Daily Oklahoma City Tournament Updates from Coach Ritchey Friday (3.14.08) Below is a summary of Friday's games from Coach Ritchey. Today was not a good day for the Ambassador teams in Ok City. All teams lost their games. The 12 Under, 14 Under and 18U girls along with the boys. (Coaches Newman and Shraeder will give their accounts later.) It was a disappointing end to the 16U boys run for a 4A championship. We lost to the Landmark Eagles 42-36. The boys fought hard and led throughout the game till the very end when things went awry. Micah Bailey led all scorers with 11 points and others scoring were Denham Hall 10, Will Sammons 9, Caleb Batchelor 2, Tyler Card 2, Patrick Clow 2, and Timothy Diamond and Cameron Hall did not score. For the tournament we went 3-2 with the two losses being very close, one on a buzzer beater and today's with another close score. This has been a difficult final few weeks both in preparation for and participation in the national tournament. The physical structure of our team was changed completely when we lost Sakari Clow and Richard Fagan to season ending injuries. We then decided to play in 16U instead of 18U and that proved to be a good decision helping us to be competitive and bringing us close to a championship. As a coach I must say that I am extremely proud of these boys and their accomplishments. We wish Sak and Richard could have played as I know they do too. (Other players played throughout the season but decided not to attend the national tournament.) A second place finish in the Nashville Regional and a second place in 16U-4A in the National Homeschool Basketball Tournament. I believe we can all see beyond the adversity and know that God has blessed and will continue to if we simply trust Him. (Another thing, all the boys will come back for another season next year.) Thanks, what a blessing this year has been, Coach Larry Ritchey (I will be traveling home tomorrow. See you all at the banquet.) Thursday (3.13.08) Below is a summary of Thursday's games from Coach Ritchey, Coach Shrader and Coach Newman The 12U girls lost their game today and will play tomorrow @ 11:00. The boys won their game today 51-29 against AAHE-White while playing probably their best yet with well balanced scoring distribution. The free throw line was also very good to us as we hit 17-22 with Caleb Batchelor getting all his points from the free throw line shooting 10 for 10. The balanced scoring was Will Sammons 12, Denham Hall 12, Tyler Card 11, Caleb Batchelor 10, Patrick Clow 4, Micah Bailey 2, and Cameron Hall played but did not score. Timothy Diamond did not play due to sickness. Tomorrow we play the Landmark Eagles @ 2:50 for the 16U-4A division championship. The boys are looking forward to tomorrow and will give their best effort in this season ending championship game. Coach Ritchey From Coach Shrader: For the Varsity Girls, we didn't have a game on Wednesday but had excellent representation for our program. Both Lydia Joiner and Elizabeth Shrader were selected as an All American for the program. As such, they were able to compete for one quarter in a game with the other All Americans. Both did extremely well in their games and they recieved really nice trophies. Estella Shrader competed in the 3-point shooting contest against 68 other girls and made the finals (Top 6) which competed in our Showcase Event. She finished in third place. Tomorrow we resume playing basketball games and the girls are ready to play. From Coach Tonya Newman: The Middleschool girls clinched a spot in Division 6A Tuesday morning after victories both Tuesday and Wednesday with good teamwork and significant contributions by all players. Among those contributions were Bekkah Tarpley's first points of the season and a double/double by Brittney Tatum. Thursday's game, beginning the march to a possible championship, was a tough one with a nailbitting conclusion as Emily Card clinched her 11 point game and the victory by adding two successful freethrows and a steal on the inbounds pass with 5.6 seconds to go in the game. Excellent point play was complimented by key rebounding from Brittney Tatum and Nicole Hedger. Seven points by Laura Newman, including 1-3point basket, freethrows and a field goal rounded out the team victory. Wednesday (3.12.08) Below is a summary of Wednesday's games from Coach Ritchey and Coach Shrader. Ambassador Teams went 2 for 3 today with the Varsity girls having the day off. The boys won 37-21 over Kansas City Lions. The guys were led by Denham Hall with 11 points, Will Sammons 9, Tyler Card 6, Caleb Batchelor 4, Cameron Hall 3, and Micah Bailey and Patrick Clow both with 2. Timothy Diamond played but did not score. The Ambassadors led throughout the first half but pulled away with a strong 3rd quarter. Tomorrow's game has us playing @ 4:00 against the AAHE/CHEF Arrows winner. 