Local team falls in quarterfinals

An emotional run finally came to an end Friday for Las Vegas' Triple Double Elite 16-U team.

Despite a late rally, the Elite fell 68-55 to the Wisconsin Playground Warriors in the quarterfinals of the high school division of the Reebok Summer Championships at Silverado High School.

Elite coach Tyrell Jamerson, whose team rallied from a 16-point hole to defeat California's Valencia Tigers in its afternoon game, saw his players erase most of an 18-point deficit against the Wisconsin team.

"We've got a crew that's scrappy when they want to be," said Jamerson, whose squad cut the gap to six points on several occasions in the second half. "Sometimes you just have to fire them up a bit."

The Elite appeared lethargic to start the game, allowing the Warriors to dominate inside. But an 8-0 scoring run to start the second half got Jamerson's team back into the game.

Though the coach had hoped for a tournament championship, he felt satisfied that his players gained critical experience.

"The sky's the limit for this crew," said Jamerson, whose squad went 5-1 in the tournament. "I'm looking for this team to be really special by the time the guys are seniors."

Tyler Dobbins scored 14 points to lead the Elite. Teammate DeAndre Kambala added 13 points and six rebounds.

At Green Valley, the Las Vegas Stars also finished with a loss, falling 76-49 to the Colorado Chaos 16s Blue.

Though the Stars trailed from just after the opening tip, coach James Wroten said his players gained exposure to a higher level of play.

"It's important for our younger guys to get experience playing at this level," he said. "In high school games, you've got one or two good players on each team. All these teams are able to go nine deep."

Shaun Hilton and Caleb Maxey each scored eight points to lead the Stars.

No Las Vegas teams remain in the tournament.

• ADIDAS -- The Las Vegas Prospects almost made it over the hump at Rancho.

The Prospects won twice Friday but lost to Compton (Calif.) Magic 68-60 in the quarterfinals Friday night.

Cimarron-Memorial senior Mike Cutright scored 13 points for the Prospects, who were the last remaining Las Vegas team in the tourney.

• MAIN EVENT -- Triple Threat Youth Organization 17s and the Las Vegas Blue Devils each won twice Friday to advance to the final day of the tournament.

Also, in the 15-and-under bracket, Polynation stayed unbeaten with a win over the Emerald City (Wash.) Pioneers at Western.

ON THE WEB

Scores and schedules for the following AAU basketball tournaments are available on the Web:

Reebok Summer Championships

www.prepchamps.com/summerchampionships

adidas Super 64

www.adidassuper64.com

The Main Event