ATX 8th/14U Boys 2009 Spring/Sumer Season
NEWS & NOTES
(Last
updated December 19, 2009)
****** Link to News/Notes from Prior
Season *****
________________________________________________________________
1 September 2009
ATX 2013 end year with End of Season Swim /
Dinner Party
Austin, Texas — The ATX 2013 basketball
family enjoyed a great end-of-season party this past Saturday evening at the
Blackhawk amenity center. Families
started showing up at 5pm and stayed unto 8:45pm that evening. It was a great time of fun and fellowship as
families had a great time in the pool and then enjoyed “Grandpa King’s”
burgers, hot dogs, brats, and grilled chicken breasts. The parents and coaches also sent 45 minutes
together in an official team meeting, discussing and reflect on the success of
the past year as well as looking forward to what would be different next year. It was an overall great time to see the kids
get together. See the team pictures link for all the pictures.
________________________________________________________________
27 August 2009
ATX 2013 complete season with 42-12 record,
multiple championships
Austin, Texas — The ATX 2013 basketball
team just finished wrapping up another successful summer season, finishing the
year with an impressive 42-12 overall record and accumulating multiple
tournament championships. The 8th
grade, Pflugerville-based team, once again distinguished itself as one of the
top AAU basketball teams in all of central Texas.
The team competed in twelve different tournaments at multiple venues
during the season including Austin, San Antonio, Corpus Christi, Kyle, Cedar
Park, and Wichita, Kansas. They placed in eight of the twelve
tournaments including: 1st in
MAYB/Slamma Jamma IV (Austin), 1st in TBI / Colorado River Shoot-out
(Austin), 1st in MAYB/Summer Fling (Corpus Christi),
2nd in TBI / Austin ICE Breaker (Austin), 2nd in
MAYB/Slamma Jamma III (Austin), and several additional 3rd place
finishes. At one point in the season ATX
enjoyed an 18-game winning streak. Seven
of their twelve total losses this season were decided by 5 points or less. Their most recent achievement was finishing 2nd
overall out of 28 teams in the MAYB/State Championships that were held in San Antonio, with the
championship game being played out in the AT&T center, home to the San
Antonio Spurs. The team implores an up tempo, full-court game in most cases yet
they are capable of playing a half court game if necessary as they have a
strong inside/outside game. One of the
greatest strengths the team enjoys is its unselfish play and offensive
balance. The team averages just over 55
points / game yet there is not a single player that finished the year averaging
in double-digit scoring. The ATX Class
of 2013 believes first and foremost that they always win and lose as a team and that each and every team member is vital to
the team’s overall success. At the end
of each season, however, the team does take time to recognize three special
players for the individual contributions they make to the team during the
season. The players themselves vote
anonymously for three individual player awards:
Mr. Hustle, Mr. Spirit and Mr. MVP.
This year’s award recipients are:
Mr. Hustle – Isaak Gonzales; Mr. Sprit – Tanner Thrift; Mr. MVP – Leonard Allen.
This is its fourth year in existence of the team. The team originated in 2006 as a fifth grade
team. Their overall resume includes a
notable record of 170-72 with over thirty different 1st or 2nd
place tournament finishes over the years.
Most of the players will now turn their focus to high school basketball
as they will all be entering freshman at their high schools in the Fall of
2009. The team is coached by Head
Coach David King, assistant coaches Ron Campbell and Leonard
Allen.
________________________________________________________________
11 August 2009
ATX 2013 compete in MAYB/Nationals in Wichita, Kansas
Wichita,
Kansas — The ATX Class of 2013 ended their successful season by
journeying up to Wichita, Kansas to compete in MAYB/Nationals. This 8th grade event included 65
competitive teams from 11 different states.
The team traveled 8.5 hours North on IH35 on Thursday to begin pool-play
on Friday morning. ATX would open up
against the Colorado Hawks, an athletic team with a talented 6’3” low-post
player. It was a back-n-forth game the 1st
half, with ATX edging a 23-22 lead at half-time. The 2nd half would see Josh King
and Bradley Piper connect on a few long balls, allowing ATX to extend their
lead to 7 near the end of the game. The
Hawks would end the game with a flurry of made shots but ATX would hold on to a
45-43 victory. King (11), Piper (9),
Cory Scott (9), and Aaron McDaniel (8) would lead the team offensively. Leonard
Allen and Tanner Thrift would play solid low-post defense, holding the Hawk’s
star player to 14 points in a losing effort.
Next up would have ATX facing the St Louis Hawks. This Hawk team was another fast, quick team
that liked to get out and run offensively.
This game was a defensive struggle for both teams from the
beginning. ATX got out to an initial
18-10 lead but not before seeing the Hawks finish the half on a 6-0 run to tie
the game 18-18. Both teams would
continue to struggle offensively in the 2nd half but a few costly
turnovers and missed free throws on ATX’s part would be the difference. ATX would lose 39-34. ATX would see 8 different players get into
the scoring action with McDaniel leading the way with 10 points in a losing
effort. ATX would finish the day with a
pool-play game against the Oklahoma Mustangs, a game that would be played out
at Wichita State University. This was yet another game of very evenly
matched teams. ATX would grab a 22-19
half-time lead. ATX would look to
increase their defensive intensity in the 2nd half. Scott would score 8 points in the 2nd
half alone, helping ATX edge out the Mustangs 49-42 for their second pool-play
victory. ATX would claim 2nd
place in their pool and would move on to begin bracket play Saturday morning
against Sioux Falls Force (South
Dakota), a well coached team that played extremely
well together. ATX would secure a quick 11-4
lead, making it appear like they would their first easy game of the
tournament. King, would lead ATX with 10
first half points and the early lead, but not before the Force would coming
storming back and would actually take a 30-26 lead at halftime. The game went back and forth in the second
half with the lead changing hands several times. ATX would build a 5 point lead early in the 2nd
half, only to lose it with 3 minutes remaining in the game. The score would be tied 45-45 with two
minutes remaining in regulation. Two
turnovers in a row by ATX would lead directly to 3 points for the Force. A questionable 5th foul on ATX’s
season high scorer, Josh King, would also prove costly. Yet ATX would fight back. Leonard Allen would make two clutch free throws
with less than two minutes remaining to tie the game, 48-48. After giving up a few free throws, ATX would
go on to force a turnover and take possession of the ball with 8 seconds left
and only down by 1 point. Another
questionable call would lead to another turnover, ultimately causing ATX to
fall short 53-51 and getting knocked out of the tournament. ATX was faced with some very unfortunate
breaks in the 2nd half, being hit with 25 fouls for the game versus
only 16 for the Force. The Force would take
advantage at the free throw line, with the majority of their points coming from
the FT line in the second half. They
would shoot 75% from the line, going 18-24.
The Force would MAKE more free throws than ATX would even attempt. The disparity at the free throw line and
careless turnovers by ATX in the 2nd half would ultimately be the
difference in the game. ATX would see 8
team members score with King (15), Allen (8), and McDaniel (8) leading the team
offensively. It was a extremely tough
and disappointing loss for ATX 2013 who had had such high expectations for
doing well in this tournament. The Force
was a deceptive yet talented team. They
would go on to win their next game, defeating MO Jbba Force, a team which had
actually defeated the ultimate tournament winner, Arkansas Cotton Bulldogs, in
pool-play, just the day before.
________________________________________________________________
29 July 2009
ATX 8th grade enjoys a day at
Schlitterbahn
New Braunfels, TX — The ATX 8th
grade enjoyed a fun-filled day at Schlitterbahn
water-park this past Wednesday. The
weather was great and made for a great day to enjoy the park.
________________________________________________________________
26 July 2009
ATX 2013 -- MAYB/State Championship Runner-up
San Antonio, TX —
The ATX Class of 2013 team competed in the MAYB/State Championships this past
weekend in San Antonio, Texas.
The 8th grade division drew 28 teams from all over the great
state of Texas. As expected, ATX would land in the GOLD
division and would battle against the most competitive teams in the
tournament. The GOLD division teams
would play 3-pool play games on Saturday and then begin bracket play games on
Sunday. Injured starter, Tanner Thrift,
would make the trip but would play only sparingly after recovering from a
dislocated knee cap. Former player, Kofi
Asante, would join the team for the duration of the San Antonio tournament. Reserve, Ryan Lamb, would be out for the
duration of the weekend. ATX would draw
the early, 8am game Saturday against the familiar and well-coached Smithson
Valley Rangers, a team that ATX 2013 had defeated the year before. ATX started off well, grabbing a quick 12-3
lead against the Rangers. ATX’s
relentless pressure defense was too much for the Rangers early on as ATX would
grab a demanding 22-5 lead at halftime.
