Jospehine Guinto, Toronto Dragons (Womens Open MVP)
Beatrice Chang, NY Lady Cruisers
Sunny Chang, Washington CYC China Dolls
Nicole Lem, NY USAB Warriors
Sandy Yu, Philly Lady Suns
Maisie Wong, NY Lady Sabres
Winnie Choi, NY CASE Phoenix
Toni Kong, NY Sabres Girls

With 12 upper echelon teams competing in the Mens Open Elite division, onlookers were treated to some of the best basketball of the season. Most of these teams are gearing up for the 2006 NACBAIT, so this was the last opportunity to see where everyone measures up before going home to make last minute gameplan changes. Following pool play, 12 teams advanced to the playoffs. In First Round action, the Pittsburgh Pandas managed to defeat the Philly Suns B 30-28 thanks to a hot shooting game from Yitao Sun, the Boston Hurricanes A jumped out to an early 9 point lead and then stretched it out to double digits as they defeated the Montreal Kaitas 37-25, Philly FACAA Ronin used their beefy frontcourt to best Philly Team Lion 42-28, and the NY MO Warriors survived a real scare before recovering to defeat the Philly Suns 18A 46-34.

In the Quarterfinals, Washington CYC A struggled early on against Pittsburgh but then found their outside shot to defeat the Pandas 37-22. Jeffrey Lee led CYC with 11 points and 6 steals. In other QF action, the NY Rockits AIA met up with Philly FACAA Ronin. It was a classic matchup of speed v/s size. Ronin led 15-14 at the half, with big men Ken Rogers (4 pts, 6 rebs) and Ching Lopez (10 pts, 3 triples, 6 boards) taking charge early. In the second half, the game began to go the Rockits' way as Jarvis Miu was a defensive sparkplug to change the game. With the game tied and 13 seconds to go, Ronin missed a critical free throw, and NY's Ming Wang dribbled down the court looking to make something happen. Ronin decided to try to trap Ming, but you can't trap what you can't catch. Ming sped through the double team and then found a cutting Kevin Chin for an easy layup at the buzzer. Rockits 27, Ronin 25. The next game was a New York battle with Larry Chow's Maximum Output Warriors squaring off with Rob Lee's Cruisers. MO's Wilson Lew was ballin early on as he sank 3 of 4 trips in the half, but CB Liu (9-9 fg's, 4 3's, 3 assists) was equally on target for the Cruisers. The score was knotted at 24 midway through, but the second half turned into a blowout with Tony Hu (16 pts) and George Chan (10 pts) proving to be too much for the shorthanded MOW squad. The Cruisers moved on 53-36. The final game of the round was the Philly Suns A v/s Boston Hurricanes A. The game was back and forth throughout, with the Canes' Chanan Saelim nailing an amazing three pointer to send it into OT. In OT, it seemed like we were headed for a double overtime, but Chanan again came to the rescue for Boston as the lefty stroked in yet another buzzer beating 3 to give the Canes a 37-34 win. San Mac led Philly with 11 and 4.

The first Semifinal was the Cruisers and the Canes. Jimmy Chen (hard working double-double) and Kenny Lee (9 points following a crushing concussion earlier in the day) were looking to give Boston yet another win, and they looked like they were going to pull it off. With Tony Hu having an off game, Boston was surely thinking upset. But a true team effort saved the day for the Cruisers, who won 49-42. Leighton Kuet led NY, scoring 12 pts and snatching 2 boards. The other Semi was full of ooh's and aah's from the crowd with CYC meeting the Rockits. CYC put on a quick spurt beginning at the tap to seize control with an 8 point lead. The Rockits were cold from the outside, so they decided to attack the paint to get back into the mix. Spectacular highlight reel plays were turned in by Kevin Chin and Ming Wang. After swingman Chris Chin (4 pts, 2 blocks) hit on a pullup, NY was up by 4 with 3 minutes to go. Bobby Hsieh (13 pts, 4-4 ft) then earned himself a 4 point play to tie it up and Kwan Huynh (4 treys, 16 pts) follwed that up by sinking another 3 and 2 quick ft's to get CYC back on their feet. The Rockits had no choice but to begin fouling, but CYC iced the game from the line (100% for the game) for the 44-36 victory.

