AABL News | AABL-Norfolk.com

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

In a challenging, exciting and dramatic two-day tourney, the SQUIRES came out on top to take home the first-ever VA SHOWDOWN Crown! Although this veteran squad had a rough first day of play, they came back on day 2 with their game faces on-- outlasting the competition with a talented, deep bench and putting on a clinic of tough yet intelligent basketball. In the semi-finals, the Squires avenged a Day 1 loss from Dream Team in a narrow, but dominant, victory: 54-47. And in the Championship game they once again faced the Raptors-- who they thoroughly trounced in Day 1. This time around the Raptors put up a better fight, but the Squires well-rounded offense and deeper bench wore out the Raptors to win the Championship, the score 56-51.

Thanks to ALL the teams that participated in the first-ever VA SHOWDOWN. Big up to the Bullets who were the true road team, traveling from Richmond and northern Virginia to show the AABL what's up, having a very impressive 4-0 record on Day 1. Although the field was small, the teams that accepted the invitation were all well-organized and played tough basketball all weekend, giving the fans in attendance a good show. With all the talent and athleticism displayed on the court at the VA SHOWDOWN, its no wonder that some teams were hesitant on playing! This will be an annual event and we hope to attract more teams from outside of the Norfolk/VB region. Hopefully the AABL format of play will catch on to other regions in the state, and then we can change the locale of the tournament every year to a different city in VA. Just looking to the future!

Thanks to Marco Mercado and Ronnie Villegas for representing Barrelman Apparel and offering a few Barrelman T-Shirts as raffle prizes. Also a big thanks to the contributors of our two Grand Prize drawings: Astro DJs offered a Dinner for Two on the Spirit of Norfolk with A Night Stay at the Norfolk Waterside Marriott and Rachel Hugo contributed a Sony WII. Congratulations to referee Ed Barcliff for winning the Dinner/Hotel package and Charles Park for winning the WII. Thanks to all the contributors for helping to make the SHOWDOWN more enjoyable for all in attendance. Also, 100% of the proceeds will be donated to the American Heart Association.

Thanks to the incredible AABL Staff for making any and all AABL events possible! Thanks to the friends, families, and fans that come out to support their teams and players! Thanks to Granby High School for providing the AABL with a beautiful venue that we hope to call home for the upcoming AABL Fall Season (October). Thanks to everyone for their input on the SHOWDOWN and how we can make it better next year. Thank YOU for checking out this website and keeping up with the AABL!

The individual player stats for the games are now up-- click the SCHEDULE and then a game. Game recaps and individual and team awards are soon to follow! Thanks for your patience!

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