Coach Logsdon’s Ranger team would make a run late in the second half but
ATX would hold on for the 34-20 victory with the reserves playing most of the
minutes down the stretch. ATX enjoyed a
balance, offensive attack with nine of eleven players scoring. Next up for ATX was the Texas Express 2013, a
tall and athletic team from Dallas. ATX got off to another blistering start, with
both the offense and defense really clicking early. ATX grabbed an early 22-8 lead and would
never look back. Trailing 33-17 at
halftime, the Express would make a charge late, forcing a few turnovers and
connecting on a few 3’s, but ATX would prevail 52-39. Cory Scott and Isaak Gonzales would lead the
team offensively with 13 and 8 points respectively. Asante, Thrift, and Allen would
really dominate inside, both on the boards and defensively, accumulating 6-8
blocks between the three of them. ATX
would conclude pool play against a familiar team in coach Mark Jones’s San
Antonio Roadrunners. ATX would look to
rest some players and again get everyone onto the court. ATX would take a 25-10 halftime lead, with
Thrift and Bradley Piper combining for almost half of the team’s points. ATX would settle for a 39-32 win, and secure
the top seed in their pool. ATX would
open bracket play 9am on Sunday to compete against the Texas Tarheels. ATX would realize an unfortunate setback,
losing starter and leading perimeter scorer, Josh King, for the remainder of
the tournament. King had been ill on
Saturday but able to play but his condition worsened, forcing him to be a
reluctant spectator for all of Sunday’s games.
Other players stepped up, including Cory Scott who was inserted into the
starting line-up for Sunday’s games. ATX
would start out flat against the Texas Tarheels in what would be a slow,
grind-it-out defensive struggle that would see ATX score only 14 points at
halftime. ATX would miss an unusual
number of free throws in the first half which would allow the Tarheels to take
a 17-14 halftime lead. ATX would look to
regroup at halftime and make some defensive adjustments. ATX’s deep bench and defensive pressure would
ultimately wear down the Tarheels as ATX would outscore them 32-15 in the 2nd
half alone. ATX would also reverse their
free throw shooting woes, making 10-16 down the stretch and going on to secure
a 46-32 win and a chance to play later that day for the championship in the
AT&T center, home-court to the San Antonio Spurs. Aaron McDaniel and Scott would ignite the
comeback offensively, scoring 14 and 12 points respectively, but it was the
suffocating defense of Jay Byrd that turned the game. Coach King would assign Byrd to the Tar
Heel’s top player in the 2nd half.
Byrd would lock down the star player, holding him to a mere 4 points the
2nd half. It was great
defensive effort in the 2nd half by the entire ATX team. The win would allow ATX to advance to the
championship game to face the Corpus Christi
Panthers, a quick, long athletic team. Unfortunately
ATX would choose a poor time to come out of the blocks slow. 15 turnovers in the 1st half alone
by ATX would lead to 10 easy points for the Panthers, allowing them to secure a
comfortable 16 point lead at halftime.
ATX would start to finally settle down, and force some turnovers of
their own. They would cut the lead down
to 8 with approximately four minutes left in the game. ATX would be forced to foul down the stretch
to lengthen the game but the Panthers would do a good job of either making
their free throws or grabbing an offensive rebound. ATX would come up short in the championship
game, losing 52-34. It was an overall
solid effort. Congrats to the players
and their families on a solid, 2nd place showing. ATX 2013 will plan to conclude their
successful season with a trip to Kansas
to compete in MAYB Nationals on August 7-9th. Good luck to the team!
________________________________________________________________
23 July 2009
ATX 2013 Recognizes Six Players with Outstanding
Academic Achievement
Pflugerville, TX — ATX 2013 took time out of
their last practice to recognize six players that worked hard this year to
excel off the court and in the class room.
Six team members finished their 8th grade school year with
only A’s and B’s on their final year-end report card. Congratulations to Jalen Campbell, Isaak
Gonzales, Bradley Piper, and Tanner Thrift for finishing with all A’s and B’s
only. A special congratulations goes out
to Andrew Hill and Josh King and their families who completed the year with all
A’s! Way to go ATX!
________________________________________________________________
20 July 2009
ATX 2013 finish Top 4 in combined USSSA/ATX/TX
Basketball Inc Tournament
Austin, TX — ATX 2013 competed in a
combined ATX / USSSA / TX Basketball, Inc. tournament which was played out at
Paredes MS, Akins HS, and LBJ HS this past weekend. This was a 16-team event consisting of teams
from Austin, Round Rock, Killeen,
Pflugerville, San Antonio, Manor, Cedar Park,
and Stockdale. ATX would be without
Andrew Hill, Ryan Lamb, and injured starter Tanner Thrift for the duration of
the tournament. ATX would invite back a
familiar face and former player, Kofi Asante, to join the squad to help out
over the weekend. ATX would open up pool
play against a much-improved Austin Dawgs team on Saturday afternoon. ATX would take advantage of the fact that the
Dawgs had already played a game three hours earlier. ATX would jump on the Dawgs early, taking an
early 10-2 lead. The Dawgs claw their
way back to tie the game 12-12. ATX’s
pressure defense would force some easy turnovers, giving ATX a comfortable
34-22 lead at half-time. ATX’s deep
bench and relentless pressure would be too much for the undersized Dawgs as ATX
would win going away, 67-36. Eight of
nine players would get into the offensive action with Asante (14), Leonard Allen (13), and Aaron McDaniel (13) each
scoring in double figures. ATX’s final
pool-play game would see them facing a young, developing TX Gymrats team that
would be no match for ATX’s superior inside/outside game. ATX would have an easy 72-18 victory and
would seize 1st place in their pool.
The entire squad would score, with Cory Scott (17), Josh King (10), and
Bradley Piper (10), leading the team offensively in double-figures. ATX would move on to bracket play, opening up
against the well-coached Austin Wildcats (Silver) team, a team that ATX had
defeated a month earlier. ATX would jump
out to a 25-9 half-time lead and would quickly extend that to a full 20 points
to cause a running clock. The reserves
would play most of the game with ATX winning 37-18 and advancing to the next
round for a showdown with the well-coach and much improve Austin Rampage
team. This was a competitive game from
the tip that featured two of the better 8th grade teams in the
entire Austin/Central Texas area. This
was a slow, defensive battle that saw both teams struggle a bit to score in the
half-court set. Rampage would go on a
spurt to end the first half to take a 21-15 lead. A 4th foul early in the 2nd
half would send Kofi Asante to the bench for an extended period of time. The absence of both Tanner Thrift and Andew
Hill would be felt and the Rampage seized the opportunity to take advantage. ATX would get out rebounded down the stretch
and would allow Rampage to get their fast-break going, allowing them to extend
their lead to 14 points with eight minutes remaining in the game. ATX would make a run of their own toward the
end of the game and would actually outscore Rampage in the 2nd half
but a 5th foul to Asante
would prove costly and ATX would come up a little short, losing 44-40 to Coach
Sparks’ well-coached Rampage team. An
uncharacteristic 5-12 free throw shooting by ATX would only compound the
problem. It was a tough loss. Scott
(13), Allen (7), and King (7) would lead ATX offensively in the losing
effort. ATX 2013 will try and shake off
the loss as they prepare for the MAYB state championships in San Antonio this coming weekend.
________________________________________________________________
10 July 2009
ATX 2013 take a hit, lose 6’3” starter, Tanner
Thrift, 2-4 weeks with MCL sprain
Austin, TX — The award-winning ATX 2013
team will lose Tanner Thrift for 2-4 weeks due to an MCL sprain that was
incurred during a recent scrimmage. An
MRI is scheduled for next week which should give a better indication of the
extent of his injuries.
________________________________________________________________
5 July 2009
ATX 2013 lose on a buzzer-beater, take a
disappointing 3rd in USSSA Firecracker Shoot-out
Austin, TX — ATX 2013 competed in the USSSA
Firecracker Shoot-out over the July 4th weekend with games being
played at Akins HS. This was a small
6-team division with teams all from Austin and Round Rock. ATX would open pool-play late Saturday
afternoon against the 8th grade Round Rock Dream Team. ATX was able to take advantage of the Dream
Team who was forced to play back-2-back games with a limited bench. ATX had their fast-break going early as they
forced turnovers which led to easy baskets.
ATX would cruise to an easy 61-20 victory which saw nine of ten players
getting into the offensive action. ATX
was led by Josh King (12), Leonard Allen
(11), and Aaron McDaniel (10) who all scored in double figures. ATX opened up pool-play early Sunday morning
against TX Freestyle, a team comprised of kids from the greater Austin area. ATX would play a great, pressure defense
early on to take a 41-17 lead at half-time.
