Frightfully Entertaining Wheelchair Basketball Games at Turnstone
The story of the weekend was the number of nail-biter games that kept everyone on the edge of their seats at Turnstone's annual Fright in the Fort Wheelchair Basketball Tournament October 29-30. Teams traveled from California, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Ohio for this early-season event.
RHI/Turnstone led the way by going 3-0 to earn a spot in the championship. The journey to this final match wasn't easy. Turnstone defeated Mad City Badgers from Madison, WI with an overtime buzzer-beater 3-point basket from Kaiden Schaf who earned a spot on the 1st Team All-Tournament. After this tough loss, the Badgers ended up winning their way back in the finals by defeating Motor City Wheelz from southeast Michigan area by 12 points and a 2-point victory over state rivals WASA Marquette Bucks. WASA had the duo 1st Team All-Tournament Team selections of Gianni Quintero and Catherine Reddin.
The rematch between the Badgers and Turnstone for the Championship didn't disappoint. The teams traded baskets throughout with the score being tied 19-19 at half-time. The difference came down to 1 point as Tournament Male MVP, Simeon Noah earned a shooting foul with 2 seconds left in the game. The first free throw rimmed out but Noah who led the team with 13 points sank his 2nd shot to clinch the victory to go 4-1 this weekend.
The Rancho Halos from California had the toughest draw as they had a tight 7-point loss to the Badgers and a 10 and 13-point loss to Turnstone. In the Quarterfinals, Rancho was led by Tournament Female MVP, Arelle Middleton, who had 20 of the 44 points for Rancho in this match versus the scrappy ASPO Cavaliers from Ohio. At half-time Rancho was up by 10 points but the Cavs used their signature full-court press to create numerous turnovers to keep the game within a few possessions. With the balanced attack of Alessandro Pintor adding 12 points, Rancho scratched out a 5-point victory.
The Cavs were led by Ryan Zolnier, 2nd Team All-Tournament, and Gabe Davis who earned the sportsmanship award for his bright personality on and off the court. Davis and many others from the Cavs were on the honorable mention list of making the All-Tournament Team for having 3 of their 4 games decided by 5 points or less. Along with the 5-point loss to Rancho, the Cavs also came up shy versus WASA by 5 points. Motor City also had quite the battle with the Cavs in their best match of the weekend. The Cavs had a 5-point lead at half-time but Motor City came on strong in the 2nd half to only lose by 4 points.
Sportsmanship: Gabe Davis, ASPO Cavaliers
Male MVP: Simeon Noah, Mad City Badgers
Female MVP: Arelle Middleton, Rancho Halos
All-Tournament - 1st Team
Kaiden Schaf, RHI Turnstone
Gianni Quintero, WASA Marquette Eagles
Catherine Reddin, WASA Marquette Eagles
Dodge Shore, Mad City Badgers
Alessandro Pintor, Rancho Halos
All-Tournament - 2nd Team
Ryan Zolnier, ASPO Cavaliers
Cole Connelley, RHI Turnstone
Ashlyn Olnick, RHI Turnstone
Peyton Domzalski, Motor City Wheelz
Davion Thomas, Motor City Wheelz
Quick Links: Full standings from all the Varsity division teams and watch reply of the games from this weekend and other tournaments hosted at Turnstone.