Prime Time Brings Showtime

NORTH TEXAS SHOCKERS 2014 NATIONAL TEAM

The 2012 Prime Time National Championship is the king and queen of Texas Tournaments by volume on the boys and girls sides. With over 750 teams, almost 250 of them girls, this event gave me a glimpse of female stars I may have never had a chance to see. With teams from states not too far, like Arkansas, Louisiana and Oklahoma to those as far away as Missouri, Washington and Illinois, I saw some serious talent and when it was all said and done, the cream definitely rose to the top.

In the Championship Bracket semifinals, the two best teams in the 11/12 division, North Texas Shockers National 2014 and Way to Win from Washington state, went head to head.

What I saw in the early going was two similar teams going at it right from the start and it appeared to be a game that would go down tom the wire. I asked Shockers head coach John Shields on opening day who I needed to watch on his team and he sort of paused and looked down so that gave me all I needed to know, everybody, and he was correct without saying a word, by the way there will be a story on the Shockers program coming later.

WAY TON WIN’S CHANDLER SMITH

In every game I watched the Shockers play in, it seems like a different player stepped up at one point or another and saying this talented group of 2014 players are next level is simply not enough. Morgan Easley and Anna Horrowitz got them going early but Way to Win’s Chandler Smith (2014) was keeping them in the game with her offense. Smith is one of the top players I’ve seen all summer, she was scoring machine all tournament but after the first half of the first half, the shots stopped falling. They were there, they were close but they just wouldn’t go in, it happens, she’s a player no matter what.

When the Shockers stopped scoring one way, another opened as Ashley James got hot. Even though Smith’s shot wasn’t falling, her defense, rebounding were on and her assist to Taylor Baird at the buzzer cut the lead to three at the half. Like I said earlier, the Shockers come at you from all areas and their 7-1 run to start the second half made it seem like they were about to open this one way up but Smith found her range and went on her on 7-0 run.

NORTH TEXAS SHOCKERS HALEY CARRUTHERS

Then another Shocker run ignited by Vanessa Jones, Haley Carruthers and Ashley James, the spin move by Carruthers was priceless, had me thinking blowout again but the young ladies from Washington just wouldn’t quit as Sierra Anderson hit a three then got a steal and went coast to coast for a lay-up but the Shockers just had it clicking on all cylinders. Shani Rainey and Bria Frieson looked really good in the earlier games and a Rainey steal along with a bucket sealed the victory 46-32.

The Shockers won the final 40-27 over West Texas Elite while Way to Win won the third place game 50-47 over the Waco Lady Panthers. There are players everywhere and these four teams surely have a lot of them and remember this is Girlz Prep Report and you can expect more will be coming right here and on the blog so stay tuned. 

NORTH TEXAS SHOCKERS MORGAN EASLEY