They would go on to hold Freestyle to a total of just four points in the
2nd half, wining easily 63-21 with the entire team getting into the
scoring action. Andrew Hill would come
off the bench to score a team-high 12 points along with Jay Byrd who scored 10
points. Starting point-guard Isaak
Gonzales would pitch in 10 points as well.
The win would setup a game between the unbeaten ATX 8th and
the Round Rock Rim Rockers. ATX would
start out flat, choosing a very inopportune time to be cold from the
perimeter. ATX would find themselves
down 27-17 at half-time and having to fight an up-hill battle for most of the
game. ATX was down by 11 points with 7
minutes remaining. ATX would ratchet up
the defensive intensity which would lead to a flurry of steals and quick
baskets, allowing ATX to actually tie the game and take possession of the ball
with approximately 22 seconds left in the game.
ATX would prematurely take and miss a final shot attempt however, and
the RimRockers took advantage. The
RimRockers would take the inbounds with 3.8 seconds left and score on a running
one-hander to take a surprising victory over ATX 50-48. A very uncharacteristic game that consisted
of costly turnovers, miss shots both inside and outside, and 50% free throw
shooting would all add up to a loss for ATX.
Gonzales would score a game-high 17 points in the ATX defeat. ATX 2013 would be left to play for 3rd
place, having to actually play against Coach Meeks 7th grade ATX
squad, the one 7th grade team that had entered into the
tournament. ATX would bounce back with
an easy victory over the 7th grade squad in which Tanner Thrift
would lead all scores with 14 with Hill also scoring 11. The Round Rock RimRockers would go onto will
the overall tournament championship with a victory over the San Antonio
Roadrunners.
________________________________________________________________
2 July 2009
ATX 2013 recognized in Pflugerville Pflag
Newspaper
Pflugerville, TX — The ATX 8th grade
team was recognized recently in the Pflugerville city newspaper, Pflugerville Pflag, with a nice
article and picture. The article calls
out the 18-game winning streak that the team had enjoyed since mid-May. Page1 and Page2 of the article are available here. Congratulations to the team for being
recognized in this manner!
________________________________________________________________
21 June 2009
ATX 2013 hosts successful “Challenge of 2013”
Tournament, 18-game win streak comes to an end
Cedar Park, TX —
The ATX 8th grade team hosted its 3rd annual “Challenge
of Class 2013” tournament this past weekend at Summit
Christian
Academy in Cedar Park, Texas. This was 16-team event consisting of teams
from San Antonio, Austin,
Cedar Park,
Killeen, Round
Rock, and Pflugerville. Tournament
format included 3 pool-play games for each team with the top two teams
advancing to the championship bracket and the lower two teams advancing to the
consolation bracket. ATX 2013 would be
without starting 6’6” center, Leonard Allen,
for the weekend who would be out due to injury.
Sharp-shooter Josh King would also be out for all bracket play games on
Sunday. ATX opened up pool play by
facing the RR Hustlaz. ATX used a
swarming defense to jump out to a 26-12 lead at half and would then go on to
cruise to a 61-19 victory. The entire
squad would get into the scorebook with King(10), Cory Scott(11), and Jay
Byrd(11) leading the team with double-digit scoring. Next up for the ATX squad was the Cedar Park
Fire, and young new team that was just beginning their season. ATX’s superior inside-outside game was no
match for the Fire as ATX wins easily 85-25. King (11), Scott (12), Byrd (12),
and Isaak Gonzales (18) would lead the team offensively. ATX’s final game of the day would be against
the BTK-Kings (White) squad. ATX would
double-up BTK at half, 36-18 and coast to an easy 53-30 victory. King (13), Tanner Thrift (8), and Aaron
McDaniel (8) would lead the team offensively.
The win would secure a 1st place finish in one of the four
pools and a chance to face the Austin Wildcats (SILVER). The Wildcats would come out strong, keeping
the game close the entire time. ATX
would take a 4-point lead at half-time and would extend that to 10 on two key
3’s from Ryan Lamb in the 2nd half, only to see the Wildcats make
some desperation 3’s to pull back to within 6.
McDaniel would lead ATX offensively with 14 points in the final score
48-42 win which would advance ATX to the semi-finals to face the Killeen
Warriors, a long, athletic team. ATX
would come out with a strong defensive showing against Killeen, coupled with good perimeter shooting
by Bradley Piper and Aaron McDaniel. ATX
would take 23-18 lead at halftime but would sustain a key injury to Jay Byrd at
the end of the 1st half. Now
without Allen, Byrd, and King, the remaining ATX players would have to step up,
and step up they did. Thrift and Andrew
Hill both played many minutes and provided a great effort on the boards and on
the interior defensively. Aaron McDaniel
continued to play well, finishing with a game-high 18-points. Cory Scott may some key buckets down the
stretch, helping ATX keep their lead with one minute remaining. The Warriors made some key free throws down
the stretch and managed to pull within 2 points with possession and 20 seconds
left. The Warriors called timeout to
devise a play but ATX obviously foiled the initial option. With time running out ATX would see a Warrior
player loft up a desperation 3 with 2.8 seconds left, a shot that would score
and give Killeen the lead for the first time in the game. A last-second shot by ATX would fall short,
giving the Warriors a dramatic 43-42 win.
The Warriors would go on to win the overall championship of the
tournament. The loss would bring to a
halt the 18-game win streak that the team had started back in mid-May, the
longest win-streak in ATX 2013 history.
ATX 2013 will now take two weeks off to try and rest and recover from
their injuries. Next up is the USSSA
Firecracker open in Kyle/Buda.
________________________________________________________________
12 June 2009
Registration Complete / Schedule OUT for “Challenge of Class 2013” on June 20-21st
Pflugerville, TX — Registration for the 3rd
annual “Challenge of Class 2013” tournament is complete and final. It should be a great weekend of hoops for 8th
grade boy’s basketball in central Texas. All teams will play exactly 3 pool-play games
on Saturday. From there we will break
the teams into two separate divisions and teams will play until they lose. Complete schedule is HERE. Good Luck to everyone!
________________________________________________________________
10 June 2009
Registration up to 17 teams for “Challenge of Class 2013” on June 20-21st
Pflugerville, TX — Registration for the
“Challenge of Class 2013” tournament continues to progress nicely. There are already 17 teams that have either
confirmed their registration or have verbally committed. Don’t be left out! We will be using the two, full-court,
air-conditioned gyms at Summit Christian Academy in Cedar
Park, Texas. Tournament format will include pool play
followed by seeded bracket play, with the top two teams in each pool advancing
to the PLATINUM bracket and bottom two teams advancing to the GOLD
bracket. This is a 4-game guarantee but at least ˝ of the field will get
either 5-6 games. Entry fee is $225. Early entry Deadline is June 7th. Interested 8th grade teams should
contact Coach
King for more details. See
the attached Link for more registration form. Committed teams thus far:
ATX
2013 (confirmed)
Smithson
Valley Rangers (confirmed)
New
Branfels Vandels (confirmed)
Round
Rock Hustlaz (verbal commit)
Killeen
Warriors (confirmed)
TX
GymRats (Fields) (confirmed)
TX
GymRats (Campbell)
(verbal commit)
TX
GymRats (Villaneda) (confirmed)
Austin
Wildcats (NAVY) (confirmed)
Austin
Wildcats (SILVER) (confirmed)
Pflugerville
Ballerz (confirmed)
A-tex
Wildcats (verbal commit)
Westlake
Hoops (confirmed)
Elgin
Ballers (verbal commit)
BTK
Kings - WHITE (confirmed)
BTK
Kings - RED (confirmed)
TX
Admirals (verbal commit)
________________________________________________________________
8 June 2009
ATX 2013 goes 5-0 to claim Championship in Corpus Christi,
TX
Corpus Christi, TX – ATX 2013 ventured out on their 2nd
road-trip of the year, traveling to compete in the MAYB sanctioned event in Corpus Christi,
TX over the weekend. This was an 8th grade division
with teams primarily from Corpus and San
Antonio. ATX
opened pool play Friday evening against the well-coached SA Celtics. This was a slow, grind-it-out game with many
whistles on both sides. Neither team
could get into any kind of rhythm. ATX
had a very uncharacteristic poor-shooting night, from both behind the arc and
the free throw line, allowing the Celtics to keep it close. ATX would manage to prevail 31-28. Leonard Allen
would lead ATX offensively with 15 points.
Saturday morning pool play would match ATX against the SA Lightening.
