Arizona Venom Sports

It's all about the game!

The 22^nd day of April 2007 marked a monumental achievement for the Arizona Venom Sports.  After only two years of hard work and dedication, our 13 & Under girls basketball team captured their first Arizona Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) State Championship.  The past two years have brought many high points and a few lows.  But from coaches to players we would all agree that what we have endured is well worth it. Our young ladies will represent the state of Arizona at the AAU National Championships!

 

The tournament started against the most appropriate opponent, the Phoenix Phenoms.  In our brief two year history, we have often been matched against this team in league games, tournaments and also scrimmages.  The game began with full court pressure that caused the Phenom shooters to be off their mark.  Our Venom’s defensive mindset followed by excellent rebounding took us to a convincing 58-27 victory.

 

Early morning games do not normally sit well with our Venom team.  The 9:00 a.m. start of the next game was against the Tucson Extreme.  This was the first time our girls had played the Extreme.  The pre-game warm-ups are normally a time for the coaching staff to judge our team’s early enthusiasm.  As expected, our ladies used focus and energy to jump out to an early 10-4 lead.   The Tucson Extreme is a relatively small team.  We expected them to use quickness and speed to their advantage.  But again, our 13U team applied the trademark venomous defense to take full control of the competition.   The Venom had a solid 14 point lead at the end of the first half.   The second half continued with slashing drives by Promise Amukamara and the inside presence of newcomer Syerra Davis.  By the game’s end, our Venom had a 57-33 victory and halfway to a state championship.

 

The semi-finals matched us with the well coached AZ Thunder-Dexter team.  The game’s start had the Thunder full of energy and aggression.  The intense Thunder team jumped out to an 11 point lead with the vocal support of their fans.  Players from both the 15U & 12U Venom teams, with support of friends and family were not to be outdone.  Head Coach Caroline Jones provided an inspirational time-out speech to ignite our 13U team.  Now, there was a cheering battle in the stands and a battle on the court.  Fast break offense and ferocious defense swung the game’s momentum to the Venom side.  The Thunder team’s confidence began to dwindle as we created numerous turn-overs.  The game ended with the Venom on top 57-41.  That makes a 27 point difference in our favor.  Next game…. AAU STATE CHAMPIONSHIP!

The Venom coaching staff and players arrived to the gymnasium early for the state championship the next morning.  Upon arrival, we did not know who would be our opponent.  The schedule showed that the championship game would be a rematch against the Thunder-Dexter team.  The Thunder team had won the right to play for the championship by beating the AZ Elite basketball team earlier in the morning.  We were focused on the state championship AND the national tournament from the moment we walked onto the court.

The Venom 15U team was our biggest fans at the championship game!

(Tevis, Lo, Mel, Kelsey, and Cory)  Thank you girls!

Players from left to right:  Nancy Carrenza, Ebonee Rhymes, Ashton Bourdon, Promise Amukamara, Nici Richardson, Syerra Davis, Desiree Phillips, Dominique Wilkins, Julie Seiler, Amanda Kunkle.

Venom 2007 AAU State Champions!

- April 20, 2007