On December 11-12, 2010 over fifty players and coaches came to compete in the 4th Annual Arizona Wheelchair Basketball Tournament for a weekend of competition in Mesa at the Broadway Recreation Center. Competing teams were your home town Banner Wheelchair Suns, BORP Bay Cruisers (Berkely, CA), Denver Junior Nuggets and Utah Junior Jazz. This tournament is sponsored by the Arizona Spinal Cord Injury Association and hosted by Arizona Disabled Sports.
Now on to the action as the Jazz would play the Bay Cruisers in the first game. The Jazz won 46 – 39 with Blakley scoring 22 and Heslop adding 12 for the Jazz. James Bohnett had 21 for BORP. The Banner Wheelchair Suns played host to Denver Nuggets in game 2. The Nuggets easily handled the rebuilding Suns 45 – 29. Ryan had 23 and Dyuante with 12 for the Nuggets. Rachael Kroener had 16 and Stephen Binning added 13 in a losing effort. The 3rd game of the day the Suns played inspired basketball but fell to BORP 55 to 24. Stephen Binning and Rachael Kroener each had 10 points for the Suns. BORP was led by Rodriquez 22 and Bohnett 17. The afternoon 2 PM game the young Jazz handled the Nuggets 58 to 32. Blakley led the way for the Jazz with 22 points and Ryan had 18 for the Nuggets. Game 6 the Suns would face the Jazz. The Jazz Blakley led all scorers with 19 and Stephen Binning had 14 in a losing effort for the Sun. Jazz 61 Suns 26. The last game on Saturday the Nuggets faced the Bay Cruisers. The Cruisers started out strong and never looked back for a 45 to 26 victory. James Bohnett had 25 for BORP and Ryan had 18 for Denver.
Early Sunday morning play had Denver and Utah facing off. The game was close through out with the Jazz pulling away in the final minutes for a 49 to 40 victory. Blakley led the Jazz with 29 and Lindsay adding 10. Ryan had 21for the Nuggets. Sundays second game the Suns lost to the BORP Bay Cruisers 54 to 18. BORP was led by Rodriquez with 26 and Rachael Kroener had 10 for the Suns.
The last game Sunday was for the Championship between the Jazz and Bay Cruisers. This was the best game of the tournament as neither team could establish any kind of led. The score changed by the minute with the score tied at the end of regulation play. Five minutes were added to the clock and into overtime play continued. After four minutes and the score still tied it was apparent who had the ball last would win. This game did come down to the last seconds with the Jazz sinking the last basket for a 60 to 58 Championship win. The Champion Jazz was led in scoring by Tournament MVP Sam Blakley with 17. Second place BORP was led by James Bohnett with 36 points. Denver would finish in third place. The Junior Suns Chandler Goetz was voted the tournament Sportsmanship Award.
The Banner Wheelchair Suns would like to thank Arizona Disabled Sports and the Arizona Spinal Cord Injury Association for their efforts to make this a truly great experience for all involved. Many of these players will one day receive college wheelchair basketball scholarships. This is possible because of tournaments like this to display and build these young athletes skills. THANK YOU!