The Lightening would try and keep it close initially, but were ultimately
overpowered by ATX’s balance offensive attack that would see all eleven players
score. ATX wins 55-30 with Aaron
McDaniel leading all scores with 12. ATX
would conclude pool play with a win over the Texas Ambassadors, a team out of Harlingen, TX. ATX would seize the opening tip and roll to
an easy 80-31 victory. ATX would see
eight different players score eight points or more (Josh King (9), Tanner
Thrift (8), Cory Scott (9), Jay Byrd (12), Bradley Piper (13), McDaniel (8),
Allen (13)). The win would allow ATX to
seize 1st place in their pool and setup a game against the CC Flames
to begin bracket play. ATX would start
out flat, allowing the Flames to take a 6 point lead at halftime. ATX would ratchet up their intensity the 2nd
half and grab the lead on a Bradley Piper 3 from the corner. Isaak Gonzales and Josh King combine for
10-13 free throws down the stretch to seal a 46-37 victory and a trip to the
championship game to face a familiar opponent in the SA Wildcats. Gonzales and King would lead ATX offensively
with 12 and 13 points respectively in the win over the Flames. In the championship game, ATX would take a
six point lead into the 2nd half, only to see the Wildcats make a
run and even the game with about nine minutes remaining in the game. Thrift, Allen, and Byrd would each make some
key defensive stops going down the stretch, allowing ATX to regain the lead for
good. A break-away “and 1” layup for Piper and three consecutive
free throws by King would seal the victory for ATX with three minutes
remaining. ATX wins 37-26 and claims the
tournament championship. Josh King saved his best performance for the
championship game, scoring 19 points which included 12 coming from downtown and
5-5 from the free throw line. The ATX
families had a great time off the court over the weekend as well, getting a
chance to spend three hours at Mustang
Island beach late
Saturday afternoon!! The families
enjoyed splashing on the ocean waves and playing in the sand dunes. It was a great trip all around for the
team. Next up for ATX is the 3rd
annual “Challenge of Class 2013” tournament on June 20-21st.
________________________________________________________________
4 June 2009
ATX 2013 Teammates Begin to accumulate End-of-Year School Awards
Pflugerville, TX – ATX is beginning to see
many of its own players start to get recognized as the school year comes to a
close. This is just an obvious
indication that their hard work in the classroom, football field, and
basketball court is paying big dividends. Congratulations to these boys and
their families for these various accomplishments.
Isaak Gonzales – MVP Football /
Kelly Lane MS Jay Byrd – Athlete of the Year / Pflugerville
MS
Isaak Gonzales – Top 30 in
Academics / Kelly Lane MS
Isaak Gonzales – Perfect
Attendance / Kelly Lane MS Leonard Allen
– MVP Basketball / Walsh MS
Tanner Thrift – Athlete of the
Year / Farley MS
Josh King – MVP Basketball /
Kelly Lane MS
________________________________________________________________
1 June 2009
ATX 2013 extend win streak to 9 games, claim TX
Basketball, Inc. “Colorado
River Shoot-out” Championship
Austin, TX— The ATX 2013 team looked to
keep their winning ways continuing as they looked to participate in the TX
Basketball, Inc. “Colorado River
Shoot-out” which was played out at Akins HS this weekend. This was a replacement tournament for the ATX
team who had an earlier May tournament cancelled due to the “swine-flu”
concerns in South and Central Texas. This was a small, simple round-robin 8th
grade tournament that consisted of ATX 2013, Westlake Hoops, Court Vision
Tigers, Team-1-Team, and Austin Wildcats (SILVER). ATX drew a rather tough schedule, having to
play three games on Saturday in only 5-hour window. ATX relied on its deep bench to endure the
short, 1-hour breaks in between their three games on Saturday. ATX opened up against the Court Vision
Tigers, a team that went by the name Cedar Park Tigers in past years. ATX came out strong, grabbing a 26-11 lead at
half-time and then coasting to a 40-22 win.
ATX saw seven players get into the scoring action with Aaron McDaniel
leading all scores with 11. An hour
later pitted ATX against the Austin Wildcats (SILVER), which actually featured
Coach Darrel Smith on the sideline to help coach the Wildcats. This was a fun, fast-paced game that led to a
lot of scoring for both teams. ATX
grabbed a 37-24 lead at half-time. The 2nd
half saw ATX really utilize their inside game with Leonard
Allen. Allen scored 13
points in the 2nd half and finished with a game high 22. Andrew Hill was the team’s second leading
scorer, coming off the bench to pitch in 8 points. Ten out of eleven ATX players scored. ATX will go on to win 67-53. ATX would face Team-1-Team just an hour after
their completion of the Wildcat game.
Team-1-Team appeared to be a young team, with 7th and
possibly some 6th graders on their roster. ATX would score on the opening tip and never
look back, coasting to an easy 61-18 victory.
Jay Byrd and Cory Scott would both come off the bench and would each
score 16 points to lead ATX. The win
would essentially setup a championship game on Sunday with ATX once again
having to play against Coach Morse’s well-coached Westlake Hoops, a team that
ATX had already managed to defeat twice earlier this season. ATX came out strong early on, gaining an
early 13 point lead mid-way thru the 1st half. But some careless turnovers down the stretch
by ATX and a nice run by the Hoops to close-out the 2nd half allowed
them to get all things even at 25-25 at halftime. ATX came out much more focused and determined
to start the 2nd half. ATX
quickly built a 6-7 point lead and managed to keep that lead for the remaining
duration of the game. ATX 8th
wins 52-44 and goes 4-0 to win the “Colorado River Shoot-out.” This was a great team effort this weekend for
ATX. Playing three games in a short,
5-hour span was definitely an additional challenge for the team but everyone
really stepped up to help get the job done.
Tanner Thrift continued to be a defensive force inside, blocking shots
and snagging rebounds. Scott, Byrd, Hill,
Ryan Lamb, and Jalen Campbell all gave quality minutes off the bench on both
the offensive and defensive end. ATX
continued to enjoy balanced scoring for the tournament, with four different
players scoring in double-figures and four different high scorers (McDaniel,
Allen, Scott, and Byrd) for the weekend.
Next up for ATX 2013 is the
MAYB/Corpus Christi event
June 5th-7th. Way to go players and families and GOOD LUCK in Corpus!
________________________________________________________________
18 May 2009
ATX 2013 finishes 5-0 and takes MAYB/Greater Austin Championship
Austin, TX —
The ATX 8th grade team competed in the MAYB/Greater Austin
tournament this past weekend that was held at LBJ
High school in Austin.
This was an ATX-hosted event that included a 12-team, 8th
grade field with teams from Austin, Pflugerville, San Antonio, New Braunfels,
Belton/Temple, Copperas Cove, and Killeen.
The tournament format included pool play followed by bracket play, with
the top 8 teams advancing to bracket play.
ATX opened pool play against a newly formed Austin J-hawks team. The J-hawks gave a good effort but they were
no match for ATX’s superior inside/outside game. ATX would cruise to an easy 90-19
victory. Nine players got into the
scoring action with Leonard Allen
and Ryan Lamb leading the way with 18 and 16 points respectively. Next up for ATX was a pool-play game against
the New Braunfels Vandels. ATX played a
smothering defense which held the Vandels to only 7 total points in the first
half. The game would end with ATX
posting a convincing 52-14 win and taking 1st place in their
pool. All 10 players scored, with Isaak
Gonzales leading all scores with 12 points.
Bracket play would begin Sunday morning with ATX challenging the
Starzz-TX from Copperas Cove. This was an athletic team that liked to get
up and down the court, however, they will still would be no match for ATX. ATX would take a 26-14 halftime lead and
would ultimately win going away, 56-28.
Cory Scott (10), Bradley Piper (13), and Allen (18) all scored in double
figures. This win would send ATX to the
semi-finals to face the athletic and well-coached BTK-Kings RED. ATX would again have a strong defensive
start, holding the Kings to only 9 points in the first half. ATX would keep the defensive intensity up and
take advantage of their inside game.
Allen (11) and Tanner Thrift (7) would lead the scoring effort and help
ATX win 44-24, a win that would send ATX to the championship game to face a
familiar foe against Coach Morse’s well-coached Westlake Hoops. The championship game was a relatively close
game, up until about 7-8 minutes left in regulation. The strong bench play of Jay Byrd, Scott,
Aaron McDaniel, and Andrew Hill and the defensive pressure that ATX put forth
seemed to take a toll on the Hoops as the game wore on. Thrift was dominating on the boards. ATX would go on to win 41-27 and take the
overall championship of the tournament.
