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The 2008 Pre-NACBAIT Classic was held on April 5, 6, and 13, 2008 at Fels High School and Temple University in Philadelphia, PA. This tournament allowed 32 teams to see where they stand as they make their final preparations for the 28th Annual NACBAIT- which will be held in Philly this year over Memorial Day Weekend. Separate single-day competitions were hosted in the following divisions: Mens Elite, Mens Open, Boys Juniors 18's, Boys Youth 16's, and Womens Open. Thank you to all the organizations and teams for their participation.
Once again, we utilized the Classic to showcase the academic achievement of our participants through our scholarship program. Book stipends were awarded to the winners, based on academic achievement, community service, sportsmanship, and other relevant accomplishments. The Classic's 2 winners this year are Kimberly Hom of NY USAB and Jessica Lee of the NY Sabres.
Kimberly Hom of NY USAB is a 3.94 student at St. John's University. She is freshman in a 5 year Pharmacy program, having receiving numerous academic awards and scholarships over the years. While at Bronx Science High School, she was a member of the ARISTA National Honor Society and also the President of the Big Siblings Program. Kim also received a major departmental awards in Organic Chemistry. In the athletic arena, Kim was named MVP of her HS basketball team, and also received the Rattien Award for her achievement in both softball and basketball. As captain of the highly successful NY USAB team, she has developed important leadership and managerial characteristics that will serve her well late in life. Not only is Kim a standout in the classroom and on the court, but she is a standout in the community as well. She volunteers her time at local nursing homes, and at numerous events such as the AIDS Walk and the Cystic Fibrosis walkathon. Congratulations Kimberly.
Jessica Lee of the NY Sabres is currently a sophomore at Baruch College, majoring in International Business Management and minoring in Psychology. In the basketball arena, Jessa was the MVP and captain of her JV basketball team, and also received the scholar athlete award for her Varsity team. She has also been a standout member of the NY Sabres basketball team since 2004. Jessica also makes giving back to the community a high priority in her life. In her high school years, her big accomplishment was donating over 900 hours with the Summer Bridge program where she assisted incoming freshman with science and math projects. Jessica has a huge love for dance and music. She loves to share the joys of music with people throughout the Big Apple, as she has volunteered to teach dance at community centers, elementary school, and sorrorites throughout New York. In addition to this volunteer work, Jessica also gives her time and services to AAYC and the West Side YMCA. Thanks to her outstanding record of community service, Jessica makes a fabulous addition to our long line of scholarship winners. Thank you very much and keep on working hard!
Pool play was a basketball marathon where each team played the other 4 teams throughout the day. Heading into the single elimination playoffs, CYC was looking awesome with their defensive discipline and spread offensive sets. But they weren't the only team, as pool play games were decided by an average of only 5.8 ppg. Up first in the wild card game were the NY Sabres and the Philly Warriors Suns. in this game, it was clear that the combination of USAB/Philly girls needed to work on their defensive rotations, as the Sabres were crushing on the offensive boards and finding the gaps in the zone for easy scores. The Sabres looked to vets Jenny Chan (12 points) and Vanessa Leung (11 points, 2 3's) for the offense, while the Warriors/Suns spread the ball around the perimeter for thier looks. Rookie PG Alex Leung led Philly with 13 points, 3 treys, and 3 assists. After taking an 8 point lead, the Sabres gave up a couple quick TO's and Philly was back in the game with 2 minutes to go. But NY's SuperSabre Noriko Sato came to the rescue and NY upset Philly/NY 37-31.
