three games before losing a hard fought pool final to the Rochester Warriors O'Keefe team on Sunday. The 14's went 4 and 0 in pool play, including wins against the Rochester Warriors Meier's team and Defenders' Benningfield 14u team on their way to the crossover championship game. After being down by 12 points in the championship game, they beat the Rochester Warriors O'Keefe team in an OT thriller to win the 14U division of the Niagara Rapids' NYS AAU Championship tournament.

The 13u team looked excellent in its first game on Saturday beating a good Syracuse Stars team by 24 (the Stars came back and beat Coach Benningfield's 14u Defenders team on Sunday). Saturday's second game against O'Keefe's Roch Warriors team was a hard fought game that ended in a 12-point loss. Although every girl played hard the entire game, and we had a 1-point halftime lead, the Warriors size and experience wore us down in the second half. The 13's rebounded well on Sunday with solid wins over the Unity Wildcats and Brockport Lady Devils to finish the weekend 3 and 1 in a very competitive 14u 'A' bracket.

The 13u and 14u teams played excellent basketball all weekend with both teams ending up 4 and 0 and receiving bids for the AAU Nationals. The 13u team will be heading to Kingsport, TN for the AAU D-II Nationals in July.

The 13u Defenders team played outstanding all weekend long and went 4 and 0 in winning the 14u division. The final victory was a hard fought battle against a very good team from Guelph, Ontario.

Congratulations on an outstanding weekend at the Coca-Cola Classic basketball tournament in Washington, PA. Our 13U and 14U teams both played in a tough 14u division and got to play 6 games each, including three games on Sunday in the single-elimination bracket round. Both teams also beat a #1 seeded team to get to the semi-finals, and ironically both teams lost heart breakers by 1 point or we could have had an all Buffalo Defenders final. I was proud of the way our girls competed against outstanding competition.

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Our 13U team finished their 2008 Season on a high note, by going 4-0 in the Fredonia Tournament. The team finished 12-3 in their final four tournaments and came away with two first place championships in their final two tournaments of the season.

Good luck to all our players as most of them enter high school competition next winter for the first time in their basketball careers.

The girls made their 21st foray into the 16 and under bracket and finished a respectable 3-1. Again starting slow the gilrs lost their 1st game to the WNY Sting 57-41 as a slow start doomed the team. Hayley Pickett scored 13 points and added 8 rebounds. Shannon Dougherty added 11. The girls then rebounded and played their uptempo game and defeated the Rochester Warriors 62-47. Erin O'Brien scored 16 points to lead the winners. Shannon Dougherty scored 14 points. Pickett added 11 points and Mia Manzella scored 10 points. On sunday the girls overcame injuries and 10 point half time deficet to defeat the Bath Blaze 63-51. Pickett had another dominating performance with 20 points and 10 rebounds. O'Brien showing a great knack of knowing when to shoot and when to pass had 18 points and 7 assists. The girls then showed they know how to finish a tournament by defeating the Southern Tier Pride 69-47 as 5 girls scored in double figures led by Pickett's 19. Shannon Dougherty and Julie Hagner scored 12 points apiece. O'Brien and Alex Skomra scored 11 each. The team's record now stands at 28-4 on the season including a 25-3 record as a 15 year old team. The team now readies itself for the Nike Summer Slam tournament being held in Jersey City, New Jersey featuring some of the best team's from the New York City and the country.

The Buffalo Defenders 15 and under team entered the NYS Championship's held at Canisius College and finished 3-1. The only loss came in the opening game to eventual champion KW Lightning 43-41 in a game which starting point guard Erin O'Brien did not play. Hayley Pickett led the team with 11 points and Julie hagner added 10. Playing at full strength for the second games saw the girls hand the Niagara Rapids a convincing 54-32 defeat. The girls broke open a game agter halftime with a 34 point second half. The balance attack was led by Pickett's 9 points and saw 6 other girls score at least 5 points. On sunday the girls defeated the Buffalo Storm - Deren 45-31. O'Brien led the team with 9 points and Meg McGrath chipped in with 8 points and 6 rebounds. The girls finished the tournament strong by defeating the the Shock from Ontario 71-41. Julie hagner scored 16 points, Erin O'Brien scored 12 more. Mia Manzella scored 11 points and Pickett chipped in with 10.

Winning their first Pool Bracket this spring, our 13U team is playing their best basketball all season. With a gutsy 4 point victory against the home town tournament team in their first game and finishing pool play with strong finishes in games 2 and 3, the stage was set for a classic encounter with our sisters from Coach Panepinto's team. Both teams came in the game at 3-0. The final result was a triple overtime heart-breaking loss 51 - 49. Next up is our scheduled final tournament at Fredonia, the last week of June. Good luck to all our Buffalo Defenders playing in the Gus Macker next weekend.

