AAU Nationals Come to an End

August 2nd, 2008
NewEnglandRecruitingReport.com

Although the live period officially came to an end on Thursday, four teams remained to play on Friday, the final day of the 17 and under AAU nationals in Orlando, Florida.

Team Breakdown defeated the NY Gauchos in the finals of AAU nationals on Friday afternoon, but the championship may actually have been decided on Thursday night, when Breakdown snuck by BABC 67-66.  Going into that game, many people predicted the winner would be a huge favorite in the championship game.  Boy were they ever proven right. 

 Breakdown dominated the Gauchos for much of the contest and came away with a 17 point victory.  Meanwhile, BABC fell in the third place game to the SYF Players to finish nationals in 4th place.  But for those who were in Orlando, it was obvious that BABC and Breakdown were the cream of the crop in the final four. 

While BABC is surely dissapointed that they fell short of their national championship aspirations, they still deserve some serious praise for a heck of a season.  Among there long list of accomplishments was a championship trophy at the King James Classic, a trip to the finals at the Peach Jam, and a Final Four appearance at AAU Nationals.  Alex Oriakhi, Jamal Coombs, Gerard Coleman, Phil Pressey, Darryl Cato-Bishop, and Malik Smith formed the nucleus of the squad, while Leo Papile furthered his legacy in the Boston area with yet another tremendous season running the BABC program.