BN Roundup: Ballers Nation opens May with strong showings

Court23’s Cinco de Mayo Hoop Fest and PrimeTime’s Best of Texas: Dallas events played host to May’s opening tournaments for Ballers Nation Basketball, featuring a packed nine-team spread.
“It was a war for the coaches as well as the players. The staff was prepared for weekends like this, going back to the opening tournament. But everyone rose to the challenge, and the results showed for themselves,” said CEO and head coach Brian Crawford.
Starting in Denton, the high school girls faced arguably the toughest road to a Sunday afternoon championship game. After starting 1-1 in pool play, they had to play three games on Sunday.
Head coach Elijah Coppock expressed pride in his team: “A lot of these girls have played together for a number of years, and I feel like that gave us the edge we needed with a packed schedule. Many teams would fold having to play five games in three days, but these ladies stood firm, and it paid off for them.”
A 55-44 victory followed a dominant Sunday morning win. Their final game ended in a close seven-point loss in the championship, resulting in a second-place finish.
The winning ways continued up the President George Bush Turnpike in Plano, as five Ballers Nation teams combined for a 13-5 record. Among the many highlights were perfect 4-0 records and championship victories by the 10th-grade and sixth-grade boys.
The 10th-grade team defeated a Lobos squad that beat them in the season-opening tournament, earning a 69-51 win to take home the gold. The sixth-grade boys’ offense powered their title run, scoring more than 50 points in three of their four games, including two games that ended with a 57-51 final score.
The offensive consistency carried over to the to the ninth-grade boys as well. A 63 point per game margin was the highest in their pool, matched with a stellar defense that only allowed 26 points per contest. That combo would culminate in a close one-possession loss in the tournament championship 67-64 against a fundamental Midland Mayhem team to cap off their 3-1 weekend.
Next on the docket for Ballers Nation is a Puma PRO16 session in Memphis. Fans can follow both the 16U and 17U clubs by downloading the Puma NXTPRO mobile app for Apple and Android devices.