Five for Five

10&U? Check!

11&U? Check!

12&U? Check!

13&U? Check!

14&U? Check!

The Florida Wildcats are 5-Time AAU State Champions!!!

Nathan Silva says it's this or the coaches are walking home.

Wildcats Do Work in Clearwater

May 18, 2008 The goal of the Wildcats is simple; to make players the very best they can be. Winning has never been the goal of the coaches, the only thing asked of the players every time they take the floor is to put forth maximum effort and play with sportsmanship.

With all that being said, being the AAU State Champion is something the players and coaches take a lot of pride in calling themselves. Sarah Taylor, Camille Crooks, Katie Basquill-White, and Lindsay Silva have never been anything but, and it was clear that on state championship Sunday in Clearwater, Florida, nobody was taking that title away from them - not this year.

Coming off a big tournament championship at Spring Fling 2 in the 15&U division, the Wildcats began pool play looking extremely unmotivated against the Florida Extreme 14&U. Meanwhile, the Extreme were playing inspired basketball; out-hustling the Wildcats all over the floor and packing the lane to make the Wildcats earn their points from the outside. The plan was working great until the Wildcats came to the conclusion that the Extreme weren't going to go away on their own and started to put forth a little effort. In unimpressive fashion, the Wildcats ended up winning the game by double digits. The game did serve as a wake-up call as the Wildcats blasted their other pool play opponent TGFB from Leesburg, winning by 40 points.

Championship Sunday began somewhat slowly as the Wildcats dispatched of the Orlando Blazers in the quarterfinals by roughly 30 points. Next up was the St. Augustine Lady Wolves in the semi-finals and the Wildcats delivered a knock-out blow right from the start and cruised to a 22 point lead at halftime. Some questionable coaching decisions in the second half allowed the Wolves to cut the lead to single digits late in the game but the victory was never in doubt and the Wildcats got ready to sit and watch Orlando's Finest vs. Clearwater Greenwave for the right to take the championship from the Wildcats. It seemed like a lock that the Finest would win and set up a rematch of the 12&U state championship game. But, for the second year in a row, the super talented Finest lost in the semi's to an overmatched opponent from the Tampa area. In 2007 it was the Meghan Keough led Tampa Extreme who shocked the Finest and this year the Greenwave played inspired basketball and outplayed the team from Orlando who had previously routed the Greenwave.

The championship game was set: Wildcats vs. Greenwave. The two teams had met twice already in the season with the Wildcats winning both comfortably, but the Greenwave were playing great basketball.

A funny story about this game happened just before in the locker room. The players were gathering together in the locker room without the coaches when Sarah Taylor's mom entered to give Sarah water for the game. When she came out, she told the coaches they didn't need to go in there, that Lindsay Silva had them ready to go. It wasn't a surprising comment. Lindsay is the longest tenured Wildcat and a true leader who is at the center of the great heart that the Wildcats have played with now for five years. Lindsay takes a lot of pride in this team and never needs to be reminded when a big game is upon the team, and usually won't let any of the players forget it either.

Trusting in what they had heard, the Wildcat coaches didn't say much to the team, their focus was clear and it showed right from the start. The Wildcats defense shut down the Greenwave and their super-tough point guard who had carried the team to their impressive semi-final win. The Greenwave were already battered from their physical game with the Finest, and with the Wildcats executing on all cylinders there was little anybody could do. The Wildcats cruised to their fifth straight championship.

This win was more significant than any other and that was because of the Wildcats accomplishments at AAU Nationals in 2007. With their 13th place finish at that tournament, the 2008 14&U Florida state champion would go to 14&U Nationals fitted with that 13th seed that the Wildcats had earned. Come July 21st in Clarksville, Tennessee at the 14&U AAU National Champoinships, the Florida Wildcats will be one of only 16 teams in the likely 80-team field to go in with the distinction of being seeded. Congratulations ladies!

Spring Fling 2 @ Disney

The Wildcats split up into Red and White again for the second Spring Fling of the season. This time, though, there would be no threat of the two teams meeting up. The Red team decided to play up into the 15&U division, leaving the White team on their own in 14&U.

Before the tournament began, however, an injury had again hit the team pretty hard. Jenna Worswick went down in practice with an ACL tear, the second of the season among the Wildcats family. It was a frustrating injury for everyone, as Jenna was playing her best basketball of the season and really giving the White team a big lift. Fortunately, Jenna is a very strong girl with very strong legs and should come through her surgery and rehab well. We expect she'll return even stronger in the future.

