4th Grade Boys Display their championship medals L to R Front Row: Kevin McNiff, Eddie Calderon, Michael Handal, Liam Muldoon L to R Back Row: Brendan McGuire, Andrew DeSantis, Coach Tom Granville, Nkosi Cooper, Matthew Granville, Patrick McGoldrick, Jacob Buchbinder. Missing from photo Thomas Theodorou. 4th Grade Boys Lightning Hoops team wins AAU National Qualifier Tournament The 4th grade boys, Lightning Granville, beat a strong New York City based Fast Break team 41-40 to earn a berth in the AAU National tournament. This event started on Friday May 14th with pool play from May 14th thru May 16th and ended with the championship game on Memorial Day Monday May 31st. This Memorial Day game capped off strong weekend of basketball as the team not only won the U10 qualifying championship game but also captured the U10 Long Island Lightning Boys Invitational crown, an event that took place on Friday and Saturday of Memorial Day weekend. The 4th grade squad was a force to be reckoned with during the pool play format of the National Qualifying event as the boys beat a Queens based New York Vipers squad 40-32, a Lightning Rottkamp team 50-32 points and a Baldwin Blue Devils contingency by 55-36. The 3-0 pool play record vaulted the Lightning Granville squad to a May 16th semi-final game vs the Westchester Hawks. The Westchester Hawks game was a tightly contested game throughout as both teams full court pressed the entire game while ramping up the defensive intensity. Eventually, the Lightning 4th graders wore down their opponent and prevailed in a double overtime classic 59-54 setting up a Memorial Day showdown with the Fast Break Team.

The Lightning Granville squad once again employed a full court press the entire game while playing suffocating defense. These U10 Hoopsters moved the ball extremely well and made 14 free throws many of them at crucial points in the contest in an effort to keep the narrow leads the team had enjoyed throughout the game. Andrew DeSantis led the way with aggressive moves to the basket while Patrick McGoldrick pounded the boards. Matthew Granville’s ability to dribble thru double teams helped break the press while creating lay up scoring opportunities for Nkosi Cooper. Michael Handal contributed tenacious defense while chasing players down from behind creating steals and transition baskets for Eddie Calderon, who hit both his lay ups and 3 point shots in transition. Brendan McGuire’s shooting touch helped the team but his 7 blocked shots intimidated our opponent even more while Jacob Buchbinder controlled the paint inside. Both Liam Muldoon and Kevin McNiff played tough nosed defense thwarting what appeared to be easy fast break lay up opportunities for the opposition. The multiple defenses and set plays drawn up by Coach Tom Granville certainly keep the Fast Break Team on their heels enabling the Lightning Granville 4th graders to get open looks both inside and outside the paint. Hopefully this weekend of hoops will be long remembered, 2 championships in one weekend, championship trophies, championship medals and 5 games of basketball in 4 days. As the ad says priceless! The coaches and parents are very proud of these fine young men. Next up, the June 5-June 6th Tom Dowd tournament in Monroe, NY to end the spring AAU season.