 The
Jr. Elite Top 100 Basketball Camp held for 6th,
7th, and 8th grade boys was a rousing success. The
participants of the camp where indulged in two days of
basketball conditioning and participated in an actual
tournament. VA Elite Hoops would like to thank Stan King
and the Cardinal Youth Basketball organization for
including VA Elite Campers in their tournament held at
Mount Vernon High School. 
Coach
Eric Green (Winchester Rising Stars/VA Elite Hoops)
conducted the Saturday morning workout session to prepare
the Campers for a day of basketball and game competition.
Coach Green began the day with a dynamic workout, which
focused on injury prevention and game preparation. The
workouts were impressive as Coach Green put the Campers
through a series of high-energy drills that got each
Camper in high gear to compete in the tournament. The
objective of the camp was to provide a platform for each
player to excel on and off the court. As the drills
intensified the instructions were right to the point.
 After the morning workouts concluded,
players were again put through a series of basketball
drills (pictured: Jay Wilkins) that tested their abilities
as well as provided the coaches with a platform to
evaluate their individual talents. The combination of the
early morning workouts and basketball agility drills
proved to push the players and challenge them physically
as well as mentally. As shown in the picture: (Jay
Wilkins) goes through an agility drill that displayed his
reaction to change of direction and his ability to recover
quickly into a jumping position.
As with traditional basketball camps, teams are formed
between camp participants and selected to compete in a
tournament style format to see who the best players were.
Here's where VA Elite Jr. Top 100 Basketball Camp
separated itself from the rest. The teams competed in an
actual basketball tournament, where each game was played
in front of their peers, parents and other teams. Game
results would determine their opponent for the next game.
The workouts earlier provided the extra motivation and
kick the players used during their first games.
 After the morning workout and game preparation sessions,
live action would be awaiting. The first game was a great
test to see if the players were receptive to the coaches.
The first team the Campers played was a nationally
recognized AAU team. Although the team was a year younger
than some of our campers you could tell that they had been
well coached and that they had been together for some
time. The competition showed great discipline and
chemistry. The challenge for the camp coaches and players
was to identify each players strengths and weaknesses in a
short period of time and be competitive under hostile
circumstances while trying to execute plays and other
small details that had been discussed just hours earlier
and sometimes in the heat of battle.
The game started off challenging but the aforementioned
workouts and game preparation sessions paid off as the
competing team jumped out to a 20 to 6 opening run. As the
game progressed the Jr. Elite Top 100 team began to come
back to slowly capture the lead and never looked back.
Each player displayed their individual abilities while
still under pressure to compete as a team which showed
their progress from their initial entry into the camp.
During the first game Darren Hawkins (pictured-r) and Mike
Bolton provided the inside presence that changed the
momentum of the game. Alex Sleth, Cody Brooks and Aaron
Miller provided much needed outside shooting while Tony
DeCerbo provided stability at the point guard  position. Defensive pressure by Robbie Walker, John
Williams and Anthony Gray also contributed to the campers
early game success.
Game two began very similar to game one. The team was
challenged early on with defensive pressure from the
opposing team but after the Campers weathered the early
storm and settled in they were able to cut a 15 point
margin into single digits by the half and put themselves
in contention for the victory. In the second half the game
went back and forth. The campers were carried offensively
by the outside shooting of Cody Brooks and the continued
defensive support of his teammates. The absence of Darren Hawkins was apparent. As Mike Bolton continued to impose
his will it was evident that he and Darren worked
extremely well as a tandem on the blocks, elbows and
baseline. Unfortunately the Campers fell short by 4 points
but it was not for a lack of effort or skill. It simply
appeared that the vigor of the days work had finally gotten the best of them.
As a result of Saturday's 1-1 tournament record the team
had positioned themselves as a front-runner in the
tournament.
Sunday morning Kris Johnson from Explosive Performance who
took the players through a grueling morning exercise
program session conducted the dynamic workout. Explosive
Performance (www.explosiveperformance.com) is one of the
leading speed and conditioning companies in the
metropolitan area. The session was not easy as most of the
players got a first hand opportunity to partake in a
world-class workout session.
Taking from Saturday’s momentum, Sunday's games were not
going to be easy now that teams and coaches had an opportunity to witness the camp players in
action. The first game was just as expected. A grueling
game against another proven AAU level team where the
Campers had to rely on game preparation and execute the
coaching instructions provided from the bench. Kent
Auslander displayed his shooting range and his feel for
the game as he became the go to scorer as well as Cody
Brooks who emerged as one of the best players in the
tournament. Without Darren Hawkins, Mike Bolton and Aaron
Miller became the inside presence that the team needed to
stay in the playoff picture.
 We were very impressed with Kent "Oz" Auslander's
(pictured) ability to put the ball on the floor and score,
defend one of the best players in the tournament and take
instructions from the coaches in very competitive games.
Aaron Brooks and Jay Wilkins showed why they came to the
camp, their play in the third game continued to improve.
Aaron showed growth as he defended under control and
provided much needed scoring by taking advantage of
scoring opportunities and Jay Wilkins ran the point with
limited mistakes to keep the team in the game. The VA Jr.
Elite Top 100 team finished in 2nd place in the
tournament, which is a huge accomplishment when you
consider the adversity that these players had to overcome
to be competitive. Congratulations to our 2008 VA Elite
Campers. We look forward to hearing more about your
successes on and off the basketball court in the near
future.
The camp structure was designed with the intent that each
player would have an opportunity to showcase their
abilities in multiple situations as part of the selection
process to be considered to participate in the Boo William
"Boo's Best" Showcase camp.
|
