More notes from the league tourney

At the league tournament Saturday (November 15), our Binghamton 4-5 and Binghamton 5-6 Red squads showed improvement in several areas. While Red's results weren't what they'd hoped for, the competition they faced was extremely tough (Norwich 5-6, SV 6 and Athens 6).

The upside about the tournament is that it's used as a gauge for teams' regular season schedules, and Red will likely be matched up against other squads more at their experience level in the coming weeks/months.

I was able to watch just one of Red's games - their third of a long day at the JC K-8 facility - and there were glimmers of solid play. Red lost one of its bigger inside players early (Tawqeer Aziz) with a twisted ankle, but continued to drive to the basket against a fundamentally sound Athens team.

Here are a few stats for the Red squad in their third game Saturday:
* Yokobo Francis 6 points, 3 rebounds
* Milton Jimenez 4 points, 1 rebound
* Nathan Oliva 2 points, 1 rebound
* Jonah Chambers 4 rebounds
* Julien Munoz 4 rebounds
* Tawqueer Aziz 2 rebounds

The Binghamton 4-5 squad was placed in a very tough bracket for the tournament, first playing against a team of 5th- and 6th-graders from Chenango Forks. Binghamton came up just short in that game, losing 17-16.

In its second game, Binghamton beat a Whitney Point team of 5th-graders in a defensive battle, 8-7. And finishing off the day, Binghamton 4-5 topped a pesky Johnson City 4-5 squad, 23-17.

I asked Tim Doherty, coach for Binghamton 4-5, what he thought the key to the team's successful day was. "They're learning and playing better, no other way to say it," Coach Doherty said.

"Casey Walsh (4) handled the ball for us most of the time, and against Forks, we faced some pretty big kids," Doherty said. "Garret Alapeck (5) was in there against kids 6 inches taller than him and he was getting good position and grabbing rebounds, and Ben (Irwin, 5) and Patrick (Goodman, 5) were in there battling for rebounds, too.

"The kids are really learning to play together," Doherty said.