Three Cleveland titles for Tigers

The Niagara Tigers travel basketball program roared into Cleveland to participate in the King of the Land basketball tournament and came away with three tournament titles.

Niagara had three teams — Grade 4/5 development, Grade 5 travel, and Grade 6 travel — competing in the elementary division.

“This was a tremendous challenge for the Grade 4 and 5 groups, but each of them did show some steady progress, despite playing teams that were older, more experienced and very talented,” coach Pat Sullivan said.

The Tigers’ Grade 6 squad went undefeated in pool play and won the championship, defeating an extremely talented and athletic Rochester Hope team 56-50 in a spirited and well-played final.

“All of our youngest teams demonstrated some progression from the first Under Armor Session 1 games,” Sullivan said. “The competition for them (4/5) at this point was a real challenge as they were unable to match the speed and size of the opponent, but did show that they were starting to recognize how to make some adjustments to improve performance.”

Sullivan described the Grade 6 team’s play as outstanding.

“The execution on offence and in dealing with pressure and their communication and teamwork on defence was something that our coaches and kids can really be proud of,” he said. “The Rochester group they beat in the final has been steamrolling teams from tournament to tournament, but our kids withstood the continuous pressure and took the game to them.”

Niagara’s Grade 7 developmental and travel teams competed in separate pools of the same division. The travel team won a tiebreaker to advance to the semifinals, after all three teams had each one a game by the exact margin but the Tigers had given up the fewest points. In a thrilling final, Niagara avenged and earlier three-point loss to Team Take off of Dayton, Ohio, by winning 47-46.

“We were extremely proud of both of these teams in terms of their effort and their development,” Sullivan said. “Although the developmental team went winless, it definitely was executing some of the offensive and defensive concepts we have been stressing and played with a real competitive fire which we love.

“The travel kids were coming off a tough weekend at the Under Armour event and that experience definitely prepared them to face the type of aggressive pressure and physical play in this tournament.

Sullivan feels the squad’s ability to remain calm under fire, compete on the backboards and make big shots were crucial to capturing the championship.

“These guys have been extremely focused and dedicated during training so it was great to see that work rewarded.”

The Tigers’ Grade 8 development and travel squads were also placed in the same division, but in separate pools. Both teams won two games in their respective pools before the developmental team fell in the semifinal to Rochester Hope 59-42. The travel group was able to defeat the same Rochester team in the final in a hard fought 60-51 victory bringing the Tigers a third championship.

“The fact that both teams were able to have some success in pool play demonstrates the depth we have at this age group and is a credit to their hard work in training to improve,” Sullivan said. “These kids are heading into high school so these experiences will be crucial to preparing them for what lies ahead.”

He believes both groups are really starting to grasp the organization’s  defensive and offensive concepts and beginning to play with assertiveness and energy.

“They are sharing the ball and working together as a unit defensively which gives them a great opportunity to win when they compete,” Sullivan said. “A few of our opponents made a special effort to compliment our kids and program on their commitment to playing defence and unselfish play of offence.”

At last year’s Cleveland tournament, Tigers teams were able to win a few games but only the Grade 10 squad, which didn’t attend this year, won its division.

“To win all of them this year is extremely exciting for us, especially as we felt the level of competition was even tougher than last year overall,” Sullivan said. “We hope we can continue to work towards steady growth for all of our groups.”