The first Semifinal game matchup was the NY Lady Cruisers and Philly Old School. In the beginning, Philly Old School was in the driver's seat. They played the game at their pace, and were getting the looks they wanted on offense. If they had made a few more wide open looks, they could have easily been up by double digits. The score at the half was 14-11 Old School. In the second half, PG Beatrice Chang decided that she didn't want to go home yet and she absolutely exploded. She got whatever shots she wanted, scoring 16 second half points, and sinking 8-9 FT's. The Cruisers took the lead and never looked back. Old School forward Xyla Gata did some inside work to give Philly a chance, scoring 7 second half points on fundamental post moves, but it was not enough as NY won 39-34. High scoring forward Kim Moro Williams paced Philly Old School with 10 points and 5 rebounds. The second semifinal was the top seeded Washington CYC China Dolls meeting the #5 NY Sabres. Led by G Pui Sham's (15 pts, 3 rebounds) outside barrage of trifectas, CYC snatched an 18-9 halftime edge. In the second half, the Sabres were clearly too fatigued to put up much of a fight. CYC ended up advancing to the finals 35-24. Tiffany Lee was the high scorer for NYC with 9 points.
In the Championship, it was the #1 Washington CYC China Dolls and the #3 NY Lady Cruisers. The Cruisers took big time advantage of CYC's back to back games situation as they came out with tons of energy baseline to baseline. Jordan Chan and Beatrice Chang each hit consecutive 3 pointers, and the Cruisers were up big early thanks to those 12 points. At the break, it was 22-12 Cruisers. CYC switched gears and went to experienced forward Kalyn Lee (19 pts, 9 rebounds, 1 three) more in the second half to make a game of it. Kalyn hit a free throw, Robin Goon swished a 3, and the score was 33-27 with 8 minutes & change to go. Kristy Tung then scored on a follow up to get CYC within 4 with 7 minutes left. With 3:15 to play, Guard Jordan Chan made a tough 3 point play look easy and NY was back up 37-29. Kalyn Lee powered up for a strong layup to cut it to a 6 point defict with 1:12 to play and then Kristy Tung got a layup and steal to make it 37-33. But in the end, it was too little too late for the spent China Dolls and NY took it home with a 4 point win. Great Job to the Lady Cruisers!
Pool W: Washington CYC China Dolls 4-0, Phila Old School 3-1, NY Lady Cruisers 2-2, Phila Warriors Suns 1-3, NY Sabres 0-4.
Beatrice Chang, NY Lady Cruisers (Womens Open MVP)
Priscilla Wong, NY Lady Cruisers
Pui Sham, Washington CYC China Dolls
Kalyn Lee, Washington CYC China Dolls
Xyla Gata, Phila Old School
Noriko Sato, NY Sabres
Rebecca Chin, Phila Warriors Suns
With the top 3 of 4 teams emerging from pool play to the do-or-die playoffs, the morning session was a time for teams to see what lineup combinations would work and for them to get some much needed experience. When all the dust settled, it was the redesigned Phila Suns 18 coming out on top, followed by the NY ISS Flights and Washington CYC 18's. The team who did not advance was Phila CCC&C. In the Semifinal game, the Flights sped to a 21-8 halftime lead with their halfcourt trap against Washington. Essentially, the trap turned the pace up and took the CYC big men Leo Ma and Raymond Lee out of the offense. In the second half, All-NACBAIT point guard Jason Lee (13 points, 3 treys, 2 assists, 4 turnovers) did his best to keep DC in the game but Peter Lee came on for the Flights to score 10 second half points to propel the Flights to a 39-25 win. The Flights celebrated their semifinal win by going to Wendy's for a big lunch.
When ISS returned from lunch, the undefeated Suns were waiting in the wings. In pool play the Suns had defeated NY 27-25, so they believed that they could do it again. The Suns now had plenty of rest and were looking at the lethargic and tired looking Flights as an easy victim. But once the game began, New York definitely looked to be the team in control. They were the more aggressive squad as they took it to the hole on offense and played the passing lanes on defense. Unsung young boy Jason Wu (MVP, 16 pts, 7 rebounds, 1 block) played a game that defies his baby face, dropping in 10 points before halftime. At the half, the score was 20-10 ISS. In the second half, Philly was able to claw back within striking distance behind Tuan Tang's strong performance (10 pts, 2-2 FT). But featured big man George Tang scored on 2 high post drives, Jason Wu popped a threeball, and Da Shi Ho iced the game from the line to give the Flights a 37-23 Championship. They have completely dominated in Juniors competitions this year, and could be the team to beat at the Philly NACBAIT this Memorial Day. Congratulations to Anthony Yeung and the ISS Program.