The chip was a rematch of the Christmas 2005 Invitational Finals, where CYC won easily in a no-defense required shootout. This time, the game was much closer throughout. In the first couple minutes, CYC's 2e Chin did a great job trying to defend the much bigger Cruisers underneath, and even found a way to score 4 points. Jeffrey Lee played through his sprained ankle to almost register a triple double with 12 points, 8 rebounds, and 10 assists. All-Tournament Selection CB Liu continued his hot shooting ways for the Cruisers, as he was 6-7 from the field. Tony Hu was as close to unstoppable as he has ever been. You can't stop him, you can only hope to contain him. The only way to possibly contain him was to foul him, but Tony netted 10/12 from the line. The game went back and forth and back and forth some more, but the Cruisers were never able to get within less than 2. CB connected on a 15 footer to get NY within striking distance at 42-40 but then Bobby Hsieh swished in 2 freebies to give CYC a 4 point cushion. Stan Yeung then headed down the court for an uncontested lefty layup with 14 seconds to go. Bobby Hsieh made 2 more from the stripe for a 46-42 lead. NY had an inbounds with 13 seconds, but the normally defensively challenged Kwan Huynh somehow found a way to get the steal for CYC and he hit on 1 free throw to give CYC their final 5 point margin 47-42. For his gritty performance, Bobby Hsieh was named MVP. Congratulations to CYC A, as we look forward to seeing everyone Memorial Day.

Pool A: Washington CYC A 2-0, Boston Hurricanes A 1-1, Philadelphia Suns 18 0-2.
Pool B: NY Rockits AIA 2-0, NY MO Warriors 1-1, Montreal Kaitas 0-2.
Pool C: NY Cruisers A 3-0, Phila FACAA Ronin 2-1, Phila Suns B 1-2, Boston Hurricanes AAU 0-3(forfeit).
Pool D: Phila Suns A 1-1, Pittsburgh Pandas 1-1, Phila Team Lion 1-1.

Kwan Huynh, Washington CYC A (Mens Open MVP)
Jeffrey Lee, Washington CYC A
Bobby Hsieh, Washington CYC A
CB Liu, NY Cruisers A
Stan Yeung, NY Cruisers A
Ming Wang, NY Rockits AIA
Kevin Chin, NY Rockits AIA
Chanan Saelim, Boston Hurricanes A
Jonathan Lau, Pittsburgh Pandas
Jay Wu, Phila FACAA Ronin
Brandon Chock, NY MO Warriors
San Mac, Phila Suns A

Pool play in the Friendship division was headlined by spectacular offensive displays from the undefeated Washington CYC B, and the NY MOW 18's who each sported average margins of victory well into the double digits. Also escaping through pool play undefeated was the NY Rockits University team at 3-0. In the first round of the playoffs, the Phila Suns Senior nearly found a way to advance to the next round as the met up with Norristown Driven. Norristown held a slim 2 point lead at the half as neither team could find the rim. In the second half, Minh Tran put 8 points in the basket on a variety of jumpers and drives to give Norristown a 26-23 dub. That game was followed up by a meeting between the Delaware Aces and the Philly Suns A. Delaware's Will Barnes and Hyun Jin Kim proved to be a perfect combo with Hyun Jin dialing up 5 times from long distance, and Will controlling the paint on the defensive end. Dave Ma led Philly with 9 and 5. Delaware 50-Suns 44.

