Highlights for the 2010 Season

1) Added three 14 year olds to the roster, who were key contributors to our success.
2) Played a total of 38 games.
3) Played in four championship tournament games.
4) Played against our first international competition, by playing in Canada.
5) Quailified for the Grand National Tournament held in Cleveland, Ohio.
6) Played in our first Bluechip tournament (Penn State Invitational).
7) Were invited to an Elite NCAA Division I, team camp.
8) Stage 1 of "Mission Hawaii" completed. We fundraised $10,000 for our dream tournament in Hawaii.

2011 Season Goals and Aspirations

1) Play in approximately 40 games.
2) Return trip to London, Ontario for more international competition.
3) Return back to the Penn State Invitational, with the goal of having colleges take a good look at our team members.
4) Complete Stage 2 of our fundraising efforts.
5) Giving back 10% of our fundraing proceeds to a local community charity.
6) Going to Hawaii and entering the 2011 WYBT Spalding Tournament.
7) Being the best team that we can be!!

Our goals entering our first Bluechip Tournament were to soak up loads of experience (for next years return visit), respect the fact that each of the over 300 teams entered, were champions and to build upon our team-family unity through competition on the court and supplement that with fun times off the court. Our goals were not only met, but surpassed expectation.

Barbecue dinners, Champs Sports Bar get together/trivia game, watching "The Secret Life of the American Teenager", shopping, visiting the Creamery, and of course playing "Mau" were highlights off the court.

The weather was hot, injuries occured and every game was competitive. Though we came away with only one victory, we understand we are a combination of 14 and 15 years olds, who will be better prepared for next years Penn State Tournament.

See the Final 2010 Report Team News, for a summary of our season and what is in our future for the 2011 AAU season

The Pre-Nationals gave our team the opportunity to play top quailty "A" teams and to be better prepared for our first Blue Chip Tournament in a couple of weeks at Penn State.

Our first game was a back and forth battle between the Ontario Storm, with our team coming out with a five point victory.

Game two started off great with our team totally dominating the Syracuse Select team and a quick double digit lead. Then all of a sudden the basket shrunk or the basketball expanded because we just couldn't buy a basket. A good effort, but a loss in the end evened our record to 1-1 for the tournament.

Playing our third game in less than 9 hours in the Carrier Dome the same day, just was not conducive to playing at the level we are accustomed to. We lost to last years 3rd nationally ranked 14U team from New Hampshire. In that game we lost a very important team member, Miranda Daucher, to an injury that sent her in an ambulance and to the hospital. Fears of a possible ruptured spleen, weighed heavily on our team as we all went to sleep that night.

Game four the next day was a tough game against a very good Western Mass. squad. Though the score at the end was not indicative of how hard we played, the loss put our record to 1 - 3 for the tournament.

Great news was shared during the game as Miranda sat with us on the bench and ended up with a much better prognosis on her health then was originally diagnosed.

Gus Macker next and than Penn State.

Our 15U team playing with vigor and a sense of desperation, recharged their batteries and came up with a solid weekend in Binghamton. Strong showings on Saturday against the Rome Rebels and the WNY Lady Lakers, put the team in contention for another championship run.

A small stumbling block against the Catskill Mountain team Sunday morning, didn't stop our team from playing for the championship against the Unity Wildcats, out of the Syracuse area.

Unfortunatley a slow start could not be overcome and a second championship slipped through our hands. The team will have its first weekend off in two months and will be fundraising for our ultimate tournament in Kona, Hawaii next summer, this upcoming weekend at AppleBees.

Great weather, great food, great parent's, great team, did we mention great food, great tournament,

Playing in their 6 straight weekend tournament and 7th out of eight weekends, our 15U team played an inspiring first game against the Finger Lake Fury at the Gates-Chili Recreation Field House. Down by as many as 15 points in the second half, the team exhibited great courage and fortitude by tying the score with 1:30 left in the second half. Free throws were traded, two lead changes for each team all occured in the last minute of regulation, which fittingly ended in a tie. Both teams traded baskets the first minute of OT, but unfortunately for us the Fury team got a couple of breaks and ended up the victor.

Game 2 was a tough game to get up for, and as much as the team tried we ended up 0-2 after Day 1.

Day 2 followed the same trend, of just not being prepared to play consistent basketball and our 15U team limped home with bruised egos and time to reflect, on the importance of playing in the moment and not letting previous games/tournaments be influential on how we as a team need to approach and be prepared to compete.

Great lessons can always be learned from a weekend such as the tournament in Rochester. As John Wooden said, "If you lose self-control everything will fall. You cannot function physically or mentally or in any other way unless your emotions are under control."

Our team put it all together last weekend, with a first place finish in Pool C and a convincing 11 point victory over the Number 1 seeded Bath Blaze from Pool D. The championship was the first for this season and the 7th in less than three seasons for this group of young ladies.