Josh King (7) and Allen (9) would lead the team offensively against the
hoops. All in all in was a great team
effort for the boys. Six different
players scored in double figures over the weekend. The defensive pressure that ATX put forth was
impressive. Their unselfish play on the
offensive end was fun to watch too. It was a great team effort “off the court”
as well as some of our parents stepped up to help host the tournament at LBJ on
Sunday. Congrats to the players and
parents!
________________________________________________________________
5 May 2009
ATX sees Josh King place 2nd in the
Pflugerville District Golf Tournament
Pflugerville, TX — ATX sees one of its own,
Josh King, place 2nd in the overall Pflugerville District boy’s golf
tournament that was held at the Blackhawk golf course this past Tuesday
afternoon. Josh shot a career best, 45,
on the front 9 of the course, giving him an overall 2nd place finish
out of approximately 24 golfers. In
doing so Josh also helped lead his Kelly Lane MS boys’ team to a convincing
team championship as well. The Kelly Lane lady
golfers also took the overall 1st place championship, making it a
clean sweep for Kelly Lane. Congratulations to Josh and both the boys and
girls Kelly Lane MS golf teams!
________________________________________________________________
1 May 2009
ATX to Host 3rd Annual “Challenge of Class 2013” on June 20-21st
-- REGISTER NOW!
Pflugerville, TX— There is no doubt that the Austin, San
Antonio, and surrounding communities in the central Texas area have given birth
to some talented young athletes and some well-coached basketball teams. The
Greater Central Texas Youth Association, in conjunction with ATX, would like to
host its 3rd annual “Challenge of Class 2013” (8th grade
boys only) tournament to help showcase some of this top-talent, all at one
location and during one weekend.
Participation in this event has grown each and every year. This year we are working toward a field of 16 competing 8th grade
teams. Tournament format will include pool play followed by
seeded bracket play, with the top two teams in each pool advancing to the
PLATINUM bracket and bottom two teams advancing to the GOLD bracket. This
is a 4-game guarantee but at least ˝ of the field will get either 5-6
games. Entry fee is $225. Entry Deadline is May 30th. Interested 8th grade teams should
contact Coach
King for more details. Games
will be played at an Austin or Cedar Park School (with full-size court) which will
be named soon. Good Luck to
everyone. See the attached Link for
more registration form. 10 teams
already either confirmed or verbally committed.
Don’t get left out!
Below are just
some of the teams that we hope to possibly see participate in this event:
ATX
2013 (confirmed) Smithson Valley Rangers (verbal commit)
GATA
IV San Antonio Mustangs
Killeen D-1 Ambassadors Austin Ambassadors (confirmed)
Rising
Stars Killeen
Warriors (verbal commit)
Rampage Westlake Hoops
CT
Warriors TX
GymRats (Fields) (verbal commit)
Taylor
Ducks (verbal commit) San Antonio Rebels
Hays
Rebels San Antonio Wildcats
Elgin Ballers Texas Ambassadors
(Bryan)
Georgetown Fury (NAVY) West Texas
Elite
San Antonio Roadrunners CutTheNets
Austin
Dawgs Capital
Area Rams
Del
Valle All-Stars Copperas Cove Crusaders
Austin
Wildcats (NAVY) (verbal commit) Pflugerville Ballerz (verbal commit)
Austin
Wildcats (SILVER) (verbal commit) Hays Scrubs (verbal
commit)
New
Braunfels Ballers BTK
Kings
________________________________________________________________
19 April 2009
ATX 8th finish in Top 3 in USSSA 8th/9th
state qualifier in San Antonio
San Antonio, TX— The ATX 2013 team ventured
out on their first road trip of the season with a trip to the Alamo city to
compete in the USSSA state qualifier which took place in San Antonio, Texas at
the St. George Episcopal and Hawkins HS gyms.
This was an 8-team field of 8th/9th grade teams
from San Antonio, Austin, Pflugerville, Kerville, and
Hays. ATX opened pool play against the
talented and always well-coached GATA IV out of San Antonio,
arguably one of the top three legitimate 8th grade teams in the Austin and San
Antonio area.
Coach Johnson always has his kids playing well together and this weekend
was no exception. ATX took an early 8-2
lead and kept the game close mid-way thru the first half, however some costly
turnovers by ATX coupled with some timely shooting by GATA allowed GATA to open
up a 9-point lead at halftime. Poor
perimeter shooting by ATX combined with patient play on GATA’s part allowed
GATA to extend their lead and coast to an easy 29-49 victory over ATX. ATX would bounce back quickly later that
afternoon, winning their next two pool-play games, finishing 2-1 and 2nd
place in their pool. First up was the
Texas Gymrats(Fields). This was a feisty
team that ATX took for granted initially.
ATX was actually down by 7 at half-time, 33-26. ATX would ratchet up their defense and use
their bench depth to wear out the Gymrats.
ATX outscores them 39-20 in the 2nd half for a convincing
65-53 win. ATX would see nine different
players get into the scoring action with Cory Scott and Tanner Thrift leading
the team with 14 and 11 points respectively.
Next up for ATX was the San Antonio Roadrunners ‘B’ team. ATX had just beaten their ‘A’ team two weeks
prior and it was clear early on that the Roadrunner ‘B’ team was feeling the
effects of their two prior games and that ATX was the fresher of the two
teams. ATX got out to an immediate 15
point lead and extended that to 20 points late in the 1st half. ATX would cruise to an easy 68-35 victory to
secure 2nd place in their pool.
All 11 players scored with starting point-guard, Isaak Gonzales, leading
the way with 14 points. Ryan Lamb, Jay
Byrd, and Scott each added 6 points coming off the bench. Bracket play would begin on Sunday with ATX
facing the Hays Scrubs in the opening round.
ATX started strong with a balanced, inside/outside game. ATX extended the lead to 12 late in the 2nd
half, only to see the Scrubs claw to within 6 early in the 2nd
half. A 3-pointer by Josh King widened
the margin back to nine and that would be as close as it would get. ATX would ultimately win 53-35 and advance to
the next round. Josh King had a strong
offensive showing with 20 points. Leonard Allen added 9 points. Defensively, Allen and Thrift combined for
6-7 blocks. The win would setup ATX to face the top-seeded team from the other
pool, the San Antonio Legends, a long and very athletic team which featured
several athletes from former SA Rohawks’ and Bryan Ambassador teams. This would prove to be a hard, physical game
for the duration. ATX came out flat,
making some careless turnovers and essentially spotted the legends a 10-point
lead at the onset of the game. ATX would
cut the lead to 8 at half time and go on to slowly whittle away at the lead
during the 2nd half. ATX
would tie the game at 40-40 and take possession of the ball with 80 seconds
remaining. ATX would try and hold for a
last, game-winning shot but wasn’t able to convert, causing the game to go into
over-time. SA Legends managed to score
the first 4 points of the OT period and would hold the lead for the
duration. They would secure a 52-45
victory and a chance to play GATA in the championship game. The loss was a gutsy come-from-behind
performance for the ATX kids that just came up a little short, giving ATX an
official tie for 3rd place for the tournament. Both Thrift and Allen battled hard on the
boards for the duration of the game. Scott and Byrd made major contributions
coming off the bench. Gonzales sparked the team defensively against the SA
Legends as well as leading the team offensively with 14 points. Allen chipped in 11 with Byrd and Scott each
contributing 6 points off the bench. It
was an overall decent showing for ATX 2013 when you consider that their only
two losses came against two pretty solid teams who both finished 1st
and 2nd in the tournament.
Next up for the ATX group is the TexasGymrats/USSSA qualifier in Austin on the weekend of
May 2nd.
________________________________________________________________
5 April 2009
ATX 8th reach Final 4 in 12th
annual Central Texas Shoot-out
Kyle, TX—
The ATX Class of 2013 competed in the 12th annual Central Texas
Shoot-out this weekend which took place in Kyle, Texas
in Barton and Wallace middle schools.
This was a 14-team field of teams from San Antonio,
Austin, Pflugerville, Mansfield, Round Rock, and Hays. ATX would open pool play against the San
Antonio Wildcats, a scrappy bunch that ATX has beaten several times over the
years. ATX would be without 6’6” starter
Leonard Allen as well as bench
reserves Jay Byrd and Cory Scott. ATX
would grab an initial 8-2 lead against the Wildcats, however a early 2nd
foul issued to Tanner Thrift would force ATX to play a little small ball for
good portion of the 1st half.
