MADISON- The 2017-2018 season of youth basketball in Madison has come to a close with the annual season-ending Championship Tournament. The Basketball Association of Madison (BAM) hosts the event as a post-season championship run in all divisions, both boys and girls. Each division plays a winner’s bracket (Gold) and a loser’s bracket (Silver).

18-BOYS: The Mavs completed a perfect season of a 14-0 record but had to stage a second half comeback in the Gold championship finals of the 18-Boys division against the Hawks. Trailing by six at the halfway mark, the Mavs outscored the Hawks 41-22 in the second half to roll to a 66-53 championship victory. Will Gard with 32 points and Tristan Williams added 22 for the winning Cavs. Sam Barnes scored 23 and Cameron Pugh added 20 for the Hawks (10-4). The Mavs were coached by Mike Kridner.

The Kings lost its opening game in the tournament and were faced with elimination the rest of the way and battled to a Silver championship 49-48 double overtime win over the Bulls. Tied at 42-42 in regulation, the two teams could only muster two points each in the first overtime. In the second extra period, Clayton Lin hit a 3-point shot and Riley Hendon added a bucket to give the Kings the victory. Hendon’s father, Riley, was the head coach. The Kings (12-4) entered the tournament a No. 3 seed while the Bulls (10-4) were a No. 1 seed. Hendon topped all scorers with 21 points and Lin added 15. For the Bulls, Garrison Brazeal had 18 and Peyton Reed had 17.

14-BOYS: The Heat posted an undefeated regular season, but were upset by the Sixers in the opening game for a fierce start of a wild ride through the 14 Boys division, but it was the second seeded Hawks who came out the victor with a 38-29 win over the Thunder in the Gold championship game. The Thunder (10-3), a top seed out of the Western Division of the age group, scored just two points in the second quarter while the Hawks (11-3) outscored their opponent 21-17 in the second half for the victory. Hawks’ head coach Scott Cameron had Garrison Brazeal top all players with 14 points while Romeo Grant had 7. Two players, Jake Gaertner and Boone Ramsey, each scored seven points each for the runner-up Thunder.

The top seeded Heat made their way to the finals of the Silver bracket title game only to lose to the fourth seeded Sixers 43-38. The Sixers (10-4) posted a 30-18 scoring advantage in the second half for the victory and were led in scoring by Ryan Langston (15) and Grayson Shankelton (12). Jeremy Lawson was the Sixers’ head coach. For the Heat (12-2), Dylan Kalman scored 15 and Chase Hicks added 12.

12-BOYS: The age division with the most teams, 17, came down to the No. 2 seed Heat and No. 1 seed Thunder in the title game. The Heat (11-3) opened an early 16-4 first quarter lead and hung on for a 37-31 victory. Chandler Vaughn topped the Heat with 15 points while Maxwell Mentlow added 12 with Brian Vaughn the head coach. For the runner-up Thunder (11-3), Jared Smid scored 16 points to lead all players.

The Pelicans had an incredible season winning just two games during the regular season and lost its opening contest in the post-season tournament before posting five consecutive victories including a 23-20 win over the Magic in the Silver finals. Head coach Justin Tarr saw a remarkable run through the Silver bracket for the Pelicans (7-9). In the title game, the Magic (7-8) went scoreless in the second quarter for the difference in the contest and were led in scoring by Andrew Miller (9). For the Pelicans, they were topped by 14 points of Kestin Bell.

12-GIRLS: The second seeded Storm came on like a raging storm to defeat the No. 1 seed Fever in the title battle. Outscoring the Fever 22-7 in the second half, the Storm (8-4) rolled to a 28-14 victory behind 14 points by Keri Morris and 10 points by Sydney Plant. Jessie McAllister was the Storm’s head coach. Two players handled the scoring for the runner-up Fever (10-2) as Rachel Mecklenburg had 10 and Skylar Edstrom had 4.

In the four-team division Silver title game, the Sky (6-6) with head coach Matt Brown won by forfeit over the Sparks (0-12).

10-BOYS: The No. 2 seed Heat upset top seeded and undefeated Sixers in the semi-finals and cruised to a 27-10 win over the Spurs in the championship game to finish the season with an overall 13-1 record. Opening a 12-6 lead at intermission, the Heat posted a 15-4 scoring advantage over the runner-up Spurs (9-5) in the second half to seal the victory. Head coach Mark Drake’s squad was led by Landen Hegwood’s 13 points. Chase Goodwin scored 4 points lead the Spurs.

The No. 1 seed Sixers rallied through the Silver bracket and posted a tough 41-38 victory over the Lakers. Head coach Chad Martin saw his team’s small lead evaporate through the contest only to hang on for the three-point win. The Sixers (14-1) were led by Sam Jackson (15) and David Handel (11). The Lakers (9-6) had Harrison Lockett score 23 to lead all scorers and teammate Ethan Whorton add 12.

10-GIRLS: The Storm showed it deserved to be the top seed with a convincing 23-4 win over the Fever in the division championship game. The Storm’s defense swarmed the Fever (9-3) while Jada Bates (9) and Kamari Coleman (6) led the offensive spark needed for the victory as head coach John Lawrence saw his squad post an 11-1 record on the season. Autumn Sales was the lone scorer for the runner-up Fever.

In the struggle for the Silver championship, the Sky led the Sparks scoreless for quarters two through four to post a 10-2 victory. Head coach Kaleb Robinson’s Sky (3-9) were led by Sophin Johnson’s six points. The Sparks (1-11) had one player score a bucket as Anna Claire Lyons scored two points.

8-BOYS- After being one of five undefeated teams in the BAM regular season schedule, the Lakers rolled to the post-season championship and a perfect 12-0 record. The Lakers posted a 37-20 win over the Grizzlies (10-3) behind the scoring rampage of Shaun Mitchell who scored 22 points to lead all scorers. Noah DeYoung (8) and Reese Lockett (7) completed the scoring for the victors. Drew Holder (9) was top scorer for the Grizzlies while Louis Johnson added 7.

The Silver was won by the Thunder (7-7) with a convincing 31-14 victory over the Spurs. Miles Mitchell top all players in scoring with 18 to lead the Thunder. Tahl Phillips led the Spurs (8-6) with 10 points.

8-GIRLS: The Sky continued its move through the 8-Girls division with two wins during the post-season play to post an 11-1 overall record and defeating the Fever 8-3 in the championship game. Head coach John Tillery’s squad had two players score four points each in Ava Tillery and Anne Schager doing the honors. The Fever (8-4) were led by Nirvana Rajbhanoari who scored two points and Leah Brown added one.

In the matchup for the Silver title, the Storm, coached by Brian Jones, looked to one player who scored all of their points in a 6-2 victory over the Sparks. Jasmyne Rochelle popped in two field goals and added two free throws for the Storm (4-9), which went into the post-season seeded fifth. The fourth seeded Sparks (2-10) saw Faith McKay make their lone bucket in the game.

7-BOYS: The Lakers coached by Risher, capped off a perfect 12-0 season by winning the Gold division 19-9 over the Kings (9-4). A two-point lead after the first quarter was never relinquished by the Lakers with Liam Anderson leading the way with seven points and Gabriel Pierce with six. The Kings were led in scoring by Blake Randall with six.

In the Silver title game, a fourth quarter standoff gave the Cavs (9-5) a close 22-18 victory over the Thunder (10-4). With the game tied after three quarters, Jacob Spilar scored six of his game high 14 points in the fourth quarter to propel the Cavs to victory, coached by Ryan Sunderman. Carter Henderson topped the Thunder with 10 points.