Bobcats win title, Vikings finish second

Published 1:47 pm Tuesday, July 23, 2013

The Brandywine girls basketball team won the AYBT Division IV national title this past weekend in Fort Wayne, Ind. (Leader photo/LORI ZIMMERMAN)

The Brandywine girls basketball team won the AYBT Division IV national title this past weekend in Fort Wayne, Ind. (Leader photo/LORI ZIMMERMAN)

FORT WAYNE, Ind. — Local high school summer basketball seasons came to an end this past weekend with the completion of the AYBT Nationals tournament held in Fort Wayne.

Many local high school varsity teams were in action during this event that features four different levels of both girls and boys high school and travel teams. Teams compete in six pool games in preparation of the single-elimination tournament held on Saturday.

Each team was then seeded based on its performance and ability level. Teams were ranked as either highly skilled, good or average based on the determination of other coaches in attendance in each age division.

Division I was made up of highly skilled teams, Division II and III were made up of the good teams and Division IV consisted of the average teams as voted on by each coach.

The Brandywine girls varsity team captured the Division IV national championship.

Brandywine went 4-2 in pool play and received a first-round bye in the single elimination tournament.

Brandywine defeated Ohio Lady Nights 38-32 and Cedar Springs out of Michigan 47-36 to claim the title.

The Niles varsity team wrapped up a successful summer season by going 8-1 and finishing as the Division III runner-up.

Niles went 6-0 in pool play and was voted to move up to the Division III level based on its pool play performance. Niles had wins over West Michigan Drive, Motor City Magic, Kalamazoo Storm, DSO Sports, LBA JV and the Lady Musketeers in pool play.

It was awarded a bye in the first round of tournament play and then pulled out an overtime win over Kalamazoo Storm and a 12-point win over Otsego (only high school team they played) before losing 48-34 to travel team LBA from Lafayette, Ind.

Niles finished the summer with a 15-2 record in the high school league at Coloma (held earlier in June) with wins over Brandywine, St. Joe, Michigan Lutheran, Berrien Springs, Coloma, Lake Michigan Catholic, Dowagiac and Watervliet.

The Edwardsburg boys varsity took second place in its division as it lost 54-52 in the title game.

No further results were available.

The Niles girls basketball team finished second in Division III following a 48-34 loss to LBA from Lafayette, Ind. (Leader photo/LORI ZIMMERMAN)

The Niles girls basketball team finished second in Division III following a 48-34 loss to LBA from Lafayette, Ind. (Leader photo/LORI ZIMMERMAN)