Pool J: Phila Suns 18 3-0, NY ISS Flights 2-1, Washington CYC 18 1-2, Phila CCC&C 0-3.
Jason Wu, NY ISS Flights (Junior 18's MVP)
Peter Lee, NY ISS Flights
Tuan Tang, Phila Suns 18
Duck Fung, Phila Suns 18
Joe Choi, Washington CYC 18
Following the round robin portion of the 16's tournament, all 6 young teams advanced to the playoff round. The top seeds and tournament favorites looked to be last year's NACBAIT 15 & Under finalists- the NY Rockits and NY USAB 15's. The Rockits featured easily the most talented team in the tournament, while USAB featured an ever improving bunch of players from last year's B team. In the first round, the NY USAB Biddy's (12-13 year olds) met up with the Philadelphia Young Suns. The Suns sped to an early lead 15-5, as they relied on their 2 elder players Tommy Le and De Lin. But once they subbed in their 15 & Under group, it became a real game. The tiny USAB kids easily outclassed the older Suns, as they had knotted the score up at 24 midway through the second half. Doug Lee, Mitchell Cheung, and Andrew Ng showed court sense and ability lightyears beyond their age. The Suns were forced to go back to their experienced lineup and press their way to a 6 point win. Also in the first round, the Maryland Pistons faced the NY Falcons. The Pistons are a new squad to the Asian Circuit. They feature a team of 13-14 year olds who can all shoot the rock, get up and down the court, and handle the ball like it's on a string. The Falcons countered with a bigger, more aggressive team who can take it to the rack and pullup for their scores. The first half was played at a breakneck pace, with the Pistons leading 26-22. In the second half, both teams cooled off a bit and they buckled down for some defensive stops. The Pistons were fortunate to escape with a 36-34 win. Jarett Lee paced the Falcons with 8 points and 4 steals, and Derek Wong had 6 points/2 assists. Brian Hum was hot from the outside for Maryland, as he tossed in 11 points with 2 treys.
In the Semis, up first was the NY Rockits and the Philly Young Suns. The Rockits were the better team here, as they took an early 10-2 lead. After Philly's De Lin got a benching to get his head put on straight, everyone thought that it was going to be a death sentence for Philly. But the Suns pulled together behind the play of Jason Lee (5 pts, 4 steals) and Tommy Le (13 pts, 9 rebs) to stay in the mix as they only trailed 19-13 at the half. In the second half, Philly went to a 3-2 zone defense that the Rockits just couldn't beat out as they went completely cold. Rockits guard Kyle Lew fouled out, and that was all the Suns needed as they seized the lead. The Rockits could only score 3 points after halftime. The Suns then tried their best to give the game away, as they went 3-11 on FT's but they managed to pull off the most unlikely of upsets 26-24. Kyle Lew had 6 points and 5 rebounds, while center Eddie Zhang had 5 points and 11 rebounds for NY. The other semifinal game was a meeting between the Maryland Pistons and NY USAB. The Pistons guards were fabulous in the first half with Brian Hum (11 pts, 1 threeball, 3 steals) and Nathan Kung (4 pts, 2 assists) leading the way to a 20-18 Md edge. In the second half, USAB switched to a zone defense and the game's speed took a breather. At the end of regulation, the score was tied 31 all, so we went into OT. The Pistons ended up hitting 3 of 4 FT's in the extra period, while USAB scored on 2 baskets to advance by one, 34-33. Jeffrey Chan had 7 points for USAB while All-Tournament selection Hwan Choi had 7 points and 3 blocks for Maryland.
