TEAM NIKOS 4th GRADE TEAM WINS AAU NATIONAL BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

Team Nikos Takes Home AAU Championship 3rd Year in a Row, as South Orange County’s 4th Graders Advance to the National Spotlight

Mater Dei High School, Santa Ana, CA, June 28, 2015 – Team Nikos’ 10U basketball team, comprised of 9 South Orange County 4th graders won the AAU Division III National Championships. Invitations to the championship tournament were based on the win-loss record for all qualifying West Coast AAU teams. This win marks the third straight AAU title for Team Nikos Basketball Academy.

Team Nikos advanced three of its flagship teams to the National Championships- 10U, 11U and 12U. Both the 11U and 12U teams took 2nd place in their respective divisions. There were 49 teams competing overall for titles over the weekend. The 10U Team Nikos team beat Team Dynasty from Oregon, SGV from the San Gabriel Valley and the Dominators from Rancho Cucamonga to advance to the championship game.

Team Nikos held a solid lead throughout the first half of the championship game, but Team Dynasty took over the lead in the third quarter. The two teams battled back and forth in the fourth quarter with Nikos trailing by 2 points and 8 seconds left in the game. Nikos’ Bryce Ford made a coast to coast layup that tied the score and sent the game into overtime. With 18 seconds left on the clock in overtime and the Dynasty up again by one point, Nikos’ center Zach Davidson had a clutch steal against Team Dynasty and fed the ball to shooter, Bryce Ford, who executed another perfect layup for the 2 points to clinch the victory for Nikos. The final score was 51-50.

Team Nikos 4th grade team members are Gage Burnett (Ladera Ranch), Bryce Ford (Laguna Beach), Jackson Gray (Coto De Caza), Niko Lopez (Ladera Ranch), Trey Tolmaire (Trabuco Canyon), Blake Gray (Coto De Caza), Blake Sullivan (Laguna Beach) , Zach Davidson (Mission Viejo ), and Ethan Rhee (San Clemente). Coaches Jameel Mahmud and Prince Swafford

Team Nikos Basketball Academy is the premiere basketball program in South Orange County, training athletes ages 4 to 18.