San Antonio
would take advantage and go on to secure a 28-23 lead at half-time. ATX would battle back to within 2 late in the
2nd half but an uncharacteristic eleven missed free throws for the
game by ATX would be the difference as ATX would lose 42-36. Aaron McDaniel and Josh King would lead the
team in scoring with 13 and 11 points respectively in the loss. ATX would look to quickly right their ship as
they would defeat the RR Hustlaz 59-12 in their 2nd pool play
game. Everyone got into the scoring
action with King and McDaniel again scoring in double figures along with
significant contributions from Tanner Thrift (8), Ryan Lamb (8), and Bradley
Piper (9). ATX 2013 would jump directly
to bracket play on Sunday to challenge a newly formed TX Gymrats team. ATX would also see Leonard
Allen and Jay Byrd return to the roster for all of Sunday’s
games. ATX used some aggressive
full-court pressure at the onset of the game to take a quick 20-0 lead and then
fell back into a simple 2-3 zone and coasted for the remaining duration of the
game. ATX would win 50-17 and would see
9 of 10 players get into the scoring action.
Next up for ATX would be the San Antonio Roadrunners (‘A’) team who
enjoyed the luxury of having a early morning BYE since they finished 1st
in their pool from the games on Saturday.
ATX opened the game sluggish and missed some point-blank shots early
on. After getting down 21-12, ATX would
ratchet up their full-court defensive intensity. Leonard Allen
would actually leave the game for 7 minutes in the 2nd half due to a
bloody nose, however, other teammates “stepped up big” during his absence. Jay Byrd brought a renewed energy to the team
and helped spark a 13-point turn-around, giving ATX their first lead with 7
minutes left in the game. Isaak Gonzales
would make 2-2 big free throws in the last minute to give ATX a 3-point lead,
but not before SA would hit a huge 3-pointer at the buzzer to force the game
into overtime. Bradley Piper would
connect on 2 free throws to give ATX the first lead of the OT period, a lead
that ATX would not relinquish. Two big
rebounds by Thrift and Allen in the overtime period and 2-2 free throws by King
would seal the deal as ATX would hang on to win 41-44, vaulting them into the
Final 4 along with SA Mustangs, Texas GymRats (Fields), and SA Wildcats. The comeback, over-time win against the
Roadrunners was a solid win for the team but it took a tremendous amount of
effort and energy to get that accomplished.
The question going forward would be “would
they have anything left in the tank” as they faced the SA Mustangs just one
hour later? Just 5-6 minutes into the
game revealed the answer to that question as it was clear that the SA Mustangs
were indeed the fresher and more aggressive of the two teams from the
onset. In almost a repeat of the game
that was played just one week earlier, the Mustangs came out strong
defensively, causing several turnovers and stifling ATX offensively. The contest was really over by halftime as
Coach Val would see his kids coast to an easy 61-29 victory, handing ATX their
first double-digit loss and their worst defeat of the season. Not surprisingly, the Mustangs would go on to
win the championship game only a few hours later, defeating the SA Wildcats who
managed to survive the lower portion of the bracket. ATX’s only two loses for the weekend would
come to the two teams finishing 1st and 2nd for the
entire tournament. In between games, the
boys enjoyed a little birthday cake to celebrate Aaron’s 14th
birthday. Thanks Terri for the
cake! Next up for the ATX squad is a
PrimeTime event in Waco, Texas in two weeks.
________________________________________________________________
29 March 2009
ATX 8th Take 2nd place in
MAYB/Slamma Jamma III in Austin
Austin, TX— The ATX Class of 2013
competed in their 2nd tournament of the season which was played out
at Crocket HS this weekend. ATX hosted
the MAYB / Slamma Jamma III which was
an 8 team field comprised of teams from San Antonio, Austin, Pflugerville, San
Marcos, Nacogdoches, and Killeen. ATX
opened bracket play against the A-TEX Wildcats.
ATX came out flat, getting down 8-2 at the start of the game and fueling
the confidence of the Wildcats. ATX
would fight back to take a 21-18 lead at the half. ATX would ratchet up the defense in the 2nd
half as well as get warmed up offensively and would outscore A-TEX 39-14 and would
win going away 60-36. ATX would see 9 of 11 players get into the offensive
action with Josh King and Ryan Lamb leading the team in scoring with 15 and 9
respectively. ATX would advance to the
winner’s bracket to play a long and athletic Killeen Warriors team. Again ATX would start off slow, getting down
9-2 early on and 25-14 at halftime. ATX
would use several different defenses to stifle the Warriors after the
intermission break. ATX began to better
utilize their advantage inside as Leonard Allen
would score 9 of his 11 points in the 2nd half. A critical basketball by Tanner Thrift down
the stretch and key three throw shooting by King and Allen would ultimately
help seal a 42-41 victory for ATX, vaulting them into the championship game
later that afternoon. ATX again enjoyed
a relatively balance scoring attack with 10 of 11 players scoring, with Allen’s
11 being team high. The win would see
ATX face the SA Mustangs in the championship game, a team that ATX has battled
pretty evenly over the last few years.
Coach “Val” had his kids prepared and ready from the get go as they came
out and jumped on ATX early, causing some early turnovers that led to some easy
baskets. For the third game in a row,
ATX would dig themselves a hole, getting down 11-2 to start the game; however,
this time would prove to be too much for ATX to overcome. ATX would find itself down 12 at half but not
before they would claw their way back into it, pulling to within 3 points with
4-5 minutes remaining in the game, thanks to Cory Scott, Bradley Piper, Ryan
Lamb, and King who each connected on one or more long balls. ATX would outscore the Mustangs in the 2nd
half but it wouldn’t be enough as SA would go 7-8 from the charity stripe down
the stretch and would hold on for a 51-42 victory. It was a disappointing loss for the
team. Cory Scott would lead ATX with 7
points in the losing effort. Overall it
was a decently showing for the Class of 2013 who now has two 2nd
place tournament finishes in as many attempts.
Next up for the squad is the 12th annual Central Texas
Shoot-out on April 4-5th.
________________________________________________________________
23 March 2009
ATX to Host 3rd Annual “Challenge of Class 2013” on June 20-21st
-- REGISTER NOW!
Pflugerville, TX— There is no doubt that the Austin, San
Antonio, and surrounding communities in the central Texas area have given birth
to some talented young athletes and some well-coached basketball teams. The
Greater Central Texas Youth Association, in conjunction with ATX, would like to
host its 3rd annual “Challenge of Class 2013” (8th grade only)
tournament to help showcase some of this top-talent, all at one location and
during one weekend. Participation in
this event has grown each and every year.
This year we are working toward a field of 16
competing 8th grade teams. Tournament format will
include pool play followed by seeded bracket play, with the top two teams in
each pool advancing to the PLATINUM bracket and bottom two teams advancing to
the GOLD bracket. This is a 4-game guarantee but at least ˝ of the field
will get either 5-6 games. Entry fee is
$225. Entry Deadline is May 30th. Interested 8th grade teams should
contact Coach
King for more details. Games
will be played at an Austin
High School which will be
named soon. Good Luck to everyone. See the attached Link for more registration form.
Below are just
some of the teams that we hope to possibly see participate in this event:
ATX
2013 (confirmed) Smithson Valley Rangers
GATA
IV San Antonio Mustangs
Killeen D-1 Ambassadors Austin Ambassadors (confirmed)
Rising
Stars Killeen Warriors
Rampage Westlake Hoops
CT
Warriors Houston Heat
San Antonio Elite San Antonio Rebels
Hays
Rebels San Antonio Wildcats
Elgin Ballers Texas Ambassadors
(Bryan)
Georgetown Fury (NAVY) West Texas
Elite
San Antonio Roadrunners CutTheNets
Austin
Dawgs Capital
Area Rams
G-Unit Copperas
Cove Crusaders
________________________________________________________________
20 March 2009
ATX sees Aaron McDaniel take PYBA to Jr NBA
Championship game in San Antonio
San Antonio, TX – The Class of 2013 ATX team saw one of its
own, Aaron McDaniel, lead the Pflugerville Youth Basketball Association (PYBA)
to the championship game of the regional Jr. NBA Championship game that was
played out at St Mary’s University in San Antonio, Texas. Aaron literally played every position on the
court and did whatever was necessary to help PYBA to two convincing wins in
their first two games. The first game
was a 50-19 win over the San Marcos Parks & Recreation Suns. Semi-finals saw PYBA again cruise to an easy
57-20 win over the Wesley Youth Center
Warriors. The win catapulted PYBA into
the championship against the San Antonio Parks & Rec Wolfpack,
a very tall and athletic team.
PYBA would be no match for the Wolfpack’s size and speed, losing 61-33
in the final championship game. Congrats
to Aaron for helping lead his teammates to the championship game.