In the Championship game, the Young Suns and USAB 15's met up for a pool play rematch. In the round robin, USAB beat Philly 22-17, so they had the confidence. The Young Suns were just happy to still be playing. This time, both teams started off slowly but Philly had the advantage on the boards with Tommy Le (5 pts, 8 rebs, 3 steals) and De Lin (9 points, 16 rebounds, 4 blocks). Had it not been for a clutch 3-pointer by William Wong late in the second half, USAB would have been out of the game. Midway through, Philly was up 12-7 in an anorexic game. In the second half, Philly did what everyone knew was coming, They went to a full court press to try and stretch the lead as they gambled on anything and everything. The strategy worked as Philly got a 10 point lead 23-13 with 4 minutes to play. USAB started to foul, and once again the Suns were ugly from the line to let NY back in the game. The score was 23-22 Suns with a minute and half to play. However, Tommy Le finally made 2 free throws for Philly and the Suns caught a break as they scored an easy layup off a NY turnover to give them a 27-22 win. Co-MVP's were guard Jason Lee (4 points, 4 assists, 3 steals) and shocking forward KK Fung (2 treys, 2 rebounds). USAB's leaders were big man Russell Huang (2 points, 9 rebounds) and Eric Wong (11 pts, 2 treys, 1 block). Congrats to this new group of Young Suns on their first ever (and most improbable) tournament win.
Pool A: NY USAB 15 2-0, Phila Young Suns 1-1, NY Falcons 0-2.
Pool B: NY Rockits 2-0, Maryland Pistons 1-1, NY USAB Biddy 0-2.
Li John Fung, Phila Young Suns (Youth 16's Co-MVP)
Jason Lee, Phila Young Suns (Youth 16's Co-MVP)
Tommy Le, Phila Young Suns
Russell Huang, NY USAB 15
Eric Wong, NY USAB 15
Hwan Choi, Maryland Pistons
Derek Wong, NY Falcons
Jimmy Lau, NY Rockits
Kyle Lew, NY Rockits
Doug Lee, NY USAB Biddy
After a morning of pool play, the top 4 teams in the pool moved on to the Semis. The first matchup would be the #2 Washington CYC v/s the #3 Philly Suns A. The Suns this year are improved, with their offense running smoother and their matchup defense having the potential to give teams fits, as they pressure the ball all over the court, but still have plenty of weak side help. With the addition of a few new parts and the departure of some older ones, the changes seem to have moved the perennial bottom dwelling Suns A up a level. CYC meanwhile, appeared to be on the downswing this tournament. They lacked the zip to their step, didn't shoot as well as would normally be expected, and their lack of depth at this tournament really hurt them as the games wore on. The Suns started off by taking a quick 10 point lead with some easy transition buckets, and CYC appeared out of sync and tired. They rushed a few long treys that gave Philly some long rebounds, and it was easy scoring for the Suns. After Bobby Hsieh's legs betrayed him, the lack of depth really became the DC Achilles and the game started turned into a runaway. With 6-4 Jackson Fu nailing outside shots and pulling the CYC big men away from the basket, the bigger Suns team had a field day on the offensive glass. At the half, the score was 19-10 Philly. In the second half, DC's frustration began to mount and they jacked up even worse shot attempts. The Philly lead grew to over 20 before CYC surrendered the game 43-22. Quoc Tran paced Philly with 8 points and 7 rebounds. Jeff Lee had 5 points and 6 steals for CYC.
