16U-Lin Bring Home the ‘Ship!
Potomac Valley AAU Regional Qualifier Recap
NOVA Cavaliers (Lin) captured their first Potomac Valley AAU Regional Qualifier Championship in program’s history with a 4-1 weekend at Gwynn Park high school (Brandywine, MD).
Cavs finished 2-1 in pool play with a 55-50 win over Alexandria Cardinal on Friday night; Nate Shafer led the way with 11 points, 9 rebounds, and 7 blocks. NOVA then squared off against Fairfax Stars in the second game of pool play on Saturday. In a wild affair, Cavs dropped a 68-64 decision to the Stars despite a valiant comeback attempt in the end. Danny Krug led the Cavs with 21 points and 7 rebounds. Cavaliers concluded Saturday’s actions with a 67-27 decisive win over the 301 Ballers. Seamus Maloney knocked down 5 three-pointers to help NOVA secured a second seed finish in pool play.
In the semifinal, Cavs finally fought off a pesky Cardinal team 51-39 in a rematch from two days ago, which set up for a sequel against the Stars in the Championship game. Krug and Maloney each paced the Cavaliers with 16 and 15 points each.
In the tournament final, NOVA used a tenacious defense to take an early 16-6 first quarter lead. Paulino Matondo came off the bench and put on a show with 13 points in the second period, helping the Cavs to take a 9 point lead at the half. Vishal Akula then put away the Stars by hitting back-to-back three-pointers at the start of the fourth quarter to put away Fairfax for good.
The Cavaliers finished 4-1 in the tourney and earned their second championships of the year; it is also their third final’s appearance in four tournaments thus far this season. NOVA improved to a 11-5 record and will head into a bye-week by hosting their annual team fundraiser car-wash. They will next play in the Big Shots VCU Richmond Memorial day weekend in two weeks.