July 26, 2007 Issue                                       

©2007 The Chestnut Hill Local

Area AAU hoopsters excel
by TOM UTESCHER

Philadelphia Belles 15’s, USJN Cincinnati Champion: Back row (left to right) – Shakia Robinson, Towanda Sutton, Carleigh Brown and Laura Karbach; Front: Dara Taylor, Dior Brown and Maggie Lucas.  (Photo by Betsy Lucas)

July is Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) basketball tournament time, and a number of players from area schools have fared well in national competition.

Springside School junior Katie Rutan plays for the Philadelphia Belles 16’s team that finished fifth at the AAU National Championships held July 4-10 in Orlando, Fla. The team also includes a pair of Germantown Academy players, junior Jesse Carey, and senior Caroline Doty, who has made a verbal commitment to attend the University of Connecticut. Penn Charter coach Diana Caramanico serves as an assistant coach with the squad.

Two other GA players, sophomore Maggie Lucas and junior Laura Karbach, are members of the 15-and-under team fielded by the Belles, who hold many practice sessions and local tournaments at Springside’s Vare Field House. Playing against older competition in the 17/16 grouping, this younger Belles squad placed first at the U.S. Junior National Premier Invitational Tournament, which took place in Cincinnati, Ohio, July 5-8.

In playing in the 15’s bracket in 2006, Rutan and Carey’s team finished second at the AAU national championships. With the addition of Doty, who switched over from the Fencor organization this year, the Belles looked like a favorite to win the title in the 16’s category, now known simply as Junior Girls division. But you know what they say about the best-laid plans.

“Last year, everyone was healthy going into the tournament,” Rutan related. “This year, our whole team was hurt and we were basically playing through injuries.”

For her part, Rutan injured, then reinjured one of her ankles in the weeks leading up to the July tournament.

In the opening phase of the AAU nationals, the Belles finished second in their six-team pool, with their lone setback coming against the Texas Express, 56-49. After receiving a first-round bye in the national championship draw, the Belles 16’s toasted a team from North Carolina, 86-31, then overcame the All-Iowa Attack, 65-47. They posted another double-digit victory in the round of 16, knocking off the Hoopstars, an Ohio franchise, 73-57.

A pair of Mount St. Joseph Academy seniors were also participating in the Orlando event. Guard Laura Johnson played for the Comets, which won their pool, and then notched a 71-51 victory over the Shamrocks (CT) in their first game of the championship draw. In the next round, Johnson’s club suffered a close loss (75-72) to the Illinois Wolverines. MSJ forward Sarah McGorry was a member of the Fencor entry, which came in third in its pool and then was eliminated by the Lady Stars of Louisiana, 65-60.

In the quarterfinals, the locals ran up against the eventual national champion, Boo Williams, and fell to the Virginians, 71-54, to finish in a four-way tie for fifth place. Fencor was only down by three points at halftime, but Boo Williams drew away after that.

“They played more together than we did,” Rutan reported. “It was a morning game, and they seemed like they had more energy than us.”

Boo Williams squeaked by the homegrown Orlando Comets in the semifinals, 58-55, then won the title bout easily, 82-54, over the Tennessee Pride.

Back in June, there had been some doubt as to whether the Belles 15’s team would have enough athletes to compete in the July tournaments. Several players quit the team, and then Courtney Formica, younger sister of Chestnut Hill College hoopsters Katelin and Lindsay Formica, went down with an injury. GA’s Lucas had been with the Belles all along, but Karbach had been on one of the Fencor squads.

“I was asked to join after Courtney Formica got hurt,” Karbach revealed. “It was a great experience.”

Lucas is a very quick, high-scoring guard, and Karbach’s versatility was a boon to a team that still had just seven players.

“I can fill the guard spot and I can play post defense, if needed,” she noted.

Providing power in the paint was Shakia Robinson, a rising junior at Abington Friends School.

Asked why the Belles chose to play in a higher age bracket at the Cincinnati tourney, Karbach explained, “We felt like we’d have more competition in the older group. It also would give us more exposure with the college coaches, because they watch those games the most.”

Coached by former Catholic Academies standout Shannon McDade (Nazareth Academy/La Salle U.), the Belles 15’s advanced through the bracket, defeating a Missouri team, the Rockets, in the quarterfinals (42-33), and then topping the Crossover, from Michigan, in a 52-43 semfinal.

In the finals they faced New Heights, a New York City ballclub that had won all its previous games in the championship draw by double digits.

“They were a very aggressive team, and they had good post players,” recalled Karbach.

Nevertheless, the younger and less numerous Belles pulled out a 63-59 victory.