The next game was the #1 NY RL Cruisers meeting up with the #4 Pittsburgh Pandas. The Cruisers are looking strong heading into this year's NACBAIT, as they have added Leon Chu to give them another defender and outside bomber to complement the big boys down low, ex-Renegade-ex-USAB-and-ex-MaxOut swingman Eddie Wang to provide them with another proven scorer at the swingman position, and large Howie Chu to spell Tony Hu and George Chan in the post. With their team first attitude and unselfishness, the Cruisers look likely to repeat theit trip to the NACBA Final Four this year in Philadelphia. Pittsburgh meanwhile, was a 2 man show featuring All-NACBAIT point forward Joe Tang and 6-3 stringbean Anderson Lee in the paint. But despite their relative inexperience, Pittsburgh found a way to sneak into the playoffs and give teams a good run for their money. The Cruisers began the game by scoring on 7 of their first 9 possessions. There was just too much bulk for the Pandas to match up with. At the half, NYC was up 27-18. In the second half, the Cruisers experimented with some lineup changes and Pittsburgh was able to get back into it as Chris Kwok scored 8 points on daring drives and pullup jumpers. After Joe Tang made a tough inside basket, Pitt was within 5 with 4 minutes to go. The Cruisers weren't rattled as they hit 9-10 ft's down the stretch to advance 51-42. Final score 51-42 NY RL Cruisers. George Chan led NY with 13 points and Joe Tang paced Pittsburgh with 16 points and 11 boards.
The Finals game was a tough one for the Cruisers. The hometown crowd proved to be a great 6th man for Philly, as they were playing with a lot of confidence on both ends. Philly got out on the break to make scoring look easy, while the Cruisers had to work for everything they got in their halfcourt sets. Andrew Young, who moved up from the Suns 18 this year, was the athletic sparkplug that made Philly go in the first half as he had 13 points and 6 rebounds before halftime. Philly led 22-20 at the half. For most of the second half, neither team could really score as tough defense on both ends and mounting fatigue made it almost impossible to score. The score was 28-24 Philly with 5 minutes to go. All of a sudden Eddie Wang showed why the Cruisers felt he would be a great addition. He calmly nailed 3 straight triples to finally give the Cruisers the lead. Over the last 5 minutes, NY outscored the Suns 20-3 to put the game away 44-31. Tony Hu (9 pts, 1-3 FT, 7 rebs) and George Chan (14 pts, 2-7 FT, 3 blocks) were the dominant forces for NYC, while Richmond Huynh (3 points, 4 steals) and Andrew Young (13 pts, 7 rebs, 4 steals) were the leaders for Philly. Congrats to the RL Cruisers!
Pool A: NY RL Cruisers 4-0, Washington CYC 3-1, Phila Suns A 3-1, Pittsburgh Pandas 2-3, Phila Suns B 1-4, Phila XXX 0-4.
Eddie Wang, NY RL Cruisers (Mens Elite Co-MVP)
Tony Hu, NY RL Cruisers (Mens Elite Co-MVP)
George Chan, NY RL Cruisers
Jackson Fu, Phila Suns A
Jason Lee, Washington CYC A
Jeffrey Lee, Washington CYC A
Anderson Lee, Pittsburgh Pandas
Joe Tang, Pittsburgh Pandas
Phillip Wan, Phila Suns B
With 10 teams taking part in this division, it would certainly be a war of attrition in the Mens Open throughout the day. In the first round, NY USAB overcame a 14-0 deficit to defeat the Phila Suns Masters 45 33-28. Albert Ko led NY with 16 points and 5 rebounds, while Whitey Lee had 5 points and 2 assists for the oldies. The other first round game was an easy one for the USP Alumni, as center Scott Tran (21 points, 7 boards) had a field day feasting on the inexperienced Suns B frontline for a 42-33 dub. Josh Chun also added 9 points for USP, while Eric Law scored 11 for the B team. In the Quarters, NY USAB looked strong in the beginning as they met up with the Suns Alumni team. They led by 1 at the half, but in the second half, it was clear that the Suns Alums were the ones who were going to dictate the tempo. They advanced 35-28 as the game was played in a fixed halfcourt set the rest of the