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On January 16th & 23, 2010, Washington CYC worked in conjunction with the newly formed Philadelphia Fastball team to host a Winter 2010 Asian Invitational basketball tournament in Philadelphia. Tournaments were held for both 15 & Under Boys, and Mens Friendship level teams. Be on the watch for a possible February event for Mens Open teams if gym space becomes available.
In the Mens Friendship division, 5 closely pitted squads took part in the Friendship Tourney at the newly built Fels High School. Following round robin pool play, the playoffs began in the mid afternoon. In the #4/#5 wild card game, the Philly Suns B and Phila Fastball B squared off for the rights to advance. The teams had met earlier in the day, with the Suns B advancing 31-28 in a close one. With elimination facing the loser this time around, as well as bragging rights for the city, both teams were pretty nervous. The teams were attrocious in the first half, as Fastball B led by an anemic 4-3 score. In the second half, Fastball B got their run game on with De Lin (9 pts, 8 boards, 1-3 ft) and Jimmie Poeng (5-9 ft, 3 steals) getting out into the open court. Fastball B won by 10, 30-20. Sam Jung paced the Suns B with 7 pts, and 2 assists (1-3 ft). In the Semis, Fastball B had to play back to back against the top seeded and undefeated Lightyear Studio team. Lightyear took advantage of the tired Fastball B team and raced out to a 22-10 edge. Justin Luu was money from everywhere as Fastball tried both man and zone defenses. Tang Vu (11 pts, 1 block, 2 treys) came off the bench in the second half to replace the weary Fastball B guys, and pulled his team within 3, but Lightyear was smart enough to ride the free throw shooting of PF Veng Ting (11 pts, 9-10 ft) to win 38-28. In the other Final Four matchup, Fastball C would meet up with Armando Buligon's Ronin team. Both teams came in sporting identical .500 records in pool play, so nobody knew what to expect here. Ronin was led by the flashy and spectacular swingman Spenser Bartelbaugh and young PG Austin Buligon. Fastball C countered with a lineup of new adds Christopher Kim (7 pts, 3 rebs), Minh Nguyen (5 pts, 1-1 ft), Daniel Su (6 pts), and Chien Ming Cheng. Fastball C had little cohesion, but they were able to figure out how to space the court correctly as fellow rookies Ferd Mendoza (4 pts) and Yu Heng Guo (1 trey) were able to direct traffic. Fastball took a slight lead as they led by 8 at the half. But Ronin came back in the second half and got within 1, with Mel Fabian sinking a super deep threeball and with Austin Buligon (7 pts, 3-3 ft, 4 dimes) getting his guys out into transition. Fastball pulled out a big win 33-28.
The Championship game would boil down to Fastball C and Lightyear Studio. Lightyear decided to spread out the attack in the first half, with 7 different players contributing to their 16 points, as they held onto 16-11 lead midway through. In the second half, Fastball C lived up to their name as they started to play their famous style at both ends of the court. The pace picked up and the deep bench of the C team led them to a 42-36 win and the first tourney title in their history. Justin Luu had 12 pts/2-2 ft, and Veng Ting had 9 pts/5 rebounds for Lightyear, and MVP Ferd Mendoza had 6 for Fastball. Bigman Chien Ming Cheng led fastball with 7 pts and 2 blocks.
Wild Card: Fastball B 30, Suns B 20.
Semifinals: Lightyear Studio 38, Fastball B 28. Fastball C 33, Ronin 28.
Finals: Fastball C 42, Lightyear Studio 36.
All Tourney Team: Ferd Mendoza, Fastball C (MVP); Yit Mun Lee, Fastball C; Justin Luu, Lightyear Studio; Veng Ting, Lightyear Studio; Jimmie Poeng, Fastball B; Spenser Bartelbaugh, Ronin; Kellen Ngo, Suns B.
The Youth 15/under tournament was an action packed day of pool play and single elimination playoffs for these exciting players. Pool play made for a long day but two games worth mentioning were a Philly Young Suns upset of the newly formed Philly Fastball Juniors, and a thrilling Washington CYC 15's comeback win over the NY USAB 15's. In the Semifinals, up first was NY USAB 15's v/s the Philly Young Suns. The pool play matchup had produced a 61-22 drubbing of the Suns, but the playoff version was slightly closer as USAB wanted to reserve some energy for the Finals game. USAB won 52-18, Young guard Mitchell Cheung penetrated his way to 15 points and 2 dimes, and Thomas Cui also reached double digits with 10 and a trifecta. Jonathan Lai led the Suns with 5. In the other semifinals, the Fastball Juniors should have come in with a wave of confidence as they had upset the CYC 15's 41-40 in pool play. Instead, they looked flat, coming off an uninspiring 29-26 loss to the Young Suns. CYC was ready for the Fastball trapping and pressing style, as they countered with their own 3/4 court trap. The mastra of press against a pressing team held true. This caught Philly by surprise as all-universe 6-0 PG Drew Dowds (17 pts, 7-7 ft, 12 rebs, 2 assists) led the CYC attack. With Fastball trying to play catchup against a polished CYC team, many of the fastballers got into foul trouble. PG Ricky paced Philadelphia with 7 points, but CYC was able to get to ndout Peter Chin hit a 4 points. But in the end, USAB was able to execute when it counted, and went to the Finals with a 36-22 win.
The Championship game was a rematch of a 42-36 CYC win over USAB. The game started out with USAB taking a 6 point lead. Lefty PF Erick Wong (12points, 7 rebs) got out to finish on the break, and USAB was pestering CYC's do-it all guy Drew Dowds by sticking smaller, quicker players on him. CYC was forced to take a quick TO to change the game plan. CYC changed their plan, but MVP Thomas Cui registered 3 of 5 triples in the first half to give New York an 18-13 cushion. The two teams played about evenly at the start of the second half, but NYC’s lead swelled from 5 points to 11 in about a minute, as Kevin Cui and Erick Wong went on a 6-0 mini run. Drew Dowds and 8th grade standout Peter Chin made a couple big shots, and big man Jason Lee popped a trifecta to get CYC within 4. USAB started to buckle down a little on defense and did not allow Washington any more open looks. USAB took home the hardware 43-36. Both teams look solid heading into the Nationals.
Pool Y: Washington CYC 2-1, NY USAB 2 -1, Phila Young Suns 1-2, Phila Fastball Juniors 1-2.
Semifinals: NY USAB 15's def. Phila Young Suns 52-18. Washington CYC 15's def. Phila Fastball Juniors 36-22.
Finals: NY USAB 15's 43, Washington CYC 15's 36.
All Tournament Team: Thomas Cui, NY USAB 15's (MVP); William Loo, NY USAB 15's; Drew Dowds, Washington CYC 15's; Jason Lee, Washington CYC 15's; David, Fastball Juniors, Hanlan Huang, Phila Young Suns.
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