________________________________________________________________
8 March 2009
ATX 2013 Competes well in Texas Basketball,
Inc. “Austin Ice-Breaker,” lose to 9th grade team in
Championship Game
Austin, TX
– The Class of 2013 ATX team opened
their ’09 Spring/Summer season with a strong showing in the TX Basketball,
Inc. “Austin Ice-Breaker” that was held
at Akins High School. The 8th grade team competed well
in the combined 8th/9th grade division despite only
having 2-3 practices under their belt.
This was a 9-team division of teams based primarily in Austin.
Pool play started early Saturday morning with ATX facing Austin Wildcats
(Navy). ATX played an aggressive,
full-court pressing defense in the first eight minutes of the game that stifled
the Wildcats, causing ATX to jump out to an 18-0 lead before the Wildcats knew
what hit them. ATX would cruise to an
easy 70-27 win with 10 of 11 players getting into the offensive action. Aaron McDaniel and Leonard
Allen led the team offensive with 13 and 11 points
respectively. The next team to fall
victim to ATX was the 9th grade San Marcos Hawks. They too were no match for the inside/outside
game of ATX which featured a collective, 7 made 3’s from five different
players. Isaak Gonzales (10), Ryan Lamb
(12), and Allen (15) all scored in double figures as ATX cruises to a 68-42 victory
and captures 1st place in their pool. Bracket play would have ATX first facing the
improved 8th grade Westlake Hoops who was also a 1st
place winner in their pool. ATX led
32-30 at half-time and would slowly work to wear-down the Hoops who were forced
to play a game earlier that morning.
ATX would use a balance scoring attack to go on and defeat Westlake 55-48. ATX sees 9 players collectively scoring 55
points yet not a single player actually scored in double-figures, further
indicating the balance offensive attack that ATX enjoyed. The win would catapult ATX 2013 into the
championship against the 9th grade San Marcos Heat. This was a very competitive game that pitted
two very evenly matched teams. The teams
were tied at 27-27 at halftime and would see the lead change back and forth
several times down the stretch of the 2nd half. The game was tied at 53-53 with 2:30
remaining. A costly ATX turnover down
the stretch coupled with two big offensive plays made by The Heat would
ultimately give the San Marcos Heat a 61-55 win and the outright tournament
championship. Josh King (12) and Jay
Byrd (10) led the team in scoring in the championship game. Overall it was a strong, first tournament
showing for the new ATX 2013 squad. CONGRATS to the players and parents for a successful first
tournament! Things look bright for Coach
King and Coach Campbell and their 8th grade team. Next up for the talented team is the March
28-29th ATX-hosted MAYB Slamma Jamma II.
________________________________________________________________
5 March 2009
ATX 2013 Finalize Team Roster for ’09, welcome Allen, Hill, and Scott
Pflugerville, TX
– The Class of 2013 ATX team
continues to eagerly anticipate their upcoming Spring/Summer 2009 season. Practices started at the end of February and
will really get ramped up after the Spring break in March. The award-winning team welcomes three new
players to the group for the upcoming season, each of which who are eager to
make an impact to the squad. Leonard
Allen, a 6’6” center from Round Rock, should have
an immediate impact in the paint, both offensively and defensively. Andrew Hill, a 6’1” forward from Pflugerville, is
anxious to find his role on the team which will probably include fighting for
rebounds and hustling for loose balls. Cory Scott,
a 5’9” guard/PG, joins the team from Copperas
Cove. Cory
brings some additional ball-handling skills to the team as well as some overall
quickness and athletic ability. The
complete roster for the 2009 season can be viewed here.
The team will open the season by competing in the Texas Basketball,
Inc “Austin Ice Breaker” this upcoming
weekend, March 7-8th at Austin/Akins High School.
Congratulations to these three new players and their families for
earning a coveted spot on the ATX 2013 team!
________________________________________________________________
3 March 2009
FINALIZED Spring/Summer Tournament schedule for
ATX 2013
Pflugerville, TX – An UPDATED, schedule is shown below with actual dates for
the ATX 8th grade team:
March 7-8th / Texas Basketball, Inc. / Austin
< School Spring Break --
March 16-20>
March 28-29th / MAYB “Slamma Jamma II” hosted by ATX
/Austin
April 4-5th / The
12th annual Central Texas Shoot-out / hosted by ATX / Austin
< Easter – April 12th
>
April 18-19th / Prime Time Sportz / Waco, TX
May 2-3rd / USSSA / Austin
< Mother’s Day – May 10th >
May 15-17th / MAYB “Slamma Jamma III” hosted by ATX /
Austin
June 5-7th /
MAYB / Corpus Christi,
TX
June 19-21st / Reebok / Great American Shoot-out /
Georgetown/Pflugerville, TX
July 4-5th /
USSSA “FireCracker Shoot-out” / Austin (Buda)
July 10-12th /
MAYB / Georgetown, TX
July 24-26th / MAYB
Texas State
Championships / San Antonio,
TX
August 6-9th / MAYB Nationals / Kansas
*Out of
Town
________________________________________________________________
23 January 2009
Updated Spring/Summer Tournament schedule for
ATX 2013
Pflugerville, TX – The Class of 2013 ATX team is beginning to eagerly
anticipate their upcoming Spring/Summer 2009 season. The majority of the award-winning team will
return for their 8th grade season, however, there may be 1-2
openings in the roster for new players.
Interested players and parents should contact Coach David King. The upcoming season will begin practices at
the end of February with tournament play to begin in March. The 14U team will play approximately every
other weekend for a total of 12 tournaments.
An UPDATED, schedule is shown below with actual dates:
March 7th / Texas
Basketball, Inc. / Austin
< School Spring Break --
March 16-20>
March 28th / MAYB
hosted by ATX /Austin
April 4th / The 12th
annual Central Texas Shoot-out / hosted by ATX / Austin
< Easter – April 12th
>
April 24th / Vision Sports Kingwood Classic / Houston, TX
May 2nd / USSSA / Austin
< Mother’s Day – May 10th >
May 15th / MAYB
hosted by ATX / Austin
May 22nd / MAYB Texas Regional
/ San Marcos, TX
June 12 / USSSA State
Tournament / Austin
June 19th / Reebok
/ Great American Shoot-out / Georgetown/Pflugerville, TX
July 3rd / USSSA / Austin (Buda)
July 17th / MAYB / Denton,
TX
August 6th / MAYB Nationals / Kansas
*Out of
Town
________________________________________________________________
08 January 2009
Josh King Ignites the Nets from “down-town” for Kelly Lane,
explodes for 27
Pflugerville, TX — The award-winning ATX Class
of 2013 team continues to see its team members make substantial contributions
to their middle school teams this season.
Thursday night pitted Kelly Lane MS against cross-town rival Pflugerville Middle school in a game that featured
four current ATX 2013 players. It was a
tightly contested battle, going down to the final 10 seconds in the game. Shooting guard Josh King provided most of the
highlights for the evening, including shooting 7-11 from behind the 3-point
line IN THE 1st HALF ALONE.
PMS moved out of their zone at the beginning of the 2nd half,
and asked ATX 2013 player Jay Byrd to try and contain his AAU summer teammate,
Josh. Jay did a solid job of locking
down Josh defensively in the 2nd half, limiting Josh to 3-6 shooting
to end the game with a season-high and career high 27 points. The game itself was exciting, full of runs by
both teams. Kelly Lane managed to overcome a 9-point
deficit with approximately 3 minutes left in the game to get the game within 1
point. While Jay was able to limit
Josh’s shooting in the 2nd half, he wasn’t able to also contain ATX
team members Kofi Asante and Isaak Gonzales of KLMS who made BIG BASKETS in the
last two minutes of the game. The game
ended in a flurry of shots, with the lead changing hands 4-5 different times in
the last 2 minutes of the game. Josh
King and Issak Gonzales combined for a steal in the closing seconds of the game
that led to a game-winning layup with only 9 seconds remaining in regulation. KLMS defeats PMS 66-65 in a nail biter. Congrats to Josh, Isaak, and Kofi as well as
to Jay Byrd who competed well in a losing effort.
________________________________________________________________
22 December 2008
ATX 2013 looking to fill 1 (or 2) slots for
Spring/Summer 2009 Season
Pflugerville, TX — The award-winning ATX
Class of 2013 team will be looking to fill at least one and possibly two roster
spots once the Spring and Summer 2009 season begins. ATX will be looking for a low-post/interior
player to join the team in time to begin practicing in mid-February 2009 and
begin tournament play in March.
Interested players/parents should contact Coach King via email. TRYOUTS are tentative scheduled for Thursday,
February 26th at Connally
High school.
