Submitted ArticleTeam Tri-State Elite arrived in Franklin, Tennessee on a mission. The mission to show up and show their talent in front of the many college coaches present at the 2009 Music City Madness exposure event held July 22-25.
With the mission in mind Tri-State Elite did just that. They showed up and showed out by winning all the games in the blue bracket which landed the team in the race fore the championship title. Getting to the championship round was not easy. Tri-State Elite had to defeat three very talented teams who also had a mission of conquer and defeat.
The first victory was against the Hoop Dreams, this game started off slow but by half time the teams had a feel of each other and it was a battle until the end. It was the talent of the center
Andy Odom #23, who could not be stopped in the paint; and the post players
Briana Williams #32 who put a whammy on the Hoop Dreams by dropping strong jump shots from a range that’s not the norm for post players, and
Misha Jones #35 who stood like a wall and defended the basket which cut off the inside game for the opposing team. Also a key factor in this game was
Chastity Richardson #34 who helped Tri-State Elite pull ahead by doing what she does from the three point shot line dropping three 3 point shots in a row. After pulling ahead there was no looking back.
Game two against North California Elite Silver was a Tri-State game from beginning to end. Point guard
Ashley Winston #3 set the motion for this game. Ashley handled the ball, ran the floor, made great passes and called plays that enabled her teams’ power forwards to show why the word power is used.
Kaci Carson #1,
Amber Dunlap #4,
Alexanderia Winston #15, and
Kyeisha Vinson #40 all played with confidence. On the pass this pack drove to the basket full of power, making contested lay-ups look easy and taking every given opportunity to drop jump shots. These girls could not be stopped.
Game three was against Arkansas Express, one of the toughest teams out of Arkansas. Some had counted Tri-State Elite out before the game ever started. The mission of winning was with each team, because this was the final game to decide who would be advancing to the championship. The entire game was basket for basket. Each player had to bring all their talent to the floor for this war. It was certainly a battle, point guard against point guard, forward against forward, and post against post. This game displayed the strong talent of both teams Tri-Sate Elite and Arkansas Express.
Andy Odom #23,
Briana Williams #32, and
Misha Jones #35 defended the basket with heart without giving up any floor to the Arkansas team. The quick hands and feet of point guard
Ashley Winston #3, was the key to winning this game. Ashley crossed players and called all the right plays. She was able to get the ball into the hands of
Kaci Cason #1,
Amber Dunlap #4,
Alexanderia Winston #15,
Chasity Richardson #34, and
Kyesha Vinson #40 all five players knew exactly what to do when their hands touched the ball. At the buzzer the teams had a tied score which gave for another two minutes of play time. At this point the heart of each player showed boldly, both teams fought a good fight. The fight ended in a last minute desperation move coming from Arkansas Express. Being down by two points they decided to drive to the basket, power forward
Alexanderia Winston #15 scooped it out and planted herself, which lead to a charge being called on Arkansas Express sending Tri-State Elite to the championship game.
The championship game was against California Swoosh red. This team was undefeated in their bracket. It was the best against the best. Tri-State Elite put up a hard fight bringing all they had left inside to the court. The fight ended with a three point victory for California Swoosh Red.
Tri-State Elite in this tournament showed team work from game one to the last game. Even not winning and coming in second place they proved that Tri-State Elite is certainly “Something Too Reckon With”.
This team is loaded with talent and potential, all the players play key roles in getting the job done. All the players stood out at some point in this tournament. Three players where selected for the All American Team; point guard
Ashley Winston #3, forward
Alexanderia Winston #15, and center
Andy Odom #23. Point Guard
Ashley Winston was also selected as MVP for her team.
There is more to come from team Tri-State Elite, look to see them perform in Dallas Texas.
