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| Arizona Redshirts Team Profile 200x267 | |
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| Arizona Red Shirts |
Red Shirts' coaches, Brian Fabiano and Jordan Ballard, drove from Phoenix with the rest of the team to pick up the West Coast All-Star Camp attendees to play in the Adidas Three Stripes tournament in Los Angeles, CA. The Arizona Red Shirts played powerhouse teams from around the southwest region, including the Branch West Basketball Academy Red and Yellow (CA), the Las Vegas Prospects (NV) and the Valley Stars Pump-N-Run (CA).
The Red Shirts notably battled the Las Vegas Prospects in a close game, but ended up losing against the top ranked college prospects with three players already committed to D-1 programs on the Prospects' team - including 5th year seniors.
The Red Shirts are competing this summer in the 17/18U division with a young team comprised of half incoming juniors and half incoming seniors. The team dug themselves a hole as a result of cold shooting in the first half, but put together a strong second half performance with tenacious defense.
Judah St. Amand from Scottsdale Christian Academy led the Red Shirts' offense by hitting seven 3-pointers in the second half, spurring a strong comeback and gaining looks from many college coaches viewing the game. Strong performances by Mark White, Tony Fabiano, Branden Stiles, Jake Cooper, Mitchell Burnett II, Conor Farquharson and Austin Cooke significantly impacted the game.
After losing in bracket play at the Adidas Three Stripes tournament, the Arizona Red Shirts drove to Las Vegas to play in the Las Vegas Swoosh Nationals. The Red Shirts played against the San Diego Thunder, two Senior teams from the Las Vegas Dynasty and the senior teams from 24/7 Hoops, ranked by Las Vegas Rivals' site as the number two and three teams in the state.
Las Vegas' top team, the 24/7 Hoops, included two high-level Division-I prospects, Marcus Falley and Keith Taylor, both of whom played on the US Basketball Academy All-Stars and had stand-out years at respected prep academies.
In the end, the Red Shirts put together a solid game of team defense against the 24/7 Hoops, and proved to be the overall better team with a winning score of 66-61, which allowed them to advance to the championship game. The strong team defense was assisted by a remarkable offense, including numerous transition baskets off defensive rebounds and steals.
Leading the way for the Red Shirts, Mitchell Burnett scored 22 points and had his share of highlight reel blocks and dunks on the top ranked talent at 24/7 Hoops. Tony Fabiano shot 5/6 from mid-range to help collapse their zone trap, helped by Brandon Stiles 4/5 jump shots and Conor Farquharson's 5/6 in the paint.
After calling off the trap, Jake Cooper and point guards Alec Savage and Mark White penetrated the paint and dished to the big guy who scraped the glass clean with his work on the boards. All the players contributed to the win as the team play started to rise to the level of national competition.
Coach Jordan Ballard says, "The Arizona Red Shirts proved once again the power of team play as they defiantly shut down and overwhelmed top ranked D-1 prospects, Keith Taylor and Marcus Fallen. To have incoming juniors like Jake Cooper and Tony Fabiano defending the aerial assault against players of this caliber provides a lot of experience for these young players who are playing up with more mature players."
When playing the Las Vegas Dynasty #1, Red Shirts player, Branden Stiles, continually took the ball to the basket and made a multitude of plays for his teammates. Mark White showed strong defense and leadership skills as he distributed the ball with a two point-guard attack with fellow teammate Alec Savage keeping the smaller and younger Red Shirts within 1 point with 7 minutes left in the game.
Despite a good effort in the championship game, the Arizona Red Shirts came up short to another top ranked Las Vegas team, the Las Vegas Dynasty.
Coach Brian Fabiano said, "The team was really challenged in LA with players coming back from injuries and being newly placed in the lineup. However, during the week they came together and played well in the Las Vegas Swoosh Nationals - earning the runner up in the senior division." He goes on to say, "What's most important will be their appearance next week in the NCAA-sanctioned Adidas Super 64 back in Las Vegas, where they will be playing elite teams from Virginia, Utah and California in their pool games, as well as other top elite teams from all over the country."
After Las Vegas the team boards a plane to Orlando, FL to compete in the NCAA sanctioned AAU Nationals held at the milk house at Disney World to defend the Arizona Red Shirts AAU Regional Championship title they won in Denver in May. The team looks forward to earning an opportunity to play in front of ESPN cameras, and win a National Championship or at least some exposure to college coaches for the players.
About The Arizona Red Shirts
The Arizona Red Shirts, a Scottsdale, Arizona-based youth basketball club, have been playing as a team since kindergarten. The team is a non-profit organization with a mission of community outreach, utilizing basketball as a means to teach future business leadership. Coach Brian Fabiano established the team as a vehicle to ensure that hard-working young men who might otherwise be overlooked get a chance to be seen by college programs. The Arizona Red Shirts players have all committed to harness their athletic skills in order to build a platform for their education to one day become team leaders of our community.
For more information or to see the players' profiles, visit www.redshirtsbasketball.com.