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Fall 2001 Tempe Middle School Tournament
December 10th, 2002
The 2001 Tempe Middle School Tournament is history now. This tournament is in
it's 27th year and the City of Tempe and the TKAC do a very good job of putting
this tournament on. The tournament consists of teams from the Kyrene, Tempe
Elementary, and Chandler-Gilbert districts. There were the four teams from Tempe
Elementary, 6 from Kyrene, and 6 from Chandler-Gilbert. The tournament format
was 4 pools of 4 and the winners of each pool advancing to the championship
bracket. The division were split into separate 7th and 8th grade divisions.
There were some very good basketball games played this year. Pool play
eliminated several very good teams. For instance, in the 8th grade division,
Akimel beat a very good Aprende team and Willis beat a very good Greenfield team
in pool play. It was kind of a drag to see such good teams meet in pool play and
be eliminated, but at least 3 of the pools in each division had 2 very
good teams. The majority of the schools had at least 2 or 3 prime-time
basketball players playing for them. The 8th grade, in particular, is loaded
with big time players. You could easily form two teams that could compete in the
AAU Nationals and finish in the top ten teams in the country. The 7th grade
division is not so deep, but it is loaded with very athletic players.
Seventh Grade Division Final Results:
- 1st Place: Altadena
- 2nd Place: Centennial
- 3rd Place: Aprende
- 4th Place: Greenfield
Seventh Grade Division All Tournament and MVP:
All-Tournament:
- Blaine Irby: Aprende
- Cameron McConnell: Greenfield
- Travis Minor: Altadena
- Erik Lutz: McKemy
- Marc Pendergraft: Altadena
MVP:
Congratulations to the Kyrene players for cleaning up in the seventh grade
divisions winning three out of four places.
Eighth Grade Division Final Results:
- 1st Place Akimel (2nd year in a row)
- 2nd Place Anderson
- 3rd Place Bogle
- 4th Place Willis
Eighth Grade Division All Tournament and MVP:
All Tournament:
- Kal Bay: Aprende
- Vince Linaris: Gililland
- Adrian Smith: Bogle
- Shane McBurny: Willis
- Lawrence Westbrook: Anderson
MVP:
- Wilson Bibleheimer: Akimel (second year in a row)
Congratulations to Chandler School districts for their strong showing in the
All-Tournament selection and finishing 3 teams out of the top 4 places.
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