It was a tremendous week of basketball in the Bluegrass State for the Lady Brad Beal Elite 17U basketball team.
The Lady BBE team is made up of a group of talented players from St. Louis, the metro east area and Southern Illinois.
Lady BBE ventured to Louisville, Kentucky, to participate in the prestigious Run 4 the Roses Showcase, which is the nation’s biggest girls’ grassroots summer basketball tournament. The trip was successful as they came home with a pair of championship trophies for their efforts.
In Session No. 1, Lady BBE won the Gold Bracket, Blue Division title with a thrilling 43-41 victory over Michigan Drive Premier on Saturday, July 8. They came back for the second session last Tuesday and rolled to the Platinum Division championship in the high level Elite 40 Division. They defeated Heart of Illinois National 54-49 in the finals to win their second championship game in a three-day period.
After dropping its first game of the showcase, Lady BBE went on to win nine consecutive games en route to its double-championship.
“It’s a great feeling to come here and win two championships,” said head coach Ken Robinson. “The kids are starting to buy into the system and they did a great job.”
The Lady BBE team is made up of a group of talented players from St. Louis, the metro east area and Southern Illinois. The two players that really stood out throughout the week were 5’8” senior guard Chantrel “Tutu” Clayton of Vashon and 6’2” forward Amiah Hargrove of Christopher, IL. The Nebraska commit is the daughter of former St. Louis Rams player Anthony Hargrove.
Hargrove and Clayton were a formidable inside-outside combination throughout the tournament. Hargrove made the Blue Division All-Tournament Team in Session I. She had a pair of games in which she scored more than 30 points.
Clayton, who helped lead Vashon to the Class 4 state championship in March, was sensational throughout the entire week. She hit the game-winning shot in the closing seconds of the championship game victory over Michigan Drive Premier. Clayton came back in Session 2 with one sparkling performance after another, which included a game-high 24 points in the championship game win over Heart of Illinois.
The rest of the squad features an array of talented forwards up front combined with excellent guards and wing players. There is good size up front with 6’2” Ai’Naya Williams of Cardinal Ritter, 6’3” senior Dathy Butuna of Cardinal Ritter and 6’3” senior Emilee Travnicek of Belleville Althoff.
The guard play alongside Clayton was also very solid with 5’8” senior Zoe Newland of Pattonville, 5’6” senior Alana Krause of Okawville (IL), 5’10” senior Willow Gideon of Rolla, 5’7” senior Mya Mann of Ladue and 5’7” Rayvn Thomas of Ladue.