In the Quarters, the most anticipated game was a rematch of the Fall 2005 Invitational Juniors championship, with the Suns 18A and the MOW 18's facing each other. Philly had won convincingly the last time these 2 teams had met, but things change from tournament to tournament. Philly had a lot of new faces in their lineup, and so did Maximum Output. Philly's lineup featured a lot more big men with a lesser emphasis on guard play, while NY countered with stronger guard play and greater teamwork. NY took advantage of the new Suns lineup by installing a 3-2 halfcourt trap from the opening tap. The Suns guards gave up 4 straight turnovers to give MOW a quick 7 point lead 3 minutes into the game. The Suns then made the adjustment and the teams played evenly for the rest of the game, but the initial deficit proved to be too much for Philly, as MOW 18 won 42-34. Justin Kao led the way with 4 steals for MO, while Tang Vu dropped in 16 for the Suns 18A. After that, it was Washington CYC B's iron five versus the Delaware Aces. CYC's lack of depth didn't seem to hurt them early on, with Washington swishing in 3 after 3. CYC hit a total of 11 3's for the game, as they took control. Delaware's Will Barnes got going in the second half and fatigue also began to take its toll for Washington. But CYC was able to hit their free throws down the stretch to win 41-36. Henry Chow had 17 for CYC and Will Barnes had 13 for the Aces. On the other side of the bracket, perennial contender USP Alumni was paired up with the Suns B team. The Suns used their pressure man to man defense and rebounding to garner a bit of an early advantage, but USP's outside shooting kept them in it. Trailing 24-21 at the half, USP made one final run with 8 minutes to go but San Mac's 17 points were the difference in this one as the Suns B won 37-31. Bill Hang led USP with 10 and 4 rebounds. The final game of the round turned ugly quickly. The Rockits pulled a sneak attack and applied a stifling blind side trapping defense on Norristown to take a 19-4 lead midway through the game. The lead only grew as the Rockits U won 34-16. Big man Tim Chin had 9 for NY, while Dave Lee tallied 8 for Driven.

The seedings held true as the top 4 seeds all advanced to the Semifinals. Up first was the NY MO Warriors 18's facing the Washington CYC B team. Right from the start, it was pretty obvious that CYC didn't have the legs to compete with the young boys from New York. But NY was failing to execute on the offensive end, so their lead at the half was only 6. MOW took a commanding 12 point lead shortly into the second half. But with one final last ditch effort, Washington was able to scrape back within 4 points with 3 minutes to go. Martin Hsieh and Henry Chow scored 16 points in 9 minutes to make it a contest again. But Justin Kao took the lead for NY by sinking 4-4 ft's, and his teammates followed the lead by going 9-11 in the final 3 minutes. MOW 48-CYC B 35. The other game was a matchup between the Philly Suns B and the NY Rockits University team. Philly caught a couple lucky breaks from the zebras and capitalized on them to seize the lead 16-6 at halftime. Jake Fu was taking advantage of the smaller men guarding him to score 7 in the half. Patrick Lee was the only one keeping the Rockits in it, as he overcame an ankle injury to nail some three pointers. In the second half, the Rockits had plenty of chances but they blew many a wide open layup and their problems just snowballed. Suns 37-Rockits 23.

The Finals game was a chance for Bill Chan's MOW 18's to show that all of their wins had not been a fluke as they met up a much more experienced Suns B team. MOW had taken a 36-26 decision in pool play, but they needed to show that they could do it when it counts. Everyone knows its a different game when you play in the mens division, and its also a different game in the playoffs. But with only 2 players scoring in the first half for the Suns, NY was able to use their halfcourt trap to build a lead. Nick Mui made 2 brilliant swipes and finishes towards the end of the half to give NY a 15-8 lead at the break. In the second half, the Suns were simply exhausted. All they could do was reach for the ball on defense and they ended up putting MOW 18 on the line almost every trip down the floor. NY sank 13 of 17 in the second half to propel them to a 34-24 chip victory. MVP Justin Kao had 13 points and 2 steals for Maximum Output. Congrats to Larry, Bill, and Joe on the win. These kids can play with the men.

Pool A: Washington CYC B 3-0, Phila Suns 18A 2-1, Phila Suns Senior 1-2, Phila M&M 0-3.
Pool B: NY Maximum Output Warriors 18 3-0, Phila Suns B 2-1, Delaware Aces 1-2, Norristown Driven 0-3.
Pool C: NY Rockits University 3-0, USP Alumni 2-1, Phila Suns A 1-2, Phila Suns 18B 0-3.

