The Long Island Lightning show off their third-place medals and trophy at the Division I AAU nationals in Springfield, Missouri. Top left to right: Head coach Dennis Nuss (Garden City), Paige Kriftcher (Port Washington), Candice Ellis (Freeport), Julia Kiffel (Garden City), Christina Raiti (Plainview), Brianna Thomas (Baldwin), Darius Faulk (Hempstead), assistant coach John Kiffel (Garden City). Bottom left to right: Kimberly Ryan (Garden City), Lauren Nuss (Garden City), Nicole Scicutella (Massapequa), Caitlin McGuinness (Garden City), Samantha Paladino (Amityville), Halle Majorana (Manhasset). The Long Island Lightning 11-under (6th grade) girls basketball team, coached by Garden City's Dennis Nuss and assistant coach John Kiffel, came within two victories of a national championship and one point from playing in the title game at the Division I AAU Nationals in Springfield, Mo. The Lightning took third place in the nation out of 60-plus teams in the highest ever finish for a Lightning girls team. The Lightning finished ahead of last year's champion and last year's third-place finisher in what turned out to a dream week for the Long Islanders.The team participated in uniform at the Opening Ceremonies at the College of the Ozarks in Branson, Missouri. The team walked into the arena proudly displaying the State of New York flag provided by Senator Kemp Hannon. Each team which participated had to win a state championship or a regional championship in order to qualify.

"The amount of talent at this tournament was amazing," said coach Nuss. "I've never seen teams go on runs like this. In a matter of minutes, one team could score 10 straight points and then the other team would answer with 15 of their own. The game could change on a dime. I was extremely pleased with how the team played all week. They battled against 6-foot 2-inch girls and some of the fastest girls in the country. They never quit, when it would have been easy to do so. The team played hard and unselfish basketball and fought to the very end. I am proud to be part of this, coaching the Long Island Lightning 11U girls team.."

By placing third in the country, the Lightning automatically qualifies for next year's AAU nationals in Rochester, Minnesota, where it will be one of the top seeds.

The Lightning features four girls from Garden City -- Julia Kiffel, Caitlin McGuinness, Lauren Nuss and Kimberly Ryan.

Other members of the team that competed at Nationals are: Candice Ellis (Freeport), Darius Faulk (Hempstead), Paige Kriftcher (Port Washington), Halle Majorana (Manhasset), Samantha Paladino (Amityville), Christina Raiti (Plainview), Nicole Scicutella (Massapequa) and Brianna Thomas (Baldwin).

Here is a recap of the tournament.

Pool Play

Game 1

Long Island Lightning 53, W. New Orleans 48

Playing against an athletic 6-foot-2 center, the Lightning knew this was not going to be an easy game. The Lighting led by three points at halftime after jumping out to a double-digit lead. Darius Faulk scored 24 points, Christina Raiti contributed 15 and Brianna Thomas added 10 points as the Lightning won game one in the nationals. Kimberly Ryan and Paige Kriftcher had a tough assignment guarding a six foot one center throughout the game which limited her offensive game.

Game 2

Long Island Lightning 58, Arkansas Kamikaze 26

The Arkansas state champions were not a match for the Lightning, which jumped out to a 29-11 first-half lead and poured it on in the second half to win by 32, the highest victory margin by any team in the tournament. Brianna Thomas scored a game-high 17 points, while Kimberly Ryan had 11 points for the Lightning. Caitlin McGuiness scores 4 points for the Lightning and Lauren Nuss did a fine job at point guard.

Game 3

Long Island Lightning 53, South Bay Waves 48

Despite winning the first two games in pool play, the Lightning was not assured of advancing to the championship bracket. It needed a victory. The South Bay Waves from the Los Angeles area, which finished fifth in the nation last season, was in a dire need of a win, or go home. With that as a backdrop, this game was the most physical of any game the Lightning played at the nationals. The game was close for most of the way, with Long Island holding the lead throughout.