Traveling to Binghamton University, playing 4 games in less than 18 hours and playing with as little as 6 players, took its toll on our team this past weekend. Our 13U team ended up with a 2 - 2 record. Both losses were by only two points each, while both wins were by a margin of 24 and 13 points respectively. We all learned a big lesson, why basketball players need to be in good condition.

A taste of Binghamton, at "Phil Chicken House" and the thought of going back next year and finishing the job on the courts, seems inevitable.

On day two, the Defenders came out ready to show just how much they had improved since their first tournament loss to this Rochester Warriors team 40-7. The game was a nail-biter as neither team led by more than 6. The Defenders played an aggresive man-to-man defense while the Warriors played mostly a match up w/ double-teams. Initially the Defenders had trouble handing the constant Warrior double-teams. After a timeout, the ball started moving from one Defender to another and the shots started dropping. The two teams played to a 15-15 tie at halftime. To start the second half the Defenders were lifted by Abbie Schwab's first 3-pointer of the year. The Defense picked up and the Defenders were leading by 6, 31-25 when a Warrior guard sank two consecutive three-pointers. With one last chance to pull out a win in regulation the Defenders ran an out-of-bounds play but couldn't get up a good shot. However, the clock didn't start and the Warriors had a chance to win it in regulation, but a contested layup rolled out. In the overtime, the Defenders had to twice come back from basket deficits, but each time Sara DiPasquale answered with strong inside moves to tie the game. After a great defensive stop the Defenders again had the last chance to win. 3 crisp passes resulted in Emily Nason being fouled going to the basket with 4 seconds left. She sank the 2nd shot and the Defenders had a hard-fought 36-35 win. The Defenders finished with an easy 49-13 win over the Newfane Panthers.

The improvement of the 12 & Unders continued with our second consecutive team championship at the New York State AAU Regionals hosted by the Niagara Rapids. On Saturday, the Defenders picked right up where they left off last weekend with 2 strong offensive and defensive games. In the first game, the Defenders controlled the game throughout leading 26-10 at half and ultimately scoring a season-high 47 points in a 47-32 win over Niagara PAL. In the second game, the Defenders ran out to a 32-10 lead at halftime, beating the Buffalo Storm 50-12. This set another team high offensive output. Both wins were charterized by excellent defensive rebounding limiting the two teams to one shot, strong offensive rebounding leading to many second chance points, commitment to "help defense", and unselfishness as the girls had many beautiful bounce pass assists. A well balanced offense resulted in each of the girls scoring in both games. Sara DiPasquale led the attack in the first game with a season-high 12 points. Erika Perk and Emily Nason each chipped in with 8 points. In the second game, Sara DiPasquale, Emily Nason, and Lauren Jensen each scored 10 points. Adila Gathers chipped in with 9 points including her first 3 of the season. The strong defensive effort which befuddled both opponents was lead by Erica Jankowksi, Hillary Nason, Alyssa Perk, and Abbie Schwab. (See continued writeup for Day Two!).

Team play highlighted the 12 & Unders first tournament championship this weekend. Saturdays wins were never in question as the Defenders played great team defense in the second half of the first game holding the Buffalo Storm scoreless leading to a 36 to 8 win. Erika Perk and Sara DiPasquale lead the offense with 10 and 8 points, respectively. In the second game, all 10 players scored as they rolled over the Genesee Valley Fillies 42 to 11. Emily Nason and Erika Perk led the Defenders with 8 points each. On Sunday the Defenders faced two strong challengers. In the first game, the first half was back and forth ending with the Erie Saints leading 18 to 16. The Defenders turned up the defensive heat as Adila Gathers, Emily Nason, and Alyssa Perk took turns pressuring the Saints guards. The Defenders controlled the backboards as Sara DiPasquale and Abbie Schwab limited the Saints to one shot each time down the floor. Offensively, Laura Fairbanks made a layup off a steal and then drilled a three-point shot to put the Defenders in the lead for good culminating in a 33 to 28 win. Needing a win over the home team, Rochester Warriors to clinch their first championship, the Defenders ran a tip play to start the game with Erica Jankowski finishing with a layup. Hillary Nason made a layup as time ran out in the first half to take the lead they would never relinquish and Lauren Jensen started the second half with a big three-pointer in the 38 to 28 win. Congratulations!!!!!

Another strong second place finish was only part of the successful weekend our 13U experienced in the Warriors tournament. A heart breaking opening game lose, with the winning shot being made as time expired, did not discourage this team of special young ladies. They re-grouped and delievered three staight victories, with the final victory of the tournament against the previously unbeaten Rochester Warriors team. The nine point victory was played in a truely passionate and physical contest. With victories in 5 of the last 7 tournament games, our team is preparing for a great tournament next weekend in Binghamton.