Tournaments
USSSA State Tournament
Mar 16th
The KC Truth Black won the 7th Grade Division I Championship at the USSSA Kansas State Tournament.
The Truth faced Victor Williams’ Kansas City 76ers in the championship game, and won by a healthy margin.
The 76ers had played their semifinal game immediately prior to playing the considerably well-rested Truth Black in the championship game. The Truth had handily won their semifinal game earlier in the day. And the 76ers had faced a battle royale against the MoKan 7th grade Elite in their semifinal. In fact, reporters at the tournament all noted that the semifinal game between the KC 76ers and the MoKan 7th grade elite was the most competitive and physical game in Division I.
The 76ers, after a very short break to stretch and dehydrate, got right back on the floor for their championship game against the Truth. Fatigue had set in, though, and the 76ers were prey to errant shooting, which ultimately did them in.
Congratulations to the KC Truth Black on their championship. And congratulations to Victor Williams’ KC 76ers for their gritty performance in back-to-back games.
KC Truth Reach the Championship of the KC Storm Fall Classic
Nov 24th
The KC Truth Red 7th Grade Make it to the Championship of the 7th Grade Division in the KC Storm Fall Classic
The KC Truth 2015 competed in the 7th Grade division of the KC Storm Fall Classic on November 20-22.
The Truth Red won their pool by beating the MO-KAN Elite 6th Grade and the Spartans 7th Grade. This sent them to the semifinal game against the KC Heat Elite, an experienced and tough team. The Truth struck early against the Heat Elite, jumping out to an early lead on the strength of their developing transition offense. The Truth lead would prove to be insurmountable for the Heat Elite, and resulted in the Truth moving on to the Championship Game of the 7th Grade division.
The Truth Red would face off against the the KC Cowboys in the Championship.
The Cowboys caught The Truth off-balance early, jumping out to an early 16-4 on the strength of their inside game, and led by big man Cody Riley. On their end, the Truth had trouble converting offensively in the early minutes of the game. However, when the Truth got it together on offense, they managed to completely erase the Cowboy lead and take a 2-point lead for themselves, on the strength of balanced scoring. Guard Anthony “Fuzzy” Bonner was not only unstoppable on drives to the basket, but he also racked up assists to teammates DeAngelo Bruster and Gabe Munoz as the Truth gained ground. In addition, big man Jaylen Gill stepped up to the challenge under the basket, going toe-to-toe with Riley.
Thereafter, the game was nip-and-tuck until the final buzzer.
The final seconds of the game provided for a dramatic finish. With the game tied at 38-38, the Cowboys had possession of the ball, and, as the clock wound down to the final five seconds, they turned the ball over. With those five precious seconds left, with his team inbounding the ball on the sideline, Coach Newton drafted the perfect inbounds play. Truth guard Davis took the ball out of bounds and waited patiently as Smith set the perfect screen for teammate Bonner. Bonner, who had provided headaches for the Cowboys in the lane throughout the game, got the ball and drove to basket, virtually unguarded after Smith’s perfect pick. Truth fans felt victory was within grasp. . . and then a whistle blew! A foul was called on the Truth away from the ball! And both teams were over the foul limit, which sent a Cowboy player to the free throw line. Both shots were made, giving the Cowboys a 40-38 lead. Somehow, five seconds remained yet on the clock. And with those five seconds at his disposal, the coach put the ball in Bonner’s hand to break the press, and put Davis and Bruster at the three-point line for the shot. Bonner easily broke the Cowboy press and got the ball to an open Davis. Davis launched the shot, right on target. . . and the ball hit the inside of the rim, and bounced out. Twice, the Truth had come so close to victory, and twice their efforts had been foiled. A hard-fought game was over, and the Truth was left to ponder the fact that their slow start ultimately did them in in the end.
KC Truth Black 2015 Place at the KC Storm Fall Classic
Nov 24th
The KC Truth Black 7th Grade took 3rd Place in the 8th grade division of the KC Storm Fall Classic, held on November 20-22.
The KC Truth Black 2015 competed in the 8th Grade (2014) division of the KC Storm Fall Classic. The Truth were in a three-team pool with the KC Cowboys and the KC Knights 8th Grade. They lost a close game to the Cowboys, 39-36, and then beat the KC Knights by a handy margin. Their 1-1 pool record put The Truth in 2nd place in their pool, and left them unable to compete for the championship, as only the 1st place pool winners could advance to the championship. However, The Truth did play for 3rd Place in the division, against the Gardner-Edgerton Blazers.
The Truth dominated the 3rd place game from the beginning, thanks to their breathtakingly intense defense, and an offense that has been increasing in rhythm and perfecting its execution by the game.
The Truth dominated the offensive game both inside and outside the lane. The Truth owned the inside game on the strength of big men Vince Eskina, Tyrone Gibbs and Brandon Sublette, who outrebounded their opponents and scored at will under the basket. The Truth guards, for their part, showed off spectacular drives on the baseline and into the lane by Anthony “Fuzzy’ Bonner, Drew Lock and Shawntez Scroggins. The Truth also dominated from the three-point line, with a handful of players scoring from long-range, including Eskina, Lock, Bonner, Scroggins, Cartier Dean and DeAngelo “DeLo” Bruster.
