Arizona Venom Sports

It's all about the game!

...12U and 13U finished 2nd in Genies tournament!

- May 2007

Over the weekend of 18-20 May, 2007, our AZ Venom was well represented by three different age groups (12U, 13U and 15U) in the Gilbert Genies Jamboree basketball tournament.  The Jamboree showcased teams from Tucson, New Mexico, and here in the Phoenix Metro valley.  The tournament was very competitive and well-organized with guest speakers, skills competition and various gifts auctioned off during the half-tournament festivities.  The skills competitions were open to all tournament players.  The age groups were from 10U-15U.  Over 85 young ladies contended for the free-throw shooting contest and 70 for the three point shooting contest.  Our Venom was strongly represented in each contest with 14 players competing. 

The contests were led by up-lifting spirit and cheers from the Venom Family.  The three-point shooting contest came down to sudden death of two players, one to include our own 12U, Paloma Anderson.  Anderson chose her opponent to shoot first in sudden death.  The pressure seemed to be a bit much as the competitor missed here sudden death three-pointer.  With a chance to win the title, our Paloma Anderson won the title with a confident all-net trey.  The Venom’s cheer erupted as Anderson won the sharp-shooting contest.  The free-throw contest followed the exciting three-point shootout.  Eleven Venom players tried to win the FT title led by continuous cheers and excitement of the Venom family.  Not to be out done, this contest came down to Nancy Carranza (12U/13U) and Tiffany Levin (15U).  The Venom’s cheers were buzzing over the entire gym as Carranza slipped past Levin to win the tournament’s free-throw shooting contest.  The Venom organization is proud of all of young ladies to include Paloma Anderson (1st in 3pt shooting), Nancy Carranza (1st in free-throw shooting) and Tiffany Levin (2^nd in free-throw shooting).

 

Our 12 and under basketball team’s first opponent was the Phoenix Phenoms.  The last time we faced the Phenoms was the team’s first tournament win by only one point.  The young ladies knew we had to start the game with a fast tempo and maintain it for the entire game.  We started off quick, but we were not able to take full control of the scoreboard as the half ended with a 12-11 Venom lead.  With a close and low scoring game, control of the boards was important.  We totaled 11 offensive rebounds and 12 defensive rebounds lead by new-comer Alex Parris (6) and Jordann Sharp’s (4) proved to be vital.  Second half defensive pressure proved too much for the Phenoms to handle.  The team finished the game with 18 total steals led by Angie Vecchiarelli (4) and Nancy Carranza (3).  Clutch free-throw shooting and defense secured our Venom a win at 27-21.

 

Our next opponent was the Premier Basketball Academy.  We have played this team a number of times with the results of close and competitive games.  One resulting is a 2 point overtime victory for the Premier.  This game was just as exciting.  Our Venom kept the Premier off balance with a combination of fast-breaking and slow-down offenses led by Peace Amukamara and her 5 assists.  Kenna McDavis slowed down the Premier’s low-post offense with her defensive presence.  Clutch free-throw shooting by Amukamara and Carranza secured a 28-21 victory over the Premier.  This victory sent our 12U team to the milestone of our very first tournament championship.

 

The championship game put the hosting Gilbert Genies against our very own 12U ladies.  We had played the Genies once before as the Genies had a convincing win.  This game would be nothing like the first.  The well-coached Genies towered over our girls with more height at each position.  The coaching staff stressed that our speed and athletic ability were well above the Genies.  The game started with our 12U team missing numerous lay-ups due to tall presence of the Genie frontcourt players.  The inspiring part of the start of the game is that the Genies were only ahead by two points at the first time-out.  The trademark Venom defensive pressure began to rise led by the guard play Daesha Jackson and Paloma Anderson.  Although we were down by 5 points at halftime, our young ladies realized that we could win with fast-break lay-ups and teamwork.  The young ladies gained confidence as the tempo increased.  The Genies had to call a timeout mid-way through the second half to stop our 8 point scoring explosion.  Foul trouble forced the Venom into making adjustments.  Determination and hard-work allowed us to make a comeback from being down 14 to within 4 points.  The team fought to win the game but the final score had us down by 9 points.

 

This young and always improving team has taken big steps in a short amount of time.  In the words of a team member before the game’s start, “If we don’t win, at least we finished 4^th in one tournament, 3^rd in the next and this tournament we would finish 2^nd.  So that means that we will WIN our next tournament.”  The coaching staff and players expect to do just that, if not the next tournament, very soon.  We would like to thank the 13U, 15U, friends and family for their never-ending support.

Paloma Anderson

(Venom 12U) - Winner of the 3-points competition.

Nancy Carrenza

(Venom 13U) - Winner of the free-throw competition.