KISSIMMEE, Fla. – Chris Williams wasn’t talking like a coach whose team was just eliminated by 26 points. The Long Island Lightning 15U coach spoke in glowing terms of his players after their humbling 79-53 loss to loaded Team Takeover (D.C.) in the 15U Gold AAU Super Showcase quarterfinals.
“I’m happy because expectations weren’t exactly high for this team,” the St. Raymond assistant said. “Of course you’re upset when you lose, but this group is a work in progress. I have one guy over 6-foot-4 and seven guards and I couldn’t be more proud of the guys. To make it to the elite eight of a national tournament says a lot. It shows these guys can compete with the best.”
The quarterfinal finish was the latest impressive result for the Lightning, which made the Hall-of-Fame Invitational semifinals, before losing to eventual champion Team SCAN. Team SCAN actually beat Team Takeover in that tournament, but the Washington, D.C. team looked unbeatable on Saturday with its size, accurate 3-point shooting and athleticism in transition.
“That team had no weakness,” Williams said of Team Takeover, which led 22-14 after the first quarter and 45-28 by halftime.
Andre Walker led the Lightning with 16 points and Noah Woods added 13 while Donald Campbell had 23 points for Team Takeover and Quadree Smith had 22.
Davis keys Underrated’s run: After a sluggish start, Team Underrated is suddenly on a roll. Led by Archbishop Molloy rising sophomore C.J. Davis, the Long Island program has won four straight games to reach the Copper 15U semifinals, where it will face Team Assault (Va.) Sunday morning at 8 a.m.
They got by MABC Bengals (Mass.), 50-23, to start the day and ousted Tennessee Chosen Few, 61-45, in the quarterfinals behind 16 points, five rebounds and three assists from Davis, who already has scholarship offers from Washington and South Carolina. Andre Berry had 17 points in the win over the MABC Bengals.
“We still have an opportunity to play in front of college coaches and I think we had one of the toughest roads in the tournament,” Team Underrated coach Andre Edwards said. “We’re still moving on and playing.”
NOTES: Kareem Canty is headed for a postgraduate year at Westwind Prep (Ariz.). The impressive Harlem point guard who has Division I scholarship offers from Miami, Xavier, Florida State, Seton Hall and Washington, among others, spent last year at Bridgton Academy (Maine). … Samuel Dingba of the Salisbury School (Conn.) sent the Westchester Hawks to the 16U Gold second round with a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to cap off a 53-52 win over Florida Family. They will meet Indiana Elite South tomorrow at 10:40 a.m. in the second round. … The Hawks 15U team wasn’t as lucky, dropping a 76-66 decision to the Philadelphia Ballhawks in the Bronze quarterfinals.