Defensively, the Truth frustrated their opponent with an aggressive full-court press, while alternating man-to-man defense with a continuous trapping zone defense in the half-court.
Overall, the KC Truth Black looked like a well-oiled machine.
KC Truth Competes in the Shawnee Mission West Viking Invitational
Nov 18th
The KC Truth Red Make it to the Semi-Final Game in their Division
The KC Truth Red won all three of their pool games in the Viking Invitational, which earned them a trip to the semifinal game against the Mo-Kan Elite 6th grade team. The semi-final turned out to be a hard-fought battle, from which Mo-Kan emerged the winner. And while the Truth did not make it to the championship, they clearly made their mark on the division by reaching the semifinal game.
The KC Truth Black Earn Second Place in their Division
The KC Truth Black won all of their pool games in the Viking Invitational, in very convincing fashion. The Truth then faced the Blue Valley Hawks 8th grade team in the semi-final, and once again posted a solid victory. However, in moving on to the championship game, the Truth would face their toughest competition of the tournament when they played the Mo-Kan Elite 13Under. Both of these 7th grade teams had dominated the 8th grade recreational division, and it was inevitable that they would face each other in the championship.
The Mo-Kan Elite came out offensively strong compared to the Truth in the first half, posting twice as many points the Truth did. By half-time, Mo-Kan was leading 21-10. The Truth had posted no fewer than 40 points in any game prior to this one (and racking up 70 in one), yet their offense was stalling on missed shots, and passed-up shots. And while the formidable Truth defense caused a handy number of Mo-Kan turnovers, the Truth were not converting those turnovers to points.
In the second half, though, the Truth started to go to their offensive strengths, while concerning themselves less with their formal offense. Behind some undefendable drives to the basket by guard Anthony “Fuzzy” Bonner and an increasingly aggressive press, the Truth scored twice as many points in the second half as they did in the first half. And leave it to the Truth to make it interesting until the end. With barely a minute and a half to go, the Truth finally employed their full-court press, causing successive turnovers and ending the second half with an offensive flurry by the Truth on an 8-2 scoring run. However, while the Truth outscored Mo-Kan 19-17 in the second half, they paid the price for their offensive inconsistency. The Mo-Kan played a more consistent game from the beginning, and won the championship, 38-29.
KC Truth 2015 Take Second Place at MAYB Nationals
Nov 1st
The KC Truth 2015 ended their 2008-2009 tournament basketball season on August 6-9, 2009, with a trip to Wichita, Kansas, where they competed in the Mid-America Youth Basketball (MAYB) 2009 National Tournament. They planned for nothing less than winning the championship.
In pool play, on Friday, the Truth chalked up victories against the Kansas Force and the Memphis, Tennesse, Hornets, but dropped a close game to the Colorado Hawks. However, in earning the second place in their pool, the Truth moved into the championship bracket.
On Saturday morning, the Truth faced off against the JBBA Hoops, a familiar Kansas City metro area adversary, in the first round of championship bracket play. The Truth won handily, and moved into the second round of the championship bracket, where they faced the Oklahoma City Spartans, and again posted a solid victory.
Moving closer to the championship, the Truth moved on to the third round of the bracket, where they met up with the Texas Select. Once again, the Truth prevailed in convincing fashion, which led them to the fourth round of pool play, against the Texas Big 12 Eight.
Played at 10PM on Saturday night, the fourth round game would be the fourth game of the day for the Truth, and the third game of the day for the Big 12 Eight, and would determine which team advanced to the semi-final game the following morning. Both teams and their coaches would have to fight through physical and mental exhaustion to prevail.
The game ended up being a contrast in styles. The Truth brought a high-pressure game that featured speedy, aggressive guard play and swarming full- and half-court defenses. The Big 12 Eight focused on a methodical, half-court offense that featured the biggest and strongest player in the tournament down low. Ultimately, the Truth prevailed. Crucial three-point shots by guard Anthony “Fuzzy” Bonner down the stretch, and relentless drives to the basket by guard Dee Wilson, saved the game for the Truth in the waning minutes. The Truth athletes were out of gas, but ready to move on to the semi-final game on Sunday morning.
In the semi-final game, the Truth faced off with the Oklahoma City Wizards, who were undefeated in the tournament up to that point. Given the Wizards’ record in the tournament, and after the nail-biter they played the night before against the Big 12 Eight, the Truth were fully prepared for another tough game in their semi-final match-up.
As it turned out, though, the Truth came out strong and dominated the semi-final game from the beginning. The Truth defense flustered the sharp-shooting Wizard guards, and kept them off balance throughout the game. In turn, the Truth took advantage of multiple fast break opportunities and were very efficient in their half-court offense. The Truth won the game and moved on.
The KC Truth had earned a trip to the MAYB National Championship game, held at Wichita State University, where they would face the Oklahoma Southwest Elite.
In the championship game, the Elite made a statement right away with the aggressive and versatile play of their highly skilled and athletic big man. And, while the game was a battle of two very talented teams, the Elite ended up prevailing over the Truth in the end to win the MAYB Championship.