Full Court Press

Injuries—At All Levels—Must Be Taken Seriously

By Clay Kallam

Correspondent

Bob Corwin has his spot at Hamilton High School in Phoenix. He has his portable chair back, with the cushions, set up on the coaches’ side of the floor, about 15 rows up in the bleachers. His trademark green windbreaker and flip-down shades are also in evidence, as if anyone could mistake him for anyone else.

We talked every day for at least 15 minutes, commenting on the Nike Tournament of Champions Joe Smith Division games we were watching as well as on college teams and the WNBA. Sooner or later, as it always does, the talk came around to injuries.

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LA’s Oldest Fall League for Girls Offers Opportunity to Run, Gun and Have Some Fun

By Sue Favor

Correspondent

Anyone in a gloomy mood about the future fan-appeal of women’s and girls’ basketball should venture down to South Central Los Angeles. There, on Monday and Wednesday nights in early fall, the parking lot and parking structure at Lynwood High School are packed. The reason why is right inside the gym near the front door: Three basketball courts, each with its own game going on simultaneously, for four hours an evening.

The high school season has yet to officially begin, but twice a week, fans fill up the gym for the “Run and Gun Fall Basketball League,” leaning on walls and sitting on floors. Veteran attendees come prepared with their own fold-up chairs and water bottles, and they settle into those seats as they would for a good movie. Then they stay for a while.

“People like how competitive the play is - they know what to expect,” league co-founder Art Jackson said. “Hands down, it’s the best competition in the area.”

This year’s participant lineup is typically high-caliber. Teams include last year’s state high school girls’ champions Long Beach Poly and Brea Olinda, as well as Carson, Lynwood, Narbonne, Bishop Amat, Gahr and Long Beach Jordan. Teams take turns playing each other on a rotating schedule, at different times.

Games are fast and furious, as most schools use the League as a tune up for the upcoming season. On a recent night, Lynwood rallied to beat Poly 40-38, while the week before, JSerra of San Juan Capistrano surprised Narbonne with a six-point victory.

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U.S. Wins U16 Gold with 103-52 Win Over Canada; Argentina Takes Bronze over Brazil

By Lee Michaelson

Publisher

Team USA steamrolled its way to the FIBA Americas U16 Championship title with a 103-52 win over Canada in Mexico City on Friday night. It was the Americans’ fourth 100-plus point game out of the five games played in the tournament. Undefeated through the tournament, the U.S. won its five games by an average of 70 points and listed No. 1 in 13 of 19 statistical categories.

“It’s great. It’s crazy,” said Team USA’s Cierra Burdick of Butler High School, Mathews, North Carolina, describing her emotions after winning the gold medal in the first FIBA U16 Championship to be held. “The feeling is like no other. We’ve accomplished something that nobody else has accomplished. We are the first 16-and-under USA team to get a gold. To be the first, like coach was saying earlier, ‘How many of you have been the first to do something?’ We’ve been the first and it’s a great feeling.”

“I feel really proud,” added Mater Dei High School’s Jordan Adams (Irvine, California). “I was teary-eyed and had goose bumps. It’s just great to hear your national anthem being played after you win.”

As expected, Canada gave the Americans their toughest opposition of the competition, sticking close throughout the first period. Canada held an 8-7 lead at the 7:08 mark, before the USA’s Adams grabbed an offensive board and launched a 13-0 U.S. run that gave the USA a 20-8 advantage shortly past the midway point of the opening quarter.  Canada rallied, however, cutting the lead to 27-20 by the end of the first period. But the Americans outscored their northern neighbors 29-9 in the second period, while forcing eight turnovers, and headed to the locker room with a 56-29 half-time lead. Though the Canadians never gave up, neither were they able to recover.

The U.S. allowed Canada just six more points on 1-of-17 shooting in the third period. Meanwhile, the Americans took off on a 13-0 run, extending the lead to 50 points, 85-35, by the end of three, a margin it extended to 53 points in the fourth quarter before Canada narrowed the gap to the final 49-point margin in the closing seconds.

U.S. forward/center Elizabeth Williams of Princess Anne High School, Virginia Beach, Virginia, was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player after leading her team to victory with a game-high 19 points and seven boards. Williams averaged 13.4 points and 5.2 rebounds per game over the course of the tournament, second on the U.S. team only to Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis of Mater Dei High School, Anaheim, California, who averaged 14 points and 4.6 rebounds per game.

“It’s really nice to be named MVP, but obviously my teammates really helped me out because they are the ones who got me the ball,” said Williams afterward. “I feel really proud, and it’s even better that we won the gold medal.”

Photo Caption: U.S. forward/center Elizabeth Williams credited her teammates for feeding her the ball after her game-high, 19-point performance won her MVP honors for the tournament.

“We expected it be difficult, not as easy as our other games,” Williams added. “We knew if we picked it up, we could stretch our lead out. Defense is always what gets us over a hump, and that was true tonight.”

The U.S. and Canada will be joined in next year’s inaugural FIBA Women’s U17 World Championships by Argentina who took the bronze medal with a 64-47 win over Brazil earlier in the day.

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Full Court Press NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Top 25 — Week of March 8, 2010