15U Cavs Win the RBA Battle of the Beltway II
Alexandria, VA – The Cavs continued their strong July by going 4-0 and winning the Battle of the Beltway II tournament in a thriller.
Saturday the Cavs cruised winning 61-41 against the Alexandria Kings followed by a great defensive effort defeating the Anointed Ballers of Waldorf 45-31. On Sunday, the Cavs squared off with the Maryland Regulators in the semis, who were also in their final tournament before traveling down to Hampton for nationals. Tied at 11 7 minutes in, the Cavs got back control of the tempo turning the game into a half-court one as they put on an offensive clinic picking apart the Regulators defense for layups and open 3’s. The Cavs would go on a 26-5 run spanning several minutes in the first and second halves en route to a 43-23 win.
In the finals the Cavs would take on 16U Team Impact out of Woodbridge. Unfortunately like their last tournament final they dug themselves a quick hole and were down 10-1 fast. As the Cavs struggled to get into their offense against the pressure Chas knocked down 2 big jumpers for a quick 5 points that jumpstarted the Cavs. Sami’s interior scoring would then keep the Cavs within striking distance as the Cavs trailed by 6 at the half. The Impact would get the lead back up to double digits one final time at 11 before the Cavs started consistently stringing together stops and creating good looks for each other that led to baskets. When the Cavs finally cut the game to one possession, Impact answered with a 3; when the Cavs overcame that and tied the game, Impact answered with a 3; when the Cavs overcame that and took a 48-46 lead on a surprise Hail Mary pass from Sami to David for a layup with 3 minutes to go again the Impact answered with a 3. The Impact went up 52-48 following a Cavs intentional foul with possession and a little over a minute to go. The Cavs would get possession back due to strong pressure and Josh Melnyk’s hot shooting would continue as he hit a big 3 to put the Cavs within 1 with 40 seconds to go. Against the press Impact then attacked a lane going for a layup and David came up with a huge block which would eventually lead to a Josh Fraser 3 with just seconds to go and the Cavs would go on to win 54-52.
The championship game was the Cavs fifth and resulted in a third title for the season. The Cavs, fueled by their 8-1 record the last two tournaments have improved their overall record to 26-16 and continue to be playing their best basketball heading into nationals this week.