Justin Kao, NY MO Warriors 18 (Mens Open Friendship MVP)
Nick Miu, NY MO Warriors 18
Richmond Huynh, Phila Suns B
Henry Chow, Washington CYC B
Martin Hsieh, Washington CYC B
Patrick Lee, NY Rockits U
Ian Yu, NY Rockits U
Bill Hang, USP Alumni
Will Barnes, Delaware Aces
Jack Uong, Norristown Driven
Tuan Tang, Phila Suns 18A
KK Fung, Phila Suns 18B

Nine teams, all with the same goal: the 2006 Pre NACBAIT Classic title. But there can only be one. Following pool play, 8 out of the 9 teams advanced to the single elim portion of the tournament that would determine whose dreams would come true. In the Quarters, the first game almost turned out to be a huge shocker. The #7 Philly Suns 18B were looking to take a page out of the George Mason NCAA Final Four run, as they were trying to make a Final Four trip of their own. The Suns B team took advantage of an overconfident #2 seeded CYC 18's squad, by hitting an impossible number of shots early on. They sprinted out of the blocks 16-6, as two 5-10 freshmen forwards- De Lin and Tommy Le- gave Philly huge stats around the basket. But everyone knows that experience wins games, and CYC looked to their K Lees (Kigga and Kevin) to get them back in the game. Kigga packed the inside muscle, and Kevin came off the bench to calm down his teammates. CYC came back from 12 down to win it 50-40 as they avoided the upset. The next game was a matchup of NYC Chinatown teams- NY ISS Flightz, and the NY Young Life Rockits. The Rockits showed who rules those playgrounds, by taking a 24-3 halftime lead on the way to a 51-28 win. Billy Wu had 14 for the Rockits, while young buck Daniel Mui had 6 for ISS. The next game saw the Philly Suns 18A meet up with the new version of Armando Buligon's Ronin 18 team. The new Ronin team is full of promising young talent in the 8th-10th grades, so really look for them to improve in upcoming tournaments. Tang Vu paced the Suns with 16, and Phil Yun dropped in 9 for Ronin, as the Suns won 36-16. The final game of the round saw Rutgers meet up with the #4 NY Maximum Output Warriors 18's. Rutgers hung tough through halftime as they only trailed by 3, but in the end Max Wong's 16 points were too much for them to overcome. Warriors 44, Rutgers 24.

The Final Four produced 2 great games full of youthful energy and intense competition. Up first was the #1 seeded Rockits and the #4 seeded Warriors. Bragging rights, organizational pride, and numerous other factors led to a fabulous matchup here. Although these 2 teams met in pool play and the Rockits crushed the Warriors by 15, the rematch was a lot more contested. The Warriors had the size to match up with the Rockits, and also had outstanding guard play from Jeff Wong and All-Tournment selection Jason Phan to square off with Tommy Zheng and Victor Ng. With Joseph Si (3 triples) scoring from the outside and big man Patrick Lem (10 pts, 4 rebs) on the inside, the balanced Warriors were making it tough for the Rockits to defend in the half court. In the second half the Rockits finally got some momentum going, with gargantuan Howie Chu getting some easy buckets and then forward Eric Auyang got on track. Done. Rockits 38, Warriors 32. The other semi was also a pool play rematch, as it was CYC and the Suns 18A. CYC had completely ripped the heart out of the Suns game with their defensive pressure in the round robin matchup, but the playoff game was a different story. In the first half, CYC controlled the tempo and refused to get into a running/pressing/fast break game with the Suns. By making each possession really matter, CYC was able to take a 12-9 halftime lead. Josh Chang was playing lock down defense, Ryan Yuen was sinking the open shots, and Steve Kigga Lee was a man among boys as Washington went up by 10 early in the second half. After a timeout, the Suns decided it was time to play their open court game and it was "game on" for Philly. The smallest guy on the court, Richard Chau put his team on his shoulders and played the best half of his life. After a horrible first half where he scored zippo and had numerous turnovers, Richard demonstrated a really amazing will to win. He dropped 18 in the half, to go along with 3 long distance bombs and 4 steals. Final score was Philly 34, Washington 29. The finals match saw the Rockits meet up with the Suns. The same matchup as the Chinese New Years Finals, that the Rockits pulled out 42-34 thanks to a monster performance from center Howie Chu. The teams knew exactly what to expect from each other, so it all boiled down to simple execution. The Rockits were going to play their 3-2 on defense, throw in a variation every so often, and then play a classic halfcourt game on offense. Philly was going to rely on their full court press defense to get them going on offense, and then hope to spread NY out to find a mismatch. A couple of minutes in, Howie Chu carelessly put himself on the bench due to foul trouble, and Philly was thinking it was all there for the taking. But no one counted on Eric Auyung's huge game (10 pts, 3 rebs) for NY. The Rockits held a 20-14 halftime cushion, but the Suns finally managed to get NY into a helter skelter running game early in the second half. After Alex Lam scored 2 quick buckets and Tang Vu scored 4 more, the Suns were up 22-21. Coach Nelson Yu settled his Rockit boys down, as the game returned to the halfcourt pace that favored NY more. The Rockits held on 33-28 to win it, and the Suns would have to wait for next time. Congratulations are in order.

