 
Hurricanes News Line  2009
|
Hurricanes 12s Tucker in the Mix at the Nationals Here are results from the Hurricanes 12s Tucker appearance at the AAU Division II Nationals in Nashville, Tennessee, July 3-11. The team competed very well and gained a lot of valuable experience. Scroll down for pictures. July 5 Pool Play Game 1 vs. Alamance Angels (North Carolina) Final Score: Angels 27, Hurricanes 26 This was a tough one to lose. The Hurricanes were down 16-11 at halftime, but fought back gallantly. With 18 seconds left in the game, Paige Greene swished two free throws to give the Hurricanes a 26-25 lead. It was the third time this season that Greene has hit late foul shots to give the team a win or a chance to win. The Angels then turned the ball over and fouled Amirah Tucker with seven seconds remaining. Tucker usually has a soft shot, but this time it bounded long off the rim and an Angels player took the ball down the floor for a game winning lay-up. Despite the loss, the game showed that the Hurricanes never give up. Hurricanes scoring leaders were for the game were Greene and Joanna Duhe with 7 points each. July 5 Pool Play Game 2 vs. Fairfax Stars (Virginia) Final Score: Hurricanes 48, Stars 33 Coming off a tough loss in the morning, this win was sweet to get. The Stars are one of the top AAU programs in the country and its 12-under "A" level team won the AAU Division I national championship the week before. The Hurricanes defense was the difference in this game as it held the Stars to 6 points for the first 10 minutes of the game. In its first game in Pool Play, the Stars had scored 70 points, so shutting them down was key to the game. The Hurricanes jumped to a 24-12 halftime lead and cruised to the victory. Amirah Tucker led the scoring with 12 points, followed by 10 from Joanna Duhe, 9 from Paige Scott, 7 from Akilah Sewell and 5 from Courtney Feaster. July 6 Pool Play Game 3 vs. Shelby Fury (Indiana) Final Score: Hurricanes 54, Fury 14 Every team usually gets a fun game in a tournament, and this was the one for the Hurricanes. Despite the score the Fury girls played really hard and kept the game close early. The difference again for the Hurricanes was the defense as the team jumped to a 29-9 halftime lead. Even one of the referees complimented the team on its tough defense. This was a breakout game for Christine Jenkins who got down the floor fast and scored and rebounded well. Everybody scored for the Hurricanes in the game; here are the totals: Jenkins, 10; Akilah Sewell, 9; Paige Greene, 8; Paige Scott, 6; Aniya Rolle, 6; Joanna Duhe, 5; Courtney Feaster, 4; Ciarra Delost, 4; Amirah Tucker, 2. Pool Play Results: Alamance Angels, 3-0, 20 points; Hurricanes, 2-1, 25 points; Fairfax Stars, 1-2, minus 6 points; Shelby Fury, 0-3, minus 39 points. July 7 Championship Bracket Game 1 vs. Connecticut Shamrocks Final Score: Shamrocks 36, Hurricanes 35 These one-point losses are getting old, but here’s another one. In this game, which was the team’s opening round game in the double-elimination Championship Bracket, four Hurricanes girls fouled out -- Joanna Duhe, Akilah Sewell, Christine Jenkins and Ciarra Delost. That means we had no subs at the end of the game. Needless to say, the refs called the game very tight. The Shamrocks basically won the game on the foul line as they hit no more than five field goals for the game. Amirah Tucker almost single-handedly kept the game close for the Hurricanes, hitting for 16 points, including a big three-pointer to bring the Hurricanes within a point in the final minute, and Paige Greene added 7 points. Courtney Feaster played about the whole game because of the foul trouble. July 8 Championship Bracket Game 2 vs. Alamance Angels (North Carolina) Final Score: Final Score: Angels 38, Hurricanes 29 We started the tournament with a game against the Angels, so it was fitting to end the tournament against them. We met again because the Angels also lost their first game in the Championship Bracket. The Hurricanes jumped out to an 11-7 lead thanks to early points and energy from Paige Greene, but couldn’t overcome the experience of the Angels and their style of play. The Angels moved ahead 17-14 at halftime and never gave the lead up, although the game was within 4-5 points for the entire second half. The Angels got the lead up to 9 points in the final minute for the win. Paige Scott led the Hurricanes scoring with 9 points, followed by Paige Greene with 6 and Joanna Duhe with 5. Both Hurricanes Championship Bracket games were played at Allen Arena on the campus of Lipscomb University in Nashville. It was a treat, as an announcer called the game and starting lineups and the girls got to play in a college arena.
|