Game 1, played against the Southern Tier Lady Hornets, was a hard fought 49-40 victory. Normally personal accomplishments are not posted in our news, but Toria Williams had a monster game with 21 points and 24 rebounds.

Game 2 was a nail-biter back and forth against a very athletic and talented GV Fillies team. Ashley Pomaski went 4-4 at the charity stripe in the last two minutes of the second half to secure the victory. Final score 53-51.

Game 3 was another tight game against a gritty Spangle team. When the dust settled our Defenders came out with a 31-28 win.

The championship game turned out to be very physical, with both teams going all out for the oppotunity to wear those "Championship" tee shirts at the end of the game. The final score 41 - 30 victory over the Bath Blaze team.

Can't forget to mention it was Caitlin's birthday and we all celebrated with a great diner at No-No's restaurant in Geneva and ice cream for dessert at the "Puppy Palace".

Back on the road this weekend to the beatiful Finger Lakes region. Last year we came out of nowhere, and became the 2009 14U champions of this tournament. A repeat of last season championship seemed to be a very good possiblity.

Our first game was against the Rochester Warriors, a team we all know very well from last season. Jim Boheim of the Syracuse Orange men would have been proud if he watched the Warriors 2-3 zone defense againsy us. It was suffocating and we ended up losing a close game.

Game two was a must for any chance of advancing to the championship game on Sunday. A strong shooting and inspired game ended up with a 8 point victory, against the Finger Lake Fury.

Game three was against another very familiar opponent from last year, the Syracuse Stars. Cold shooting in the first half placed our team in a hole, but a fevorish hard fought battle got us to within a one possesion game, with time ticking off. The Syracuse team played like champs and hit their free throws and ended up with a nice victory.

Three very competitive games for the tournament and a 1-2 record was a good, but hard lesson for us to learn, that the team that plays a whole game is usually the team that comes out with a win in the end.

Murphy's restaurant and the Auburn Holiday Inn brought back memories of last years "Mau" game.

Soon Emma, Miranda, and Alyssa our new players will be indoctinated to this challenging card game.

Playing back in our home town, since the Buffalo State Challenge in early April had our team loaded with confidence and high expectations. Our first game was against Clarence and their huge front court of three six footers. Though we came through with a victory, the loss of our starting point guard, Dani with a leg injury in this game was a big blow. The good news was the injury was a hyper-extended knee and a quick recovery is expected.

Our second game against the WNY Elite was a shocker because our team had enjoyed a good first half and a 7 point lead only to half a poor second half and a loss.

Game three was against the undefeated Niagara Rapids team. Only a victory of 3 points or greater would place us in the play-off hunt for the championship game on Mother's Day. And that is just what we did. Final score 52-43 victory.

Game four on Mother's Day ended with another bad second half and the end of our tournament expectations to a fiesty NY Revolution team.

Good solid tournament and to be honest, we all secretly were happy the team mom's did not have to be stuck in a gym for the whole day.

A long road trip to Pittsburgh, to compete against "A" level teams this weekend ended on a sour note as injuries ended our weekend tournament early. Kristen and Rose came up limping and could not compete. The good news was both injuries were not serious. The high level competiton tested our fortitude and hopefully it will help us as the AAU season gets to the mid point.

This was the first tournament that eat, drink and be merry was the theme of choice as we got to celebrate Jen's birthday at AppleBees. Great bonding for the team and a restaurant chain that we all will be getting very familiar with.

AppleBess will be the site of two fund-raising events in June and July, as we inch closer and closer to our dream tournament in Hawaii. By August of 2010, we should be at 50% of our goal for "Mission 2011 Hawaii".

A personal invitation was extended to our team to play two high quality Canadian teams in London, Ontario. Team one represented Regina Mundi Catholic High School. Regina Catholic ended up in their year end AAU Championship Game. Team two was ranked #7 in all of Ontario. Two close games, ended up in losses for our team, but our team received great exposure to international competition, as well as an invite to come back and compete next year.

Both teams in game one traded souveniers as a token of international kindness and appreciation.

Can't wait until next year!

Tournament cancelled for the 15U division. Lack of teams was the reason,

New season, new players and a second place finish. Our 15U team started the 2010 AAU season, just like they finished last season playing strong defense and proving they will be a team to contend with, going to the championship game in their first tournament. Our 15U team defeated the Buffalo Club 15U team and got to the championship game by defeating our sister 15U team from the Buffalo Defenders. Though a tough loss in the championship to the Buffalo Club "A" team was a bitter pill to swallow, the second place finish qualified our team for the Grand National Tournament held in Cleveland in June. GREAT JOB LADIES!