12 under girls lost 22-11 to BVCHEA Mustangs and tomorrow will play @ 12:00 against the USA Red. 14 under girls won in their first 6A game 42-26 against the FHE Hawks and tomorrow will play @ 9:00 against the Lubbock Warriors. Our 14 under girls continue to carry the Ambassador flag at the highest level. Varsity girls did not play today but will play tomorrow @ 4:00 against the Joplin Lions. (Unfortunately that is the same time as the boys game so our fans will be split in two locations.) Tonight, all teams attended the All American Program at the Sawyer Center on the campus of Southern Nazarene University. Lydia Joiner and Elizabeth Shrader played in the lady's All American game and Sakari Clow was honored as All American for the boys but could not play in the game due to his injury. Estella Shraeder participated in the 3pt shooting contest and placed third. Tomorrow will be a busy day with all teams playing starting at 9:00 am and going till 5:00 pm CST. If you read these updates please pray for continued safety and blessings on our group. Coach Ritchey Tuesday (3.11.08) Below is a summary of Tuesday's games from Coach Ritchey and Coach Schraeder. Tuesday's games brought a mixed bag of results. Boys won, varsity girls lost, 14U girls won, and 12U girls lost. The boys won their game against NEACHE 64-56. All players contributed to the success of the team and were led by Will Sammons 23 pts. and Denham Hall's 16. Denham and Will combined to hit 7 of 8 free throws in the fourth quarter to help put the game away. Other scoring was Timothy Diamond 7, Caleb Batchelor 2, Cameron Hall 4, Tyler Card 8, and Patrick Clow 4. (Rick our running game really paid off well today. Can you believe we scored 64 points without Sak and Richard.) Caleb and Cameron did an excellent job from the point position. Our boys will begin 4A bracket play tomorrow against KC East @ 5:10 CST. Varsity girls-See Coach Shraeder's report below. 14U girls won 45-25 against Tulsa Noah-Moody and will play tomorrow Against the FHE Hawks @ 12:30. If they win they will advance to the top 6A bracket and if they lose they will advance to the 5A bracket. 12U girls lost 29-10 to the Illinois Crusaders and will play the BVCHEA Mustangs tomorrow @ 12:00. Coach Ritchey Coach Shraeder's Girls Varsity 2nd Game report: The Varsity Girls started out the second game by missing alot of shots and falling behind to South Central Wisconsin Knights 24 to 8 in the first quarter and part of the second. However, we never gave up, changed our defense to a full court press and worked our way back into the game. The fouls seemed to be stacking up against us -- we were assessed 18 fouls to their 4 in the second half -- and we began to lose players by fouling out. We held them to 4 goals in the second half, but they scored 14 points off free throws. The girls played their hearts out and we had one last chance to win as Katelyn Bethmann's shot rimmed out as the game ended. The final score was South Central Knights 53 -- Knoxville Ambassadors 52. The leading scorer was Lydia Joiner with 13 points and Elizabeth Shrader led in rebounds with 8 boards. We are now in the 2A Class and will start tournament play on Thursday. Coach Shrader Monday (3.10.08) Below is a summary of Monday's games from Coach Ritchey. Here are the boys results from today. All I know from the girls is that they lost by 7 to Cincinnati Landmark Eagles and will play tomorrow @ 5:10 CST. Our 16U boys lost a tough game on a buzzer beater shot to Dallas Thunder. We fought back from a 4th quarter, 12 pt. deficit to tie it with 13 seconds to go on two pressure free throws by Denham Hall. We were led by Will Sammons with 18 pts., Caleb Batchelor-8, Denham Hall-7, Cameron Hall-1, Tyler Card-4, Micah Bailey-3, Patrick Clow and Timothy Diamond played but did not score. We will play tomorrow at 4:00 CST against the NEACHE Eagles, losers to the Memphis Eagles. Also, Sakari Clow, Lydia Joiner, and Elizabeth Schraeder were nominated and voted to the All-American teams and will be part of an all star event on Wednesday. I will be coaching one of the boy's teams in the All-American game. If I get anything from Stan I will send it later. Thanks, Coach Ritchey |