way. Joe Yen had 6 points and 5 rebounds for USAB, while San Mac led the Suns with 9 points and 2 3's. Up next was the Suns A v/s Viriginia Supernova. With Nova missing quite a few key parts this tournament, the Suns A had an easy matchup. After All-Tournament forward Chris Chesterfield (3 steals, 1 block, 7 rebs) fouled out for Nova, Philly cleared the bench with a 46-22 W. Dave Ma paced the Suns with 12 points and 6 rebounds. The 3rd QF game was the young NY Flights (mostly 18 & unders) meeting the NY Rockits U. The Flights were definitely not scared of the older Rockits as they battled it out with them for the first half in a walk it up, halfcourt game. The Flights led 16-14 at halftime and were looking to the next round. In the second half, the Rockits took advantage of the Flights missed defensive rotations and Victor Ng went bezerk from outside as he nailed 4 of 6 3's for the half. After that, it was out of reach and the Rockits won 44-29. George Tang was the high man for ISS with 8 pts and 5 rebs. The last Quarter game was CYC v/s USP Alumni. CYC came in on fire, and hit 12-20 3's for the game. Washington seized a 25-16 halftime lead. USP did stay within striking distance as Scott Tran (16 pts, 6 rebounds, 2 assists) and Darren Tang (15 pts, 3 treys, 2 blocks) were both playing well. But at the end of the game, USP was called for back to back Technicals for sportsmanship and the game was over as DC moved on to the Semis 55-47. Kevin Lee had 5 3's and 20 points for CYC.
The first Semifinal was a rivalry Suns game between the A team and the Alumni. The youth of the Suns A was the difference here as they kept pushing the fast break to take a 44-27 win. The Suns A were led by swingman Andrew Young (11 pts and 7 rebounds) and Richmond Huynh (5 points, 7 assists). Dave Chiu paced the Alumni with 9 points and 3 rebounds. The other semi was the closest game of the playoffs as the Rockits U met CYC B in a rematch of the Winter 07 Finals. The Rockits started off with the lead, hitting 5 of 7 from long distance to take a 22-18 lead at the half. CYC B was looking dog tired as they were only playing with 5 undersized guys. In the second half, Caleb Lui dropped in 12 points to get Washington back into the game. Both teams had opportunities to win the game but neither team could capitalize, and the game went into OT. In OT, DC was off their game and too fatigued to put up a fight as the Rockits moved on 49-43. Caleb Lui (12 pts, 5-5 ft's) led CYC B, and Ian Yu (13 pts, 5 rebs, 0-4 FT) was the star for NYC.
In the Finals, Philly was meeting the Rockits U for the umpteenth time in the last few seasons. In the first half, the Suns went to Dave Ma down low as he reversed his way 6 first half points to give Philly the momentum. Halftime score was 17-9, Suns A. In the middle of the second period, the Rockits were able to shoot themselves back in the game as unsung hero Michael Louie sank 2 consecutive three's from the left wing. After 2 guard Frank Ip rifled one in from the top of they key, the Rockits were poised to make a comeback. But Richmond Huynh answered back seconds later with a trifecta of his own and then he hit 3 of 4 FT's down the stretch to give the Suns A their first true Championship in many years with a 41-30 win. Bigman Tim Chin was the star for the Rockits, as he threw down 8 points and snatched 6 rebounds. MVP Richmond Huynh had 8 points, 3 steals, and 5 assists for Philly. Good job Philly and coach Harry Leong.
Pool A: Washington CYC B 2-0, NY ISS Flights 1-1, Phila Suns Master 0-2.
Pool B: Phila Suns Alumni 2-0, Virginia Nova 1-1, USP Alumni 0-2.
Pool C: Phila Suns A 2-0, NY Rockits U 1-1, NY USAB 1-1, Phila Suns B 0-2.
Richmond Huynh, Phila Suns A (Mens Open MVP)
Victor Ng, NY Rockits U
San Mac, Phila Suns Alumni
Caleb Lui, Washington CYC B
Darren Tang, USP Alumni
Chris Chesterfield, Virginia Nova
George Tang, NY ISS Flights
Jimmy Huynh, Phila Suns B
Daniel Ng, NY USAB
Kyu Lee, Phila Suns Master 45
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