11u AAU Nationals - WV Thunder and Southern Ohio Magic

[bucknut 23]

The 11u AAU National Tournament got underway today in Branson, Missouri and both the top two teams from Ohio who mainly have rosters comprised of girls from southern Ohio won their first pool games.

In Pool C, the Ohio 11u State Champion WV Thunder picked up a 53 - 21 win over the Minnesota St. Paul Central team. The Thunder has two pool games tomorrow before the Championship and Classic Tournaments start on Monday. In pool play, the top two teams from each pool ( A - M ) will advance to the double-elimination Championship Tournament while teams that finish 3rd, 4th, or 5th will go into the double-elimination Classic Tournament.

Tomorrow's games finds the Thunder starting at 10:30 a.m. against the Florida Extreme and then at 4:30 the Thunder goes up against the Massachusetts Renegades. The Thunder is now 41 - 2 on the season.

For the Southern Ohio Magic 11u, which finished second in Ohio in the State Tournament behind the Thunder, the got underway today with a close, two-point 49 - 47 win against the CE Hoops Express Flash from Chicago, Illinois. Tomorrow the Magic has two games with the first one starting at 12:00 against a very good MBA Select Team out of Indiana. Then at 6:00 they face off against the North Dakota Grand Forks Thompson Bomerz. The Magic now has a 14 game winning streak and have won 16 of their last 17 games. Both of these outstanding teams seem to be peaking at the right time.

With one more win tomorrow both teams will be in pretty good shape to advance to the Championship Tournament in this 53 team field with teams from all across the United States and as far west as California. GOOD LUCK to the Thunder and Magic in Branson!!!!!!!

[bucknut 23]

Both the WV Thunder and the Southern Ohio Magic teams finished in the top two in their respective pools on Sunday to qualify for the Championship Tournament in the 11u AAU National Championship in Branson, MO.

The Thunder won both of their games on Sunday to go a perfect 3 - 0 in pool play. Their first game on Sunday was a 53 - 37 win over the Florida Extreme and then in the second game of the day they beat the Massachusetts Renegades by the score of 67 - 54.

The Southern Ohio Magic dropped a close game to a very good Indiana MBA Select team 51 - 45 in their first game on Sunday. Then to qualify for the Championship Tournament they needed to win their second game and after being tied at halftime 31 - 31, the Magic pulled away in the second half to win 71 - 50 over the North Dakota Grand Forks Thompson Bomerz.

The bad thing now for these top two finishers from the Ohio AAU State Tournament back in early May is that now, the way the tournament draw was set, they must face each other in the first game of the double-elimination Championship Tournament. 26 of the 53 teams in this National AAU Tournament advanced to the Championship Tournament and the other 27 teams went into the double-elimination Classic Tournament.

This 10:30 a.m. game on Monday morning between the WV Thunder and the Southern Ohio Magic will be their third meeting this year. The first two times the Thunder pulled of wins by 14 and 16 points in the Ohio AAU 11u State Tournament back in early May.

Both teams will then be back in action today again after this first game at 4:30 with the loser of this 10:30 a.m. game facing elimination in the second game today. Out of the 100's of AAU teams throughout the nation who didn't qualify for this 11u National event, both teams, regardless of the outcome today, will be one of the top 26 in the nation. Congratulations on a great year so far and good luck to both of these southern Ohio girls AAU teams.

[SOMAGIC]

Bucknut 23: Thanks for all the updates on both teams. It is great to hear that both teams are doing well. I hate that they have to meet up against each other so early in this tournament but that is the luck of the draw.

Try to continue to update all of us.

Good luck to Southern Ohio Magic 11u. Lets pull out a win to continue in the winners bracket.

[bucknut 23]

In the first game of the Championship Tournament this morning in Branson, the WV Thunder 11u defeated the Southern Ohio Magic 11u by 8 points, 43 - 35. The Thunder now advances in the winners' bracket to play the Potomac Valley Vogues at 4:30 this afternoon. The Magic drops down to the losers' bracket and will face the Arkansas NWA Mustangs.

Having mutual ties to both teams/organizations it was disappointing to see these two fine teams have to face each other in the first game of the tournament. With 53 teams from all across the United States the organizers cannot predict who will come out of pool play, but I'm sure both teams would have not wanted to face each other until a little later in the tournament.

[bucknut 23]

Here's an update on the two local AAU teams playing in the 11u Nationals:

The WV Thunder remained unbeaten this evening with a hard-fought 66 - 63 win over the Potomac Valley Vogues. With this win the Thunder advances to Tuesday's 6:00 winner's bracket game against the winner of tonight's game between the Missouri Valley Magic and the Missouri Valley Blazers. The Missouri Valley Magic finished their pool play with a 3 - 0 record and had impressive wins by the margins of 23, 33, and 34 points. If they win, that should set up a very good match-up between them and the WV Thunder.