The White team was pooled with a couple of familiar rivals in the Gainesville Warriors and the Tampa Extreme who had taken the Wildcats lead in calling themselves the Florida Extreme. First up in pool play was the Gainesville Warriors. Down to seven players with the loss of Jenna and Burbank missing due to testing, the six man White squad fought hard against the Warriors aggressive and deep team. Despite a large early deficit, the team never quit and cut the lead to single digits in the second half. Although the team ended up losing 49-42, the Warriors had to work the entire game to put the Wildcats away. Next up for the White team would be the long time Wildcat rival in the Extreme (minus a certain key ingredient...who could that be?). The Wildcats bounced back strong, getting after the Extreme with their man to man defense and despite the lack of depth the Wildcats pulled away with a 45-32 victory.

In the 15&U division the Wildcats were pooled with the Jacksonville Sparks and the South Florida Jaguars. We knew the Jags were a very talented team and would be a huge challenge but knew very little about the Sparks. The first game was against the Sparks and although the Red team notoriously starts slowly, that wasn't the case this time. The Wildcats pounced on the Sparks right from the start with suffocating man to man defense and solid execution on the offensive end, winning 59-12. The matchup with the Jaguars took place on Saturday afternooon at the Milkhouse and the game was a battle right from the beginning. The bigger and more athletic Jaguars came out shooting the lights out, while the Wildcats were doing the same. Whether it was bad defense or good offense, both teams scored 29 points in the half. The second half was a different story as the shots stopped falling and the defense took over. The Jaguars were up one point with under 20 seconds play when Lexi got fouled attacking the basket on an inbounds play. Lex went to the line and knocked both down to give the Wildcats the lead. The Jaguars had one more possession to try to win the game but their shot was off the mark, giving the Wildcats a 44-43 victory and first place in their pool heading into bracket play.

Bracket play for the White team began with a matchup against the Lady Smooth Stones. The Smooth Stones are an athletic Orlando based team whom the Wildcats have never faced. The Smooth Stones jumped out to an early lead before the Wildcats started to get them figured out. After that, it was all Wildcats en route to a 46-29 win. The win earned the Wildcats their way into the quarterfinals on Sunday morning where Below the Rim was waiting on them. Below the Rim is a very talented and big team who battled the Red team very tough in the first Spring Fling. The Wildcats White came out strong against the much bigger team. As time went on, Below the Rim began to wear down the Wildcats and pulled away, winning 44-26. It was a good tournament for the White team, especially considering that they were playing without a key member of their team in Jenna. Below the Rim went on to win the tournament in 14&U, winning the championship game by 20 points.

Bracket play for the Wildcats began late Saturday night against the Broward Lady Bearcats. The Bearcats were the 15&U AAU Florida Gold Coast Champions and had to be the favorites coming into the weekend. However they suffered a tough loss to the Palm Beach Xxtreme in pool play, pitting pitting them against the Wildcats much earlier in bracket play than expected. Both teams had a very short bench going into the game as the Bearcats only had seven players on their team and the Wildcats eight, a fact that proved important as the game wore on. The Wildcats began the game strong, scoring early and often off their press and from the outside. The Bearcats started to get going, using their strong post player inside and very athletic wings going to the basket. The game was being called extremely tight, and the Bearcats were dealing with some foul trouble at halftime. Things got even worse in the second half, as the refs continued to call every touch foul. Despite the strangely officiated game, the Wildcats players kept their cool while the Bearcats could not say the same. Three technical fouls would be called on Bearcats players and coach, further adding to their foul troubles. With the Wildcatst up about 11 points and nine minutes remaining in the game, the Bearcats lost their first player to fouls. They then lost another, and another, and another, and another! With two minutes to go, the Bearcats were down to only two players. The Wildcats lead turned into 20 before the final horn sounded, mercifully for the two remaining Bearcat players. The win was a big one for the Wildcats, but their work was far from over.