Pool J: Washington CYC 18's 3-0, Phila Suns 18A 4-1, Rutgers 1-2, NY Flightz 18 1-3, Phila Suns 18C 0-3.
Pool JJ: NY Young Life Rockits 3-0, NY Maximum Output Warriors 18 2-1, Phila Ronin 18's 1-2, Phila Suns 18B 1-4.

Tommy Zheng, NY Young Life Rockits (Boys Juniors 18's MVP)
Eric Auyang, NY Young Life Rockits
Tang Vu, Phila Suns 18A
Richard Chau, Phila Suns 18A
Josh Chang, Washington CYC 18's
Steve Lee, Washington CYC 18's
Aaron Phan, NY Maximum Output Warriors 18
Walter Wang, Rutgers
Daniel Mui, NY Flightz 18
Phil Yun, Phila Ronin 18

If the teams that played here in the 16 & Under Division are any indication of where the 18's and Mens Division are headed in a couple years, then we will be in store for some the best competition we have ever seen. The organizations who represented here at this tournament are the organizations who are committed to the youth, and to building a better future for them. We had of course the 2 host teams- Washington CYC and the Philadelphia Suns- who everybody already knows both have major youth initiatives and have worked together in the past at basketball and non-basketball events. And then we had 3 of New York's brightest clubs here- the famed NY Rockits (coached by NACBA top 25 forward Kevin Low), a relatively new team in the CASE Cougars (a group who has already made an impact in the NYC Chinatown community in its short history led by Howard Chin), and a brand new team called the NY Flightz (I can tell right away that a ton of work has been put into this team just by the way they play. And also let me be the first to say how well coached, organized, and respectful this team is. If these guys stick together, then believe me when I say this team can compete with any of the east coast's big dogs in a year or two!).

Well let's get back to the basketball. Pool play games were full of fast paced yet surprisingly fundamental and team oriented play throughout from almost every team. And once the playoffs began, this high level of intense play continued. The first Quarterfinal matchup was Washington CYC 16A meeting up with the NY Flightz 16's. The Flightz had come to the Classic a couple weeks ago and got pounded in the 18's division as they played against some older competition. But that must have been a great learning experience for them, as they were not intimidated one bit by the physically imposing CYC lineup featuring nose tackle Raymond Lee, biggy Jae Oh, lanky forward Kellen Ober, perpetual all-star Mike Born, and martial arts master Phillip Lee. The Flightz team is extremely well disciplined and stuck to their game plan. They played a tough alternating full court and half court zone defense that CYC just could not solve. And then with their main ballhandler Mike Born out with foul trouble, CYC was all sorts of disoriented. With Daniel Mui providing NY with inside toughness, guard Peter Lee serving as the defensive sparkplug, and Charles Wu dropping buckets, NY had the upset of the day 33-22. Phillip Lee and Kellen Ober led the way for CYC with 9 and 8 points each. The second quarterfinal was a deja vu scene, featuring the Suns and the CASE Cougars, just like the 16's Tournament finals last December. The Cougars completely dominated the last matchup, but this time they were without the services of some players from that team who had issues dealing with team commitment. The team did the right thing and came to this tournament with the guys who showed they really wanted to be here. Those kids really played their hearts out when they matched up with Philly, but the big difference was the deeper Suns bench which allowed them to keep the defensive pressure up all game long. The Suns won 49-27 as Antoine Mun scored 10 and had 3 assists. Swingman All-Tournament Selection David Kong led NY with 8 of the hardest earned points all day long, as he spent much of his time getting knocked over and getting right back up to compete.

