Ontario Teams Show Well At Boo Williams Nike Invitational

This past weekend, five Canadian teams, which all happen to be JUEL league teams, took part in the Boo Williams Nike Invitational down in Hampton, VA. The tournament, which ran from April 19-21, 2013, is one of the Premier tournaments of the early viewing period, attracting well over 200 teams from across the US and likely just as many NCAA College coaches.

In the ’16 Patricia Williams’ Division, the Blues JUEL team fared the best of all of the Canadian content, making it all the way to the Gold Division Finals. Unfortunately it was there that they suffered their first defeat, which was at the hands of Below The Rim from out of Florida. The Blues were riding a 5-0 tournament streak before suffering the tight 50-49 loss.

The only other Canadian team advancing beyond Pool play was Hamilton Transway. They managed a very respectable 2-1 finish to place second in a solid ’16 Joe Smith Division’, enabling them to advance to the Silver Division single elimination playoffs. After a convincing Quarter-Final win, they got tripped up in the Semis, dropping a 70-65 decision to Maryland Pride.

In a quick look at how the other Canadian teams in the ’16 Joe Smith’ Division did, the Hamilton Fox Trotters finished with a 2-2 record despite a hole in their line-up due to injury. They ended their Tournament on a positive note, defeating the Norfolk Xpress 64-57. Also ending their tournament in the win column was the Blessed Sacrament Yellow Jackets who are also based out of Hamilton, ON. The Yellow Jackets finished with a similar 2-2 record after Melissa Tatti connected on a 3-pointer with .9 seconds remaining in the game to boost her team to a 54-51 win over the Illinois Heat.

Rounding out the look at the Canadian team results, the Advantage Titans succumbed to the challenges of being in the ’16 Newport News’ Division, which was the division with tournament’s top teams. They dropped all three of their games and did not see any bonus action.

Here’s the game by game results of each of the aforementioned teams:

Blues JUEL

60-30 win over Mass Huskies (Ferdinand) (MA)
51-25 win over NY Lightning (NY)
49-43 win over Fencor (PA)
63-53 win in Gold Quarter-Finals over Rochester Revolution (NY)
50-38 win in Gold Semi-Finals over ISAA (IN)
50-49 loss in Gold Finals to Below The Rim (FL)

Hamilton Transway (JUEL)

68-48 win over Alabama Twisters (White) (AL)
59-39 loss to North Texas Shockers (TX)
75-61 win over New York Heat (NY)
73-49 win in Quarter-Finals over CA Baller (CA)
70-65 loss in Semi-Finals to Maryland Pride (MD)

Hamilton Fox Trotters (JUEL)

45-43 win over Kentucky Premier – Cowles (KY)
64-40 loss to Team Takeover (DC)
58-55 loss to Bay St Magic Elite (MA)
64-57 win over Norfolk Xpress (VA)

Blessed Sacrament Yellow Jackets (JUEL)

54-43 win over Westchester Hoopers (NY)
59-29 loss to Team Final (NJ)
65-50 loss to AD Elite (TX)
54-51 win over Illinois Heat (IL)

Advantage Titans (JUEL)

43-34 loss to Cal Storm – Team Taurasi (CA)
56-41 loss to Georgia Pistols (GA)
57-38 loss to Texas Prep Elite (TX)