Story written by John Devaughn
The annual Hoop Group West VA Jam Fest, was held in Morgantown, WV was another jam fest epic triumph. Hoop Group Jam Fest is one of the top tournaments on the East Coast and has a reputation for hosting the best organized events with competitive competition, unbelievable facilities, and tremendous college exposure. This certified NCAA event was held from July 14-16 this year and exposes local talent to hundreds of college basketball coaches, scouts, all top high school scouting, and provides quality experience for each team that participates. This tournament allows the top teams of each area to compete with each other providing maximum exposure to the type of competition they will be looking forward to in this very aggressive sport.
This year’s 17 and under champions was Metroball DC with 6 wins and 1 loss. AAU champions under the Coaching strategies of Kevin “Moose” Jones, Lorenzo Miles, & Terrance Judge strived for the best and came out as champions which makes this their forth championship they have won this year. This group of young and talented individuals had to overcome challenging hardships and more than just good opponents. Fatigue, stress, and the new environment were other obstacles that tried to stump the players, but they kept their heads high and their determination even higher.“It took three years but we finally did it. It feels good that we finally won,” said forward #10, Brian Bridgeforth, a matriculating 12th grader from Roosevelt Senior High School. I had a chance to speak with him and Maxie Stevens, forward #35, who attends Dunbar Senior High School and will also be entering the 12th grade this upcoming school year. Maxie says ”it feels good and right now, things couldn’t get any better… I came up from playing 16 and under for two years and now I’m apart of a championship team.” Maxie said he made some mistakes in one game when he missed almost 6 layups trying to be fancy, “You can’t do that in the game, you have to stay focus and don’t lose sight…” but he made that all up towards the end of the game by gaining 8 clutch time points from all free throws to put his team back in the game. Brian’s biggest mistake was getting mad at his teammate Maxie “We got to work together, no time for petty stuff.”
When it came to the competition, these two players had very different opinions, “they were quick on their feet but they weren’t that big” said Brian. “These were no soft guys, all of them were big dudes and sometimes I got frustrated because I felt like they were getting the best of me on the court… I’m tall but these guys had height and weight,” said Maxie. But both players agreed that playing hard and working together as a team is what really gave them the edge over the other teams. Some inspiration that pushed the team through was Coach Moose rewarding the players with a trip Golden Corral if they won the game, and you better believe they did. The team nor the players never gave up hope no matter what, “Even if you’re down by 20 points you don’t give up,” stated Maxie. “That team stuff is overrated, we played as a family with chemistry like none other, and this is why we won…” the words of a future champ said Maxie, who is also a star wide receiver and scouted by several top college programs.
The team is already back in the gym and at practice preparing for the next competition and with a “No Days Off” mentality, the whole city is behind them and rooting for another win.