In the Semis, the first game was the Washington CYC 16B's facing the NY Flightz 16's. The game plan for CYC was to make the Flightz hit from the outside, as CYC went with a 2-3 zone, mixed in with some full court pressing to disrupt the NY half court tempo. With Charles Wu (3 treys) the only reliable source of outside shooting for NY, CYC soon keyed in on him and was able to keep the ball out of his hands. With Oliver Wong and the Rogers boys running the court, CYC moved forward 48-24. The other semifinal was one of the best games of the day. The Suns 16's were eager to prove that they belonged among the elite as they met up with the powerhouse NY Junior Rockits. The game plan was to force NY into a running match and then beat them in a layup contest. The strategy worked in the first half, as Philly led 17-12 at the midway. Philly was able to render big men George Tang and Jason Ruan largely useless until the NY guards were able to calm down enough to get their bigs involved. Then NY went on a 16-8 run throughout the second half to take a 3 point lead late. Philly had a ton of opportunities but surprisingly could not convert a couple gimme layups. After that, it was all a matter of knocking down the free throws and the Rockits won 32-25.

The championship game was a rematch of last year's Pre-NACBAIT Classic Finals in the 15& Under division. Another year wiser, another year smarter, and another year taller. Last year, CYC was able to take the chip, and they were looking for a repeat this time around. But the Rockits are much improved, thanks to some excellent coaching and better fundamentals. So it was anyone's guess who would take it this year. Despite NY's pronounced size advantage, it always comes down to the guards. It was Dennis Liew and Da Shi Ho v/s Jason Lee, Steven Lee, Scottie Hsieh, and Brian Yu. But with Steven Lee useless due to illness, and Scottie Hsieh unable to find his stroke, CYC's version of the 4 guard Villanova style offense was pretty much cut down to a standard 2 guard offense. NY led at the half 13-8, as neither team was playing up to their full potential. In the second half, NY was completely in control of the game and if you didn't look at the score you would think it was going to turn into garbage time pretty soon. But Washington was resilient and somehow managed to stay in the game right down to the wire. With 1 second to go and up by 2, Dennis Liew mometarily lost his mind and earned himself a technical for foul lanuage. CYC's Da Loo sank both freebies to then send the game into OT with it knotted at 29 apiece. The Rockits Jason Ruan was an OT monster as he scored quickly and efficiently to help NY to a 6 point lead in the extra session. Point guard Jason Lee then responded with a 3 to give CYC a last chance but it was not to be their day, as one final turnover gave the Rockits the game. Great job NY Rockits, and also a fantastic job to all of the young men who participated in this event. May this only be the beginning of some great basketball for many years to come!

Pool A: Washington CYC 16B 2-0. Phila Suns 16's 1-1. NY Flightz 16's 0-2.
Pool B: NY Junior Rockits 2-0, Washington CYC 16A 1-1, NY CASE Cougars 0-2.

Dennis Liew, NY Junior Rockits (Boys Juniors 16's MVP)
George Tang, NY Junior Rockits
Jason Lee, Washington CYC 16B
Alex Mun Lam, Phila Suns 16's
Peter Lee, NY Flightz 16's
Jae Oh, Washington CYC 16A
David Kong, NY CASE Cougars

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