Brianna Thomas was a force all game. She went to the foul line 19 times and scored 24 points as the Lightning won. Darius Faulk added 10 points, including 8 in the second half as the Lightning held off South Bay to advance in the championship bracket. Kimberly Ryan. and Lauren Nuss were the forces behind a very tough defensive game.

Winner's Bracket

Game 1

Long Island Lightning 49, Indiana Lady Rebels 40

Entering the AAU nationals, coach Dennis Nuss said his greatest hope was to get to the final 16. The Lightning accomplished that by virtue of their win over Indiana. The Lightning led, 27-12, at halftime and were never really threatened in the second half.

Kimberly Ryan scored a season-high 18 points, 12 in the first half, and Brianna Thomas and Darius Faulk added 11 points each as the Lightning improved to 4-0 in the tournament.

Winner's Bracket

Game 2 (Sweet 16 game)

Long Island Lightning 63, Alabama Twisters 61

The Lightning had never faced a team as fast as the Alabama Twisters but for 29 minutes, it didn't seem to matter as Long Island built a 59-45 lead. With a little over 3 minutes to play, the Lightning seemed to be in good shape. But Alabama started scoring, forced a few turnovers, took advantage of two terrible questionable calls by the officials, and suddenyl the game was tied at 59-all. The Lightning had never been in this situation before, having squandered a big lead in so short s time. But the Lightning regained the lead thanks to free throws by Paige Kriftcher and Brianna Thomas and held on to the two-point win. Christina Raiti scored 17 points, Darius Faulk had 15 points and Brianna Thomas chipped in with 13 points as Long Island won again.

Kimberly Ryan (8 points), who played outstanding defense throughout the tournament, did a great job against the quick Alabama guards. Caitlin McGuinness scored 3 points in the win.

Caitlin came through with several strong defensive performances.

Winner's Bracket

Game 3 (Elite 8 game)

Long Island Lightning 61, Tennessee Express 32

The Lightning turned a competitive first half into a route, outscoring Tennessee, 32-12, in the second half to become one of only four unbeaten teams left in the tournament.

Brianna Thomas led the way with 18 points, Christina Raiti scored 13 points, Darius Faulk contributed 9 points and Kimberly Ryan (7 points) and Lauren Nuss (5 points) also had huge games as Long Island improved to 6-0 in the tournament.

Winner's Bracket

Game 4 (Final Four game)

Long Island Lightning 59, South Carolina 76ers 56

Playing against former NBA star Xavier McDanile's daugher, a 5-11 center, the Lightning had trouble defending the tall and talented Lady Sixers, the No. 2 seed in the tournament. For the first time in the tournament the Lightning went into the locker room at halftime trailing.

But thanks to a 36-point second half, the Lightning rallied to win and become one of only two unbeaten teams in the competition. Brianna Thomas scored 21 points, Darius Faulk added 16 points and Christina Raiti 15 points for the Lightning for their seventh straight tournament win. Kimberly Ryan scored 7 points and played tough defense.

Championship Bracket

Game 1

Missouri Valley Eclipse 55, Long Island Lightning 38

With Brianna Thomas on the bench for more than half the game in foul trouble, the Lightning could not keep up with the Eclipse, which played great defense and showed why they were the best team in the tournament. Brianna scored 8 points early in the second half to give the Lightning a fighting chance, but when she fouled out with 9:32 remaining, there was not much chance of a comeback.

Championship Bracket

Game 2

Tennessee Xtreme 81, Long Island Lightning 80

The winner of this game played for the championship; the loser took third place.

The 161 points was the most ever scored in AAU nationals history for the 11-under age group.

The game turned into a track meet as both sides scored seemingly on every possession. The Lightning trailed 43-36 at halftime but scored the first 12 points of the second half to take the lead. At one brief point, the Lightning took a 10-point lead but Tennessee charged back and regained the lead and the contest went down to the final buzzer.

Darius Faulk had 23 points for Long Island, followed by Brianna Thomas with 20, Christina Raiti with 14 and Kimberly Ryan and Lauren Nuss with 9 points each. The Lightning hit 7 three-pointers in the game. Kimberly Ryan had eleven 3-pointers in the tournament which was a team high.