ATX (Austin) goes undefeated in Prep again, Adaptive Sports Ohio nets first NWBA title
Finally, Dallas Junior Wheelchair Mavericks Blue coach Mike White has captured his and the program’s elusive National Wheelchair Basketball Association (NWBA) Junior Varsity Division wheelchair basketball title.
No. 1 seed Dallas dominated, as Owen Horsley, Isaac Lujan and Ethen Hansen each scored in double-figures and the Junior Wheelchair Mavericks Blue team rolled to a 57-33 victory over the No. 2-seeded Kansas City Kings Gold team in the Junior Varsity Division championship on Sunday afternoon at West Monroe Sports & Events complex in West Monroe, La.
Horsley, who was named the Junior Varsity Division championship game MVP, scored a game-high 18 points and had nine rebounds, while Lujan (12 points and 11 rebounds) and Hansen (11 points and game-high 12 rebounds) each recorded double-doubles to lead Dallas to its first title in White’s 12-year career and the first Junior Varsity title in program history.
Dallas jumped out early and rolled from there. Tied at 6-6 with 5 minutes remaining in the first quarter, the Junior Wheelchair Mavericks Blue team went on a 12-2 run to close the period and led 18-8 at the end of it. Horsley scored four points during the run, while Hansen added four and Lujan added two. Then, Dallas opened up the third quarter on a 10-2 run in the first 3:30 of the period for a 36-18 advantage.
“It was tempo, but it was also we all played together and we all wanted to win a natty, especially for our seniors and to leave our seniors off on a good note,” says the 13-year-old eighth-grader Hansen.
Horsley says their defensive effort was better, as well. They forced the Kings Gold team to shoot just 14-of-62 (22.6%) from the field and into 10 turnovers, while Dallas went 26-of-65 (40%) and had 11 turnovers, with just one turnover coming in the second half.
“Yeah, we definitely, like, honed in on our defense against this team,” says the 17-year-old Horsley. “I think that was a big difference maker from last time we played them.”
Besides those three, Charlie Zerzan (six points and three rebounds), Caden White (four points and six rebounds), Rylan Munson (four points and two rebounds) and Weston Powell (two points and one rebound) also contributed for Dallas.
Karson Henderson led Kansas City with 11 points and had five rebounds, while Yandel Pina added 10 points and five rebounds. Isiah Barr (six points and nine rebounds), Jeremiah Mangels (two points and five rebounds), Johnathan Pittman (two points and four rebounds) and Talon Teague (two points and one rebound) added contributions.
For White, this victory was sweet.
“We were really close a couple times since I’ve been here. We finished third twice, finished fifth, finished sixth. And it’s been a while since we’ve been anywhere close to this,” he says. “This group of kids in particular, we’ve been waiting a long time for them to reach their full potential.”
ATX (Austin) Makes It Two Prep Titles In Three Years
ATX (Austin) returned to the NWBA Junior Prep Division title game — and finished perfect again.
Just like two years ago, the Texas team took down its tournament competition and finished the NWBA Junior Prep Division season with an unblemished record.
But this time the title game was much tighter. And a new hero emerged.
Michael Foka hit a short inside shot with 41.9 seconds left that helped lift No. 1 seed ATX (Austin) to a 20-18 victory over the No. 3-seeded BlazeSports Junior Hawks in the Sunday morning NWBA Junior Prep Division championship game at West Monroe Sports & Events complex in West Monroe, La. ATX (Austin) finished the season 36-0.
Tied at 18-18 with less than a minute remaining, ATX (Austin)’s Will Allen wheeled midway inside the paint and could’ve had a short mid-range shot. But the 13-year-old Foka saw some defenders near his teammate who could be trouble.
“I saw him, like, about to get stuck. I called for the ball,” Foka says.
Allen made the extra pass, and Foka dropped in a basket from inside 10 feet to put ATX (Austin) in front. BlazeSports still had time and chances to tie or win the game in the final moments. But the Junior Hawks turned the ball over with 7.9 seconds remaining, and Jordan Bates missed a long 3-point attempt with 2 seconds left as ATX (Austin) held on for its second Prep Division title in three years.
Foka, who was named Championship Game MVP, finished with a team-high eight points and game-high 12 rebounds for ATX (Austin). Nathan Adams added six points and nine rebounds, while Allen had four points and four rebounds and Miles Lynn had two points and two rebounds. Jahsua Tavarez also added two rebounds.
The two teams met way earlier in the season, but this game was much tighter than the nine-point win by ATX (Austin) the last time.
BlazeSports used its speed, quick passing and drawn out offense to keep this game much closer. Though, both teams struggled offensively, as ATX (Austin) made 10-of-40 field-goal attempts (25%), while BlazeSports went just 7-of-35 (20%) from the field.
BlazeSports had a later second-half lead as Paul Sturtz made a basket that put the Junior Hawks ahead 16-14 with 2:30 left in the third quarter, and they held that until the end of the period. ATX (Austin) answered with baskets from Foka and Adams that gave it an 18-16 lead with 4:43 left in the fourth before Noah Fansler hit 2-of-4 free throw attempts in the next 2-plus minutes to tie the game at 18-18 with 2:40 to go.