Team picture with our trophy can be found at this link:

http://www.ohiobasketball.com/images/winners/BuffaloResults.jpg

Known to our team as "Mission Hawaii" our 14U team has started our 12 month fund-raising efforts in order to play in Kona, Hawaii next year. The tournament which has seen the likes of Andrew Bogart, Dwight Howard, and LeBron James play during their younger days will give our team the chance to play against world competition.

At present after the Labor Day Car Wash the team has surpassed 10% of its fundraising goal.

Our team would like to offer everyone the opportunity to purchase a Buffalo Bills package raffle ticket. The one and only one winner will win:

1) Two tickets to the Buffalo Bills vs, Cleveland Browns, Oct. 11th game
2) Pre and Post game coverge with Mark Kelso on the Bill's radio show
3) Autographed Terrel Owens Bills jersey
4) Autographed Trent Edwards Bills jersey
5) Autographed Marv Levy book, "Where else would you rather be"

Each ticket is $20 a piece or 3 for $50. Only 250 tickets will be sold, which means the chance of winning is much better than a state lottery ticket. Contact Coach Kanalley at pkcm@roadrunner.com for tickets. The drawing is September 30th, 2009.

Our 14U team finished the season with strong 3 - 1 record at the Lake Erie Shootout, with a thrilling 47 - 43 overtime game. The second place finish was the third second place finish of the season along with two championship first place finishes. The team ended up with a 19 - 16 record, 4 more wins than the 2008 season.

Celebrating at the team party afterwards, we now look forward to our fundraising off season, which we call "Mission Hawaii". With the commitmment from all the families our goal is to play in the 2010 World Youth Basketball Tournament, in Hawaii.

Thank you to all our families, coaching staff, and most important our players for a fun and memorable 2009 AAU season.

Our 14U team finished 1 - 3 for the tournament, but came away with the experience and understanding what it takes to play in a Pre-National tournament. The tournament attracted close to 200 teams from 13 different states. The lone victory increased the teams total to 17 wins for the season, which bypasses the total of all of last season.

Playing in their 7th consecutive weekend tournament in a row the mental grind finally caught up to our 14U team as they finished 1 - 3. The lone victory was a double digit win against a team from the Cobbleskill area, while a couple of 4 point loses to the Rochester Warriors and WNY Lady Lakers teams sealed the deal. Highlights of the weekend included another building block from the "Pyramid of Success", Team Spirit, enjoying Movie Night at the hotel together while watching "Heart of the Game" and the possibility of going to Hawaii next season to play in the Spalding World Youth basketball Tournament. And no that is not a typo!

The team will take a week off to study for final exams and than get back to tournament play the weekend of June 20th - 21st at Syracuse and finish the AAU season in Fredonia, June 27th - 28th.

Our 14U team finished 2nd place in pool play (losing to the eventual tournament champions from Pittsburgh by 5 points) and completed the tournament with a solid 10 point victory against the Niagara PAL team. The final victory placed our team in 3rd place for the tournament.
All this was accomplished despite Coach Kanalley's "Brain Cramp" coaching job. Supposedly Coach Kanalley has asked the Basketball God's for more insight and wisdom for the Lady Rebel's Tournament next weekend in Rome, New York.

Demonstrating "Initiative" (the desire not to be afraid of failing and knowing failure is part of the road to success) and "Intentness" (the utmost conviction of determination, perserverence, and persistence to stay the course, even in difficult times) our 14U team won their second consecutive tournament and now are on a season high high 8 game winning streak.

The first win of the tournament was against the Niagara Rapids. The game went into a thrilling double overtime period, which ended in a 2 point victory.Game 2 also went into overtime against the Genesee Valley Phillies, which ended up in a 1 point victory.

Victories over the Syracuse Stars and the host teams Rochester Warriors completed the championship weekend.

Our 14U team's newly taught building blocks from the "Pyramid of Success" of alertness and self-control, came in handy and were a contributing factor in this past weekends impressive championship play. A convincing all-around effort against the STNY Flyers team in the first game and a come from behind victory against the Syracuse Stars made a matchup against the Rochester Warriors very enticing. The Warriors spanked our 14U team at the Brockport Tournament 2 weeks ago. This time the outcome was different with a close, hard, fought battle that in the end favored our Defender's team. By ending up the top seed in pool play, our 14U's finished the job at hand, with a solid double digit victory over the Mountaineers (Olean).

Rose Brown became the ex-champion at the Mau game on Saturday night, as a host of first time winners were crowned title holders. Next on the agenda, will be the instructional teaching of Mau to our team's Moms and Dads.

Our 14U team played with a sense of loyality and cooperation on the court this weekend, showing that their getting back in the groove. Despite the team scoring 45 points in the final game of the tournament, which ended in a 3 point loss, optimism will be high for a great showing next weekend in Seneca Falls, especially with the possibility of three of our players coming back from injury.

Rose Brown was crowned Erie Saints "Mau" champion for the weekend. Not bad for a rookie.