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SoCalHoops Recruiting News

Total Impact: Full Report From
McDonald's Summer Slam--(Aug. 11, 1998)

Well, it was called the "Sporting Chance Summer Slam" before they left, and by the time they returned, the Total Impact Freshman traveling team had won the "McDonald's Summer Slam" held at the University of Arizona. Wow, McDonalds is just everywhere. . .

Anyway, after last night's scrimmage game between the Total Impact Freshmen team and the JCC Orange County Maccabi team (which by the way, we scored dead even after 40 minutes of "regulation" and 5 minutes of "extra" time--thanks Sam), coach Sam Alipio issued the following report, in the form of a press release, to let everyone in on what really happened, and, more importantly, to correct the inadvertant errors in our original report posted last night. And even though we can't necessarily vouch for the "carbo-loading" diet that he's endorsing (trading long-chain carbohydrates, which turn to sugar anyway if consumed in very large quantities), Sam does offer a couple of good suggestions for teams who will be doing traveling. Anyway, here's Sam's report. And as he says, Aloha:

The Torrance Based Total Impact incoming Freshman team went 5-1 to capture their division in the 5th annual Mcdonald's Summer Slam hosted by Sporting Chance Youth, held recently at the University of Arizona, August 7-9 in Tucson, AZ. Over 100 boys and girls teams competed in different divisions raging from ages 10-17. The games were played at over 8 different sites in the Tucson area, and at the McKale Center, home of the University of Arizona Wildcats.

The 14U Boys division included 16 teams with organizations from Colorado, Arizona, and California competing. In pool play our only lost came by the Antelope Valley Stealth. In the single elimination bracket we were down by 17 points at half-time, and came back to win against a fine Phoenix West team. The West team's front court included a center at 6'5", 6'4" PF, and 6'3" SF. T.I. went into a box and one to slow down the guard. In the closing quarter we went into a half court trap and sealed the victory with 9 straight free throws.

T.I. advanced into the finals against the Antelope Valley Stealth who had a 6'6" center. Again, we were down in the first half and couldn't get into the flow, until the beginning of the 3rd quarter. The game being played on the center court of the McKale Center on the campus of the University of Arizona created a very festive atmosphere. Down by 6 points, we adjusted to a 3/4 court 2-1-2 trap which confused the guards of Antelope. With key steals by SG Eddie Topps and SG Chad Thornton, we established a slim 3 point lead going into the 4th quarter, 24-21. Slowing the pace of the game worked, and coming off the bench PF Douglas Gouvera converted on a 3 point play. Antelope still managed to hang tough and took a 1 point lead with 40 seconds to play. With fans calling for a time-out, I decided to let them run our halfcourt offense. We overloaded to one side against the 2-1-2 zone and swung it around. With 4 seconds remaining Thornton hit from the top of the key and banked a 3pt. shot and Antelope took a time-out with .5 seconds remaining. They managed to get a shot off that fell short and we went into a wild celebration, avenging our only loss. The final score was 32-30, due to the great defense and possibly the fatigue by both teams, considering we played six games in 72 hours.

Leading the team in scoring SF Loren Wade 15ppg 8 rebounds in 6 games who will attend Serra High this fall. All members of the team contributed, which resulted in balance scoring. Other members include, combo guard Brett DeAngelis, SG Jon Zellers, SG Michael Speciale, and PF Davion Cummings. The temperature outside was an easy 100 degrees plus. All the facilities were air conditioned and the officials were great. I apologize for not mentioning any of the players names that we played against, due to lack of rosters, which I still don't understand why traveling coaches don't make readily available. The best team, talent wise we faced was the Phoenix West team. Assisting me in coaching was Eric Jensen, who runs the Hunington Beach based West Coast Superflo, a rising 12 and under team who faired well and went 3-2 overall and includes Jon Curry a 6'1" center. A word of advice to other traveling coaches, place a strict restriction on your players' diets during tournaments; no soda or candy, and no sweets after 7pm, i.e. ice cream, shakes, cookies. This is sometimes difficult to do with teenagers, but high pasta meals of spaghetti and lasagna worked for us. Total Impact will now be playing in the Los Angeles Inner City games which kicks off this Friday August 14. Then, on September 4 our 16U team will be playing at 11:30 am vs. the Bakersfield Jammers and 14U team at 3 pm vs the San Fernando Cavs at Venice beach in the world famous annual Summer Basketball Showdown now sponsored by NIKE. Aloha.