DISTRICT HEIGHTS, Md. – It was a mixed bag for Starr Breedlove. The Gauchos Elite point guard did so much good all game – and really all tournament at the Nike/USJN National Championship at the Capital Sports Complex.
“Starr has toughness,” Gauchos coach Ed Fontno said. “She’s the smartest player on the court and has the biggest heart.”
Breedlove, who will play at DePaul Catholic next year (N.J.) after a season at St. Michael Academy, helped her team rally late in the Gold division championship game Sunday against Midwest Elite. She went to the line with 0.4 seconds left with a chance to tie the game with a pair of free throws. But she missed the first foul shot and intentionally missed the second as the Gauchos fell, 64-62, in a heartbreaker to the team from Indiana.
“A lot of pressure,” Breedlove said with a sheepish smile.
Without her, though, the Gauchos Elite wouldn’t have been in position to win the title. The Bronx native stepped up huge with Alyesha Lovett (Shabazz) out with a concussion and Briyona Canty (Trenton Catholic) nursing a bruised knee and hampered with five fouls.
“We wouldn’t have even been in the game,” Fontno said.
Late in the contest, the coach had Breedlove guard Canty’s girl because of the foul trouble. It led to a Breedlove steal and layup that got the Gauchos within 60-58 with 2:58 left. And with 43 seconds left, Breedlove pressured her foe into a turnover and Canty took the ball back for a basket to tie the game at 62.
“I had to pressure the ball,” Breedlove said. “[Defense] is just easy. Defense brings out my offense.”
On offense, the 5-foot-6 dynamo was her usual dynamic self, creating havoc with her speed on the perimeter and strength and finishing ability down low. Breedlove has interest from Arizona, Miami, Cincinnati, Memphis and Xavier and said she plans on visiting Xavier next month.
Scary moment: Gauchos 16 Black wing Jenice Winter had to be taken from the Capital Sports Complex in an ambulance during the second half of her team’s Silver semifinal game against the Mid-Penn Motion. The South Shore rising junior was undercut going up for a layup and landed hard on her back.
It was a tense few minutes, but Winter was able to move her arms and legs and is doing fine as of Sunday night, according to South Shore coach Anwar Gladden who was in town for the tournament and went with her to the hospital. X-rays came back negative and she’s going to continue on the road, he said. Winter’s team, though, ended up losing in the Silver championship game without her.
Exodus had strong showing: One of the city’s top AAU programs, Exodus, was not in the Washington, D.C., area this weekend, spurning the Nike/USJN National Championship for the Battle at the Bayou in New Orleans. The bus ride there was treacherous due to a transmission problem, which eventually caused the bus to break down. But Exodus NYC rebounded to win the consolation game in the top bracket Sunday against the Blue Angels.
Notes: Christ the King rising senior guard Bria Smith and Team USA beat host France to win the FIBA U17 World Championships in Toulouse. Smith was 4-for-4 from the free-throw line with four points in the championship game. … Former Archbishop Molloy standout Kerri White will be transferring from Manhattan College to Pace University. There, she will be eligible this winter for her junior season and she’ll team with fellow former NYC Heat products Maral Javadifar and Victoria Jones.