15U Defenders took home the championship of the Erie Spring Classic Tournament by winning 3 tough games on Sunday. The Defenders lost its opening game of the tourney on Saturday, which forced them to face #1 seeds PA Storm and Buffalo STORM (Jamestown) on Sunday before advancing to play the PA Runnin Rebs in the championship. In all the 15U Defenders ended up 4 and 1 as they won their second championship of the season.

15U Defenders took home the championship of the Erie Saints AAU Tournament by defeating the host Saints team in the finals by 5 points. The Defenders played outstanding basketball all weekend with wins over the PA Prime Time Hoops, Southern Tier Lady Hornets, PA Blue Thunder, and the Erie Saints.

The same foursome that won the UB 3 on 3 attended the Buffalo Gus Macker and were undefeated winning the Championship, after beating a tough team from Canada for the second time. Congratulations to Candis Kapuscinski, Kylie Reinholz, Sarah Pawlak, and Bridget Andrews.

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

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 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.

...

...

Four of the 13U girls from John Reinholz team...Candis Kapuscinski, Bridget Andrews, Sarah Pawlak and Kylie Reinholz....won the 13-14 age bracket in the UB 3-on-3 tournament at the University of Buffalo. The four went undefeated in all five tournament games winning the championship for the second consecutive year.

1. 3/29-3/30 - Buffalo STORM Invitational, Orchard Park, NY – http://www.buffalostorm.org/

2. 4/26-4/27 - Washington Impact Coca-Cola Classic, Washington, PA – http://www.washingtonimpact.com/

3. 5/3-5/4 – Western New York Lady Lakers spring classic at Brockport College – http://www.wnyladylakers.com/classic.html

4. 5/10-5/11 – RAP – Rochester Area Players District qualifier – http://www.westsideaau.com/

5. 5/24-5/25 - Rochester Warriors Tournament, Rochester, NY – http://www.rochesterwarriors.com/

6. 5/31-6/1 - NYS AAU Championships, Niagara Rapids, at Canisius College and ECC City – http://www.niagararapids.org/

7. 6/14-6/15 - GV Fillies Classic at Geneseo College – http://www.gvfillies.org/tourney.htm

8. 6/28-6/29 - Lake Erie Shootout, at SUNY Fredonia College

Coach John's 13u and 14u teams will practice on Saturdays and Sundays in April from 3-5pm at St Mary's School for the Deaf. We will also hold practices at Sweet Home HS on Wednesdays from 7-9pm and/or at Lancaster Middle School on Aurora Street on Thursdays from 7-9pm.

This week's schedule:
4/9/08 - we are at SH, 7-9pm
4/10/08 - we are at LMS, 7-9pm
4/12/08 - practice at SMSFD 3-5pm
4/13/08 - practice at SMSFD 3-5pm

After leading much of the game during the 3rd round of bracket play, the Defenders suffered their most painful loss of the tourney as the Missouri Liberty Trailblazers made a late comeback to beat us 53-50. Our girls played extremely well all week against some of the best competition in the country, with three of our four losses by 4 points or less. The AAU National tournament was an outstanding experience for our team and we feel very fortunate to have received a bid and be a part of this elite field of 32 teams. Our goal for next year is to make it to the 13u AAU National Championships in Tennessee!

The Defenders suffered a tough loss, 39-36, in the opening round of bracket play on Monday to the NY Pride from Westchester, NY. After going up 36-35 with under a minute, the Pride hit a big shot to take a 37-36 lead with less than 30 seconds remaining. We had a good look in the closing seconds, but couldn't get it to drop, and were then forced to foul.

Facing elimination on Tuesday, the Defenders played an outstanding game against the Fairfax (VA) Stars. Leading 37-31 with less than 4 minutes remaining, we went on a 14-2 run to close out the win 51-33.

Todays opponent in the 3rd round of bracket play is the MO Trailblazers, who we lost to on Sunday in pool play 63-59.

After a heartbreaking loss on Sunday, 63-59, to the top-seeded team in our pool (Missouri Trailblazers), the Defenders will enter bracket play and face the NY Pride from Westchester, NY. After pool play, the Defenders are 1 and 2 with a win against the MN Thunder and losses to the Baltimore Cougars and MO Trailblazers. The competition at this level is outstanding and it's giving our girls an opportunity to meet players from many states throughout the country. The website with schedules, teams, and results is: http://www.bloomingtonmn.org/game-info.asp

The 12u team posted a 4 and 0 record at the GV Fillies Tournament to win the 13u 'Blue' Division. The girls had wins over Niagara PAL, Rochester Warriors, Unity Wildcats, and Seneca Falls Blue Devils enroute to the championship. This was the sixth tournament championship for the 12u team this year. The final tournament they will be participating in is the 12u National Division II tournament in Bloomington, MN later this month.

The 12U Blue Team made an outstanding effort in the Rochester Warriors Tournament. We ended up 2 and 2, taking 2nd place in the 13U Blue division. The girls played extremely well all weekend, especially the way they battled the two 13U 'A' teams!!