Sunday morning began the quarterfinals for the Red team. Their opponent would be the Skegee Tigerettes from Georgia. The first thing anyone and everyone noticed about the team from Georgia was the 6'3" freakishly athletic center. The big girl proved difficult to defend and the Tigerettes jumped out to an early lead. The Wildcats pressure started to become effective as they took the lead and began to frustrate their opponents. A switch to a 2-3 zone also proved effective against the tall center and the Wildcats moved out to a comfortable lead, winning 63-47 and moving on to the semi-finals against fellow Winning Ways team, the Florida Bearcats. Again the Wildcats fell behind early, and yet again the Wildcats pressure began to make good things happen. The Wildcats also began knocking down shots from the outside and eventually built a lead of 20 points late in the second half. The Bearcats never quit, but couldn't ever seriously challenge as they fell 80-71, sending the Wildcats into the finals against the Palm Beach Xxtreme.

Both teams arrived at the finals having played five games to get there and both were playing with tired legs and bodies. The Wildcats came out in a 2-3 zone, feeling as though the Xxtreme had too much speed and quickness to keep them from getting to the basket at will. It was a good plan, the Xxtreme were relagated to shooting the ball from the outside and were limited in their transition game. Offensively, the Wildcats were able to get some baskets off their press and from the outside in their offense, however there was no points to be had in the paint. Every time the Wildcats ventured down the lane to the basket, Danielle McCray, a super freshman from West Palm Beach, was there to swat the ball away. McCray was having a block party and one had to be asking themselves whether the Wildcats were unbelievably brave or incredibly stupid because they just kept challenging her. Although they never got the best of McCray inside, the Wildcats were able to score in other methods on their way to a 65-53 win. It was a great tournament for the Red team, they never backed down despite the fact that they were short on the bench and short on the court, always taking on bigger and stronger teams. The team is playing well at the right time, as they travel to Clearwater next to defend their crown as the 4-time AAU State Champions.

Wildcats White in Daytona at the USSSA Battle at the Beach

May 6, 2008 The Wildcats White team traveled to Daytona to put their perfect USSSA record on the line in the USSSA Battle at the Beach.

Pool play opened on Friday night at Vince Carter's gymnasium at Mainland High School. The Wildcats faced the Tallahassee Bulls and picked up where they left off in USSSA by employing an aggressive press and man to man defense on their way to a 57-33 win. Next up in pool play the Wildcats faced the Haines City Sparks early on Saturday morning. Typically Saturday mornings are not good to the Wildcats and this morning would be no different. The Wildcats struggled on defense and the Sparks took advantage by driving the ball to the basket and getting easy shots and trips to the foul line. Despite not playing well, the Wildcats kept the game close and had a chance to win but came up short, losing their first USSSA game 45-39. The loss meant that the Wildcats third and final pool play game agains the Citrus Wildcats would determine who would be going home and who would be moving on to tournament play.

The White team came back on Saturday evening focused. The team from Citrus was a lot bigger but the White team used their speed and pressure defense to their advantage, winning 49-28. The win meant the Wildcats finished second in their pool and would have to play the first place team from the other pool in the semi-finals of the tournament. That team turned out to be a familiar foe in the St. Augustine Lady Wolves.

At Spring Fling I the Wildcats White faced off against the Lady Wolves in pool play and started off with a nice lead that they eventually couldn't hold on to, losing by four points. Unfortunately, the Wildcats were not able to get off to the same start this time around. The Lady Wolves were moving well in their zone and changing things up defensively, keeping the Wildcats offense off balance. The Wolves opened up a ten point lead early. Being held to one shot on offense and not shooting well, the Wildcats' offensive struggles continued throughout the game. Although they never gave up, the Wildcats went down 37-28.

The Wildcats White will get thier chance at redemption at the end of May in the USSSA State Championships in Port St. Lucie.

Peach State Classic Review

April 21, 2008 Attending the Peach State Classic was the first event of the exposure nature for the Wildcats. The event was held just outside Atlanta in Suwanee, Georgia. The director of the tournament decided to play us up into the 15&U division based on things he had heard about our team.

The event started with a pre-tournament game against the Georgia Jammers. The Jammers struggled against the the Wildcats press and man to man defense as the Wildcats won going away. The tournament started Saturday morning against the Carolina Comets 15&U. The Comets were a very disciplined team who really worked their offense well against the Wildcats' defense and maintained about a ten point lead throughout most of the game. Late in the game, though, the Wildcats pressure started to force turnovers and they began to get out on the break. Suddenly the game got very close down the stretch. The Wildcats scored on a 2on1 break to take the lead and eventually got the defensive stop they needed to preserve the victory. The victory was a big one because it kept the team on the winners side of the bracket.