The Southern Ohio Magic saw their AAU season end with a very tight and physical loss by the score of 64 - 59 to the Arkansas NWA Mustangs. The Magic went 2 - 3 overall at the Nationals against some of the top 11u competition from all over the United States and finished the year with an overall record of 28 - 13. Many of their losses came early in the season and also were against several 12u teams when they played up in some GBA events.

Congratulations to Coach Carson and the girls from Peebles and Mason County, KY, and also to the girls from West Portsmouth, Minford, and Blanchester who were picked up at the end of the year to go to the Nationals. This was a very good first year of playing together!!

Good luck to the WV Thunder 11u tomorrow in the Championship Tournament!!

[bevo86]

Congratulations to all the girls on an extemely successful season. The team played against the best competition each week. Good luck to all the girls with your school teams this year.

I am proud of each player on the team. Thank You for a very enjoyable season

Coach Carson

[lambee_factor]

The WV Thunder would like to congratulate the Southern Ohio Magic on a truly successful season. The team came a long way in one short year and Coach Carson, his staff, and the girls are to be commended for that success. We look forward to competing with the Magic for years to come.

Larry Lambert
Thunder Basketball

[bucknut 23]

The WV Thunder dropped their first game of the 11u National AAU Tournament this evening in Branson, MO against the Missouri Valley Magic by the score of 62 - 43. After going 3 - 0 in pool play and then winning their first two games in the Championship Tournament, the Thunder now drops to the loser's bracket of the tournament round.

They will play the Fairfax Stars out of Virginia on Wednesday morning at 10:30. If they are able to win that one, then they will play again tomorrow at 6:00 p.m. There are now just 12 teams left out of the original 53 who started the tournament.

Good luck and get two wins tomorrow!!

[bucknut 23]

The WV Thunder 11u girls stayed alive in the loser's bracket of the AAU National Tournament this morning with a 43 - 36 win over the Fairfax Stars out of Virginia. They now come back and play again this evening at 6:00 against the Georgia Pistols. A win here would make the Thunder one of the top 6 teams in the nation at this age level and would get them a game tomorrow morning against the loser of Indiana's Finest and a team from California who play this afternoon.

Keep it up Thunder!!

[bucknut 23]

The WV Thunder 11u girls kept it rolling tonight with a 49 - 43 win over the Georgia Pistols in the loser's bracket to stay alive in the AAU D-I Nationals in Branson, MO. The Thunder now has a 9:00 a.m. game on Thursday against a very good team out of Indiana, Indiana's Finest. A win here would advance the Thunder to play a 3:00 game tomorrow against the winner of the Maryland/Potomac Valley Flames and the Tennessee Team Pride.

The game against Indiana's Finest will be the Thunder's ninth game since pool play began this past Saturday.

Good luck !!!!!

[SOMAGIC]

Congrats to the WV Thunder. Sounds like they are playing very well. Keep it up!!! We are all cheering for you!!!

[bucknut 23]

It's been a great year for this 11u age group in southern Ohio in regards to AAU. Most of these girls off of these two fine teams will be entering into the 7th grade this fall and this is going to create some very good basketball down the road in this part of the state. The WV Thunder has girls from Fairland, Eastern Meigs, Belpre, Fort Frye, and Oak Hill on their team. I don't think I left out any Ohio school districts. Some of those schools have more than one girl on the Thunder 11u team.

[toddboeckman4prez]

The Thunder lost to Indiana's Finest today I think the score was 52-44. Way to go Thunder you did well!

[bucknut 23]

Just got home and saw that they finally had the score posted on the AAU web-site. The girls did in fact go down to defeat to Indiana's Finest this morning and finished tied for 5th in the Nation at the 11u age division. This is a tremendous accomplishment for these young ladies and the people here in southern Ohio are very proud of the way you represented this region this year.

If I'm not mistaken, their overall record ends at 47 - 4 with only two of the losses being at the 11u age level which both occurred in Branson. Indiana's Finest went on to win today at 3:00 over Tennessee Team Pride by the score of 60 - 34 and then they also beat the Missouri Valley Magic this evening in their third game of the day by the score of 45 - 41. This sets up the championship tomorrow against the Southern Pacific team from California called the GBL Rebels who are undefeated and won the winner's bracket.

Congratulations once again to the WV Thunder 11u girls and also to the Southern Ohio Magic 11u girls on both having outstanding AAU seasons.

[bevo86]

Congratulations to the WV Thunder. We look forward to competing against you in the Ohio district next year. Your team had a tremendous season this year.

We appreciate the support from your organization at the Nationals. Good luck next year.

Coach Carson
Southern Ohio Magic