Sturtz scored a game-high 11 points and had three rebounds, while Titus Steere added three points and a rebound, Fansler had two points and 10 rebounds and Bates had two points and five rebounds. Hope Yun and Adela Alejo recorded one rebound apiece.
It marked ATX (Austin) coach Tim Allen’s second title in three years, as well. He says it’s incredibly special with Lynn and his son, Will, coming back for their senior seasons.
“Winning it two years ago was great. Coming back and doing it again with a new group, but having Will and Miles back leading the team this time was incredibly special. I’m not sure anyone thought we could do it two years ago with our big guys that moved up, but we found some new kids and we had an incredible season,” Allen says. “It was not our best game, but we hung in there, played defense when we had to, and we got one big shot at the end of the game to pull it off. Just incredibly happy and proud of the kids.”
Myers’ Free Throws Lift Adaptive Sports Ohio To Junior NIT Division Title
Ta’Shaun Myers admitted he’s normally he’s not too great at making free throws.
But with 26.9 seconds remaining, the Adaptive Sports Ohio player hit two of the two biggest foul shot attempts of his career to help lift the team to its first NWBA Junior NIT Division wheelchair basketball title in program history. And both went in with a swish.
Those two points kept No. 2 seed Adaptive Sports Ohio in front for good and the Junior Cavaliers held on for a 43-38 win over Owen No. 4 seed Southern Arizona Adaptive Sports (SAAS) Junior Wildcats in the NWBA Junior Division NIT championship Sunday morning at West Monroe Sports & Events complex in West Monroe, La.
Myers recorded a double-double with team highs of 16 points and 16 rebounds, while teammate Zayne Hammoudeh added 15 points and 12 rebounds to help the team to the title.
With SAAS mounting a late comeback thanks to an Adrina Castro 3-pointer that cut Adaptive Sports Ohio’s lead to just 40-38 with just 27 seconds remaining, Myers was fouled right after the Junior Cavaliers’ inbounds pass.
Before heading to the foul line, he’d made only two of his previous eight free-throw attempts in the game. But once he wheeled up there, he didn’t think and hit both, giving the team a 42-38 lead with 26.9 seconds left.
“It’s like a 50-50 chance with me, you know? You know, I don’t know if I want to shoot low or high or wherever. So, I kind of just, you know, just try to get as perfect as possible. Take my time, breathe, you know. I’m usually not too good with them, especially if I’m tired. But, I’ll say if I’m in that mindset, like, I really got to make this, you know, for my team, I try to do whatever I can so that we can, you know, win this and get first place,” Myers says.
After SAAS missed a shot with 9 seconds left, Hammoudeh hit 1-of-2 free throws for the final margin. That helped seal the title for first-year coach Brett Followay.
The Junior Wildcats led by three points after the first quarter, and the two teams ended up tied at halftime and after three quarters before Adaptive Sports Ohio used an 8-0 run to go up 34-28 with 6:01 left.
Castro finished with a game-high 21 points and added six rebounds for SAAS. Ari Hernandez added seven points and a game-high 16 rebounds, while Ismaila Jarjue had six points and four rebounds, Vincent Wilson had two points and nine rebounds and Manuel Estrada had two points and four rebounds.
Meanwhile, Holden Schwamberger added eight points and three rebounds for Adaptive Sports Ohio, while Elena Knowles had four points and eight rebounds and William Simons added two rebounds.
National Wheelchair Basketball Association National Wheelchair Basketball Championships
March 22
Juniors
Varsity Division
Consolation
15th-Place Game
No. 16 Ryan Martin Foundation Trojans 28, No. 14 Katie’s Komets 11
13th-Place Game
No. 15 Mary Free Bed Junior Pacers 73, No. 12 Nebraska Red Dawgs 58
11th-Place Game
No. 10 BlazeSports Junior Hawks Red 67, No. 13 Courage Kenny Rolling Timberwolves 21
Ninth-Place Game
No. 9 LWSRA/Synergy Hawks 50, No. 11 Brooks Bullsharks 49
Seventh-Place Game
No. 3 RHI Turnstone Racers 55, No. 8 Cincinnati Dragons 52
Fifth-Place Game
No. 7 Rancho Halos 54, No. 4 ATX (Austin) 30
Third-Place Game
No. 6 WASA Marquette Eagles 54, No. 5 Charlotte Rollin’ Hornets 35
Championship
No. 1 Dallas Junior Wheelchair Mavericks Blue 57, No. 2 Kansas City Kings Gold 33
Junior NIT Division
Consolation
Third-Place Game
No. 3 Junior Road Warriors 50, No. 1 Fairfax Falcons 49
Championship
No. 2 Adaptive Sports Ohio 43, No. 4 SAAS Junior Wildcats 38
Prep Division
Consolation
Seventh-Place Game
No. 6 WASA Marquette Eagles 44, No. 8 Mary Free Bed Junior Pacers 16
Fifth-Place Game
No. 7 Lakeshore Sharks 30, No. 5 LWSRA/Synergy Hawks 22
Third-Place Game
No. 2 Music City Thunder 27, No. 4 Courage Kenny Rolling Rowdies 23
Championship
No. 1 ATX (Austin) 20, No. 3 BlazeSports Junior Hawks 18