The fourth annual Hoopville Spring Finale is on tap this weekend at the Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center in Boston. June is a month without many team events on the travel circuit as camps and showcases take center stage for a lot of the month, and the Hoopville Spring Finale has filled a void in that respect as one of the best team events in the northeast at that time. Many teams get a chance to prepare for the important events in July in Boston and have done so successfully before going on to success in front of college coaches.
Naturally, the base of teams is in Massachusetts and more specifically Boston, but once again a number of teams from outside the area will be competing as well. Included in that group are three programs from Canada. There will be teams competing in 10-under and 12-under age groups to go along with high school age groups, and right now we take a look at the latter set of teams competing this weekend.
The 14-Under has teams with both the reputations and the resumes to suggest they will contend. The Rhode Island Hawks won this age group last year with a different team, and they are always well-coached and don’t beat themselves no matter what the age. The Boston Spartans will bring a strong group fresh off a trip to the seventh grade AAU nationals last year, while the Fab 5 Elite won the Massachusetts AAU Division II title this spring. The Boston Titans won’t be an easy out, nor will The Stars, who will have plenty of seventh graders. Xtreme Ballarz will bring some talent from around Lynn, while Red Rush and Montreal United will travel from north of the border.
The most wide-open age group might be the 15-Under. The Rhode Island Hawks, who won the 14-Under last year, have two solid entries, but neither will be prohibitive favorites by any stretch of the imagination. The Boston Spartans and QC United from Canada should also contend, while the Greater Boston Lions, Metro Heat and Mass Premier are among the squads with the potential to make a name for themselves here. This should be a fun age group to watch, especially in pool play on Saturday, and no pool winners should be a surprise.
The heavy hitters really come in with the 16-Under. BABC headlines as arguably the premiere team in New England as they get set to compete for a fourth straight AAU National Championship next month. While they should get a run for their money this weekend, BABC teams have never lost a game in the Hoopville Spring Finale. Among those putting that to the test will be Expressions, who also have their 15-Under team playing up in this group, and Mass Rivals, who always seem to have a lot of size. QC United from Canada and two Rhode Island teams, the Hawks and Breakers, will also be formidable. No team in this age group figures to be an easy out by a long shot, and a number of the pool games on Saturday should be well worth the price of admission.
The 17-Under has two clear top candidates to take home the title in Expressions and Mass Rivals. Expressions will come with the team that will compete in the Nike EYBL championship next month, while Mass Rivals has plenty of talent of their own and will look to make a grand entrance into the event as this is their first appearance. Team Boston Elite Black (they will also enter another team), the Boston Spartans and Blackstone Valley Chaos are potential sleepers in this age group, and Red Rush and the S.T.A.R. Athletic Club are in the mix, with the latter bringing a team that has some good students. In addition, BABC will play two games with their juniors early on Saturday morning.
Games tip off at 8 a.m. each day. Stay tuned for coverage of the tournament over the weekend, including tweets of noteworthy games and/or performances.