________________________________________________________________
13 December 2008
ATX 8th enjoy an Austin Toros’
Basketball Game
Austin, TX – The 8th grade ATX team enjoyed
the evening together as a team as they head downtown to the Austin Convention center
to see the Austin Toros take on Colorado
this past Friday evening. It was a
fun-filled, exciting game which saw the Toros score 133 points, the most points
ever in the Austin Toros’ history! The
boys and families all enjoyed themselves as the cheered on the Toros to a
win. Thanks to the Toros organization
for partially sponsoring our event!
________________________________________________________________
11 December 2008
ATX Team members help Kelly Lane Middle School Dominate
Pflugerville, TX
– The Class of 2013 ATX team is
seeing many of its team members dominate as the middle school basketball season
is getting underway. In particular, the trio
of Kofi Asante, Isaak Gonzales, and Josh King, has helped Kelly Lane MS go 5-0
early on in the season, winning each game by an average margin of 26 points and
sending a message to the other PISD teams that KLMS will obviously be the team
to beat as the season progresses. Kelly Lane opened
up the season with a 76-41 victory over Parkcrest, with Kofi Asante leading all
scores with 22 points with Josh and Isaak also both scoring in double
figures. Next was tournament play and a
71-59 victory over Elgin that saw Asante
with 14 points to lead all scores.
Unfortunately for the Hutto Hippos, they were up next to face talented
KLMS squad but clearly they were no match for the strong inside/outside game of
the Knights. Asante and King went for 14 and 13
respectively to lead all scorers. The
Knights would win the tournament championship with a convincing 73-51 over
Westview that saw King with 19, Gonzales with 17, and Asante with
15. After securing the tournament
championship, Kelly Lane
returned to district play to play the Dessau Diamondbacks. Dessau
kept it close early on, but the dynamic duo backcourt of Isaak Gonzales and
Josh King proved too much as Isaak and Josh exploded for a combined 45 points –
Isaak (22) and Josh (23). After 5 games
the trio is averaging 14.2, 14.4, and 14.8 points/game, accounting for almost
58% of the overall Knight scoring.
Teammate Ryan Lamb was not to be out done. Surprisingly to all, Ryan Lamb initially
landed on the Kelly Lane
‘B’ team but that surely will not last for long. Lamb completely DOMINATED in his first two
starts on the ‘B’ team, exploding for 21 and 38 points for a current season
average of 29.5 points/game! Rumor has
it that Lamb, as expected, will be moving to the ‘A’ team after the upcoming
tournament in Burnet. Congrats to each
of these players and their families.
Their hard work and commitment with their Spring/Summer ATX team is
paying off in spades!
________________________________________________________________
26 November 2008
ATX 14U Look toward Upcoming Season
Pflugerville, TX – The Class of 2013 ATX team is beginning to eagerly
anticipate their upcoming Spring/Summer 2009 season. The majority of the award-winning team will
return for their 8th grade season, however, there may be 1-2
openings open in the roster for new players.
Interested players and parents should contact Coach David King. The upcoming season will begin practices at
the end of February with tournament play to begin in March. The 14U team will play approximately every other
weekend for a total of 12 tournaments.
A VERY TENTATIVE schedule is shown below with dates approximate:
March 7th / Texas
Basketball, Inc. / Austin
< SPRING BREAK March 16-20>
March 28th / MAYB
hosted by ATX / Austin
April 4th / 12th
annual Central Texas Shoot-out / hosted by ATX / Austin
< Easter – April 12th >
April 17th / Kingwood / Houston, TX
May 2nd / USSSA / Austin
May 15th / MAYB
hosted by ATX / Austin
May 29th / MAYB / Corpus Christi,
TX
June 12 / USSSA State
Tournament / Austin
June 19th / Great
American Shoot-out / Georgetown, TX
July 3rd / USSSA / Austin (Buda)
July 17th / MAYB / Denton,
TX
July 31st / MAYB Nationals / Kansas
*Out of
Town
________________________________________________________________
25 November 2008
Class of 2013 make the ATX Organization Proud,
land players on their Middle School Teams
Pflugerville, TX
– The Class of 2013 ATX team saw an
example of having their hard work and commitment pay off this past week as
middle school teams began naming their list of kids who had successfully made
their middle school basketball teams.
The 8th grade team made the ATX organization very proud. It was no surprise to Coach King and Coach
Campbell that each ATX player who tried out for their respective school teams
not only made their team but 6 of 9 kids made the top ‘A’ team as
starters. CONGRATS to all the players and parents for reaching their goal of
making their middle school teams. It
should be fun to see some of these games later in the season when they actually
get a chance to play against each other!
Way to go ATX!!
Kelly
Lane Middle
School Pflugerville Middle School Running Brushy (Leander)
Kofi Asante, ‘A’
team / STARTER Jay Byrd, ‘A’ team / STARTER Bradley
Piper, ‘A’ team / STARTER
Isaak Gonzales,
‘A’ team / STARTER
Josh King, ‘A’
team / STARTER Farley Middle School (Hutto)
Ryan Lamb, ‘B’ team / STARTER Tanner
Swift, ‘A’ team / STARTER
________________________________________________________________
19 November 2008
ATX sees 3 of their own inducted into National
Junior Honor Society
Pflugerville, TX — The award-winning ATX
Class of 2013 team saw three of their own members inducted into their National
Junior Honor Society, a very notable achievement and accomplishment. Inductees must maintain an overall 94 GPA
average as well as display leadership, integrity, service, and character toward
their fellow students and teachers. Kofi
Asante, Isaak Gonzales, and Josh King
were fortunate enough to achieve this recognition into the Kelly Lane MS. Congratulations to Kofi, Isaak, and Josh and
to their families for attaining this loft goal!
________________________________________________________________
20 September 2008
ATX 2013 looking to fill 1 (or 2) slots for
Spring/Summer 2009 Season
Pflugerville, TX — The award-winning ATX
Class of 2013 team will be looking to fill at least one and possibly two roster
spots once the Spring and Summer 2009 season begins. ATX will be looking for a low-post/interior
player to join the team in time to begin practicing in mid-February 2009 and
begin tournament play in March.
Interested players/parents should contact Coach King via email.
________________________________________________________________
20 September 2008
ATX 2013 enjoy team party, give out various trophies
Pflugerville, TX — The ATX class of 2013
took the opportunity to get some of their families together to enjoy an
afternoon of food, fun, and fellowship as they gathered at the local Pizza Hut
in downtown Pflugerville for lunch.
Afterward the team headed over to the P’ville library meeting room to
distribute some of the various championship trophies that the boys have won
over the last few seasons. It was a
great time to get caught up with families and friends. Rumor has it the next team outing might occur
later in this Fall with the team heading to the bowling alley!
________________________________________________________________
21 August 2008
ATX 2013 recognized in Pflugerville Pflag
Pflugerville, TX — The Class of 2013 was
recognized in the August 21st issue of the Pflugerville Pflag. The Pflag cited another great season that the
team enjoyed this year which included an overall 47-15 record which included
five 1st place finishes, three additional 2nd place
finishes, a 3rd place finish and a consolation championship. It was a great way to have the team and their
families recognize in this manner. Way
to go ATX!
________________________________________________________________
16 August 2008
ATX Enjoys End-of-Season Lake
Party out at Lake
Travis
Jonestown, TX —
The families of the ATX 7th got a chance to enjoy a great
end-of-season party out at Lake
Travis the past
Saturday. Tanner, Katrina, and ‘Ship’
invited everyone out to Lake
Travis and the ‘Ship
Marina’ for a great day of fun, food, and fellowship. Folks started arriving at 10am and didn’t
leave until after 7pm! The boys enjoyed
the waterfall, pool, lake-trampoline as well as the jet skii and ski boat. It was great to see the kids out there and
conquer their fears as they were being pulled by the ski boat. Thanks Karen
for driving the boat! Rumor has it that
even Coach Campbell and Coach King braved being pulled by the ski tube! What a great way to end an already
outstanding season.
________________________________________________________________
8 August 2008
ATX’s own Jay Byrd is recognized in Pflugerville
Pflag
Pflugerville, TX — The Class of 2013 saw one
of their own, Jay Byrd, recognized in an article in this weeks Pflugerville
Pflag. The article entitled “Byrd Shines for ATX Hoops,” acknowledges
Jay’s outstanding performance in the month of June which helped the team go
13-2 and achieve a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place tournament
finish. The article states how Jay was
moved into the starting line-up to help fill the void left by teammate Kofi
Asante who was out for 4 weeks. Congrats
to Jay and the ATX 7th team for being acknowledged in such a manner.
Back to Home
Page of ATX (8th) / Class of 2013
Web Counter