Sting Finish With 3 Runner-Up's in the Philly Invitational

The organization placed all of its teams in the Keystone Blazers Philly Invitational recently with another strong showing for the program with 3 teams reaching the Championship Games in their divisions.

The 4th/5th Grade team continued with its learning curve and competed against teams comprised of older players.  The team continues to get better and improve despite a couple of tough losses against quality competition.

The 6th Grade Team stepped up its level of competition, opening up against the Mid-Atlantic Runner up Team Philly and continuing on against S.M.M and Ballers United.  The team lost all 3 games against quality opponents, however, competed and played hard throughout and knows what it needs to do to compete at a high level.

The 8th Grade team went 1-1 in pool play to finish 2nd in their pool and get into Bracket Play, beating Team Philly, but losing to the HV Hurricanes.  In its semi-final game, the team went on to defeat LVBS to set a rematch with HV Hurricanes.  In a tightly contested game, the team came up short down the stretch to finish as runner-ups.

The 9th Grade team had another strong showing getting to the Championship of the event.  The team went 3-0 in pool play with double digit victories in all 3 pool games.  In the semi-final game, the team pulled away late against LVBS to win by double digits and advance to the Championship Round.  In the Championship, the team took on Team Final Black, however, came up short in their 3rd game of the day in a tight contest.

The 10th Grade team looked to continue their strong play after May Madness.  The team dominated pool play with double digit victories throughout pool play to go 3-0 and advance to the Semi-Finals.  The team continued to play well and defeated another local Northeast Team, Hoop Dreamz, to advance to the Championship Game.  The team took on Team Final Black, a Sting Associated team.  The Sting went on to take a 7 point lead early in the 2nd Half, but couldn't overcome Team Final's pressure defense and depth down the stretch to hold on for victory.

11th Grade Miller also continued its strong play on the year and went 2-0 on Saturday to advance into the quarterfinal round, winning both games by double digits on Saturday.  In the quarterfinals Millers team took on another Team Final Game.  In a competitive game throughout, the team couldn't match Team Finals size and athleticism and came up short.  11th Grade Luciano continues to work to get acquainted with each other from injuries and new players.  The team lost both pool play games, however, look to continue to get better and finish the season strong in their last 2 events of the year. 

Sting Have Strong Showing at May Madness

Last weekend, the organization had 5 teams compete in SJ Jazz May Madness tournament at Rowan University.  The organization had a strong showing going 12-5 on the weekend.  

The 4/5th grade team comprised of mostly 4th graders competed well playing against all 5th grade teams and came away from the weekend getting a strong win on Sunday morning as they continue to gain confidence and get better.

The 6th Grade Team came out of pool play 2-0 to advance to the semi-final's where they would take a 6 point victory into the Championship Game. In the Championship Game, they lost to a strong South Jersey Soldiers team.  The team continues to have success as they have made it to the Championship in both tournaments they have appeared in this year.

The 10th Grade team came back strong from a tough showing in their last tournament where they lost 3 games by a total of 11 points.  The team dominated pool play and their semi-final game to advance to the championship.  In the Championship Game, they ran into Tim Legler's South Jersey Jazz National Under Armour Association team.  They were competitive throughout, including a 5 point deficit at halftime, but came up short, losing by 9 at the end of the game.

11th Grade Miller continued it's strong play from last weekends tournament championship by dominating pool play, winning both games by 20+ points.  In the semi-final game, the team ran up against Total Turf and came up short losing 53-48.

11th Grade Luciano competed in the Mid Atlantic District Final 4.  In the semi-final, the team took a tough loss, losing to Team 302 out of Delaware by 3 points 77-74.  The team rebounded with a victory in the next game against Hot Shots Global 53-38 to place 3rd in the Mid Atlantic.

Finally, the 8th Grade team won their first Championship by dominating the field at May Madness.  The team won all 4 games by 30+ in each game to take home their first Championship of the Season.  Congratulations to the team and Coach Shane Kelley on his 1st Championship as a coach of the Sting.

Sting Have Successful Opening Weekends

Over the last 2 weekends, all of the Sting teams opened up their seasons at various tournaments throughout the area.

The 9th Grade team rebounded from going 1-2 at the highly competitive Hoop Group Spring Jam Fest by winning the Keystone Blazers Philadelphia Invitational.  The team revenged a 9 point loss in point play from Collegeville Jaguars in the Championship to win 66-55.  Congrats to Coach Kilkenny and the team on the 1st Championship of the Season.

11th Grade Miller opened up the season in Championship Form going 4-0 to win their pool championship in the Renegades Spring Fling.  The team won their games by an average of 14.5ppg en route to their perfect record.  Congratulations to Coach Miller and the team on their 1st Championship of the season.

Also, congratulation and good luck to Coach Luciano's 11th Grade team.  The team competed in the Middle Atlantic District Qualifiers and went 3-0, winning their games by an average of 20ppg, to advance to the Mid-Atlantic Final 4.  Good Luck as they compete the weekend of May 2nd to bring home the organizations 2nd Mid-Atlantic title in as many years.

Overall, the organization had a great first couple of weeks.  Winning 2 Championships and a Runner-Up finish from the 6th Grade Team at Keystone Blazers Philly Invitational.  Overall, the organization is 21-14 over the first 2 weekends.  Good Luck and continued success in the upcoming tournaments.