Next up would be the Gainesville Warriors 15&U. The Wildcats came out very strong and jumped out to a big lead. Much to the credit of the Warriors they never gave up and ended up cutting the Wildcats one-time 20 point lead down to ten before the game ended in a Wildcat victory. The victory placed the Wildcats in the championship game against the Orlando Comets 15&U. The start of the game was horrendous for the Wildcats, they were having trouble getting back on defense and locating the Comets' shooters and fell behind early 19-6. A timeout worked wonders for the Wildcats as they began to score and get stops and cut the lead to three at 24-21. From that point on the game stayed at about that margin. The Wildcats would get close to taking a lead and suddenly one of the Comets shooters would work themselves open for a big three pointer. With about 10 minutes to go in the second half the Comets began to hold the ball, a somewhat surprising move for a highly touted 15&U team playing in an exposure event. The game went back and forth for the final ten minutes with the Comets running as much clock as possible on offense before getting into the lane and getting to the free throw line while the Wildcats were scoring with much more efficiency on drives to the basket and some outside shooting that had not been there in the first half. Time ran out on the Wildcats as they ended up losing by seven points.

It was a good event for the Wildcats. They had played well at times while also getting exposed by the bigger more talented teams in certain areas; information that would prove valuable for the Wildcats going forward.

Spring Fling I

April 13, 2008 The Florida Wildcats entered two teams into the 14&U division of Spring Fling I (Red and White). With the injury to Alexa Chappell, Katie Basquill-White was moved to the Red team while a new player joined the Wildcat family.

Ashley Shannon came over to the Wildcats from the Essence program. Ashley is a resident of Daytona Beach and attends Father Lopez there. Ashley brings some much needed toughness and size to the White team while also displaying the ability to step to the perimeter to handle and shoot the ball.

The White team started off SFI with a 10 point win over the Orlando Blazers on Friday night. In their second pool play game, the White team faced a very tough St. Augustine Lady Wolves team that had played the Wildcats very tough in Jacksonville two weeks earlier. The White team jumped out to a nice lead in the first half and spent the rest of the game trying to hold on. Unfortanately the shots stopped dropping for the Wildcats White and they dropped their second and last pool play game by a score of 56-53. In a different pool, the Red team faced two of the weaker teams in the tournament and won both easily, beating the Jacksonville Wolves 71-18 and the Florida Prospects 54-15.

The White team started bracket play facing an athletic team, the Cape Coast Titans. The Wildcats trailed most of the game as they battled fouls and fatigue although they stayed within striking distance. The team came alive in the last few minutes of the game, forcing turnovers and hitting shots and eventually taking a lead and holding on the win the game, 54-52. It was a good, hard fought win against a tough team. Unfortunately their day wasn't done, the next round of the bracket pitted the Wildcats White against the Florida Eagles late on Saturday night. The White team fought hard but fell short, losing to the Eagles 48-44, ending their run at Spring Fling I.

Bracket play for the Red team opened against what was clearly one of the top three teams in the tournament, Below the Rim. Below the Rim had lost a tough pool play game to Wildcats rival Orlando's Finest by two points. The Red team came out focused and played perhaps their best game of the 2008 season, shutting down Below the Rim's tough inside game and won 45-29. Next up for the Red team was the Florida Eagles who had just knocked the White team out of the tournament. With the White team in attendance and news of the Eagles elaborate celebration in their win against the white, the Red team had all the motivation they needed and blasted the Eagles 77-26. The semi-finals was a repeat of Jacksonville, Wildcats Red vs. Clearwater Greenwave. The Wildcats came out on fire, taking an early 18-2 lead. The Greenwave eventually woke up and played very well, making the Wildcats fight the entire game to earn a 48-38 win. The championship game followed immediately and would be the first matchup of longtime Orlando rivals; Wildcats vs. Finest. The Wildcats led after a sloppy first half by six points. The Finest came out and dominated in the second half, eventually leading by nine with under three minutes to play. The Wildcats came alive, driving to the basket and earning trips to the foul line. Two free throws by Keough put the Wildcats up one with 18 seconds to play. The Finest got off a good shot that rimmed out as time expired, giving the Wildcats the win and the 14&U Spring Fling I Championship.