Central Ohio Basketball Classic Champs!

For the second consecutive weekend Lake Erie Elite came away with a 1st place trophy, this time it was in Columbus, Ohio, in the Central Ohio Basketball Classic. Lake Erie Elite proved to be on top of their game over the weekend by outscoring their 6 opponents (320-199) and the closest came during the Championship game against City Wide which was 9 points. This was one of the first weekends that all 10 players for Lake Erie Elite played in every game during the course of the weekend.


Lake Erie Elite opened up pool play with a 61-18 win against Urbana AAU, Cody Thompson led the way with 11pts, follwed by Nic Williams with 10pts. All 10 players found the scoring column for Lake Erie. In the 2nd pool play game, Lake Erie faced Buckeye Nation-Black and won in blowout fashion 49-20. Nic Williams was the lone player in double figures with 11pts.


On Sunday, Lake Erie opened up the Championship Bracket with a 1st round win against Boys-to-Men 48-34, Nic Williams scored a team-high 11pts. In the quarterfinals, Lake Erie faced Central Ohio AAU, who won by 40 in their opening round game, Lake Erie came out strong and had a terrific first half on their way to a 59-46 win. Derek Gray contributed 13pts. The semi-final game was against Buckeye Nation-Red at Weaver Middle School. The first-half saw neither team get anything going on the offensive end but that was because of the solid defense by both squads, the score at halftime was 16-13 in favor of Buckeye Nation. Lake Erie Elite came out strong in the second-half led by Denarius Harris and clutch 3-pointers by Derek Gray down the stretch. Harris, who scored all of his team-high 14 points in the second-half, dominated on both ends of the floor and controlled the glass for Lake Erie who won the game going away 44-31.


In the Championship Game on Hilliard Davidson High School's Main Gym Floor, Lake Erie met up with City Wide. Lake Erie played City Wide in the semi-finals during the opening tournament of the year in Columbus; Lake Erie lost that game by 10. In the first half of the title game, Lake Erie was having trouble containing City Wide's PG allowing him to get to the middle of the key and create for him and his teammates. Nic Williams kept Lake Erie in the game with 10pts in the half but still Lake Erie was down 28-23 at intermission. Early in the second-half, Lake Erie again was having trouble containing City Wide's PG and kept it close until a quick 7-0 run by City Wide found City Wide winning 35-26 with around 9 minutes to play in the game. From that point on Denarius Harris looked for his offense and took the defensive task of guarding City Wide's PG. Lake Erie battled back and was down 2 before Harris converted on two straight 3-pointers and Lake Erie never looked back and came away with a 59-50 win becoming Central Ohio Classic Champs. Harris and Williams both scored 18pts in the finals.

Lake Erie will finish up their spring schedule with the Cedar Point Extravaganza held in Sandusky, Ohio, this coming weekend.

Berea End of Spring Classic Champs!

Over the weekend in Berea, Lake Erie Elite captured their first championship trophy of the spring season with their win in the End of the Spring Classic. After an opening game lost to COSA in pool play, Lake Erie Elite rattled off 3 consecutive victories over SMAC Attack, The Other Guys, and SMAC-Barnes to get into the Championship game. In the Championship game, Lake Erie Elite met up with COSA again but this time prevailing 54-43. Three players scored in double degits for Lake Erie Elite, Nic Williams (#31) had a game-high 18, Derek Gray (#6) chipped in with 15, and Denarius Harris (#23) had 12. Lake Erie Elite finished the weekend with a 4-1 record and next week will be in the Central Ohio Basketball Classic in Hilliard, Ohio.

2011 Bill Hensley Memorial Run-n-Slam Classic

After a week off, Lake Erie Elite will be back in action at the 2011 Bill Hensley Memorial Run-n-Slam Classic in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The sophomore-to-be division has 64 of the top teams in the midwest playing in front of many scouting services across the country. In 2010, there was over 90 national scouting personnel there watching players from various teams. Lake Erie Elite will open play on Friday night against NW Ohio, then on Saturday take on two very good teams in the Iowa Barnstormers and Milwaukee Running Rebels. The top 2 teams from each pool will advance to the Gold Bracket, while the bottom 2 from each pool get sent to the silver bracket. After a fantastic weekend going 3-1 and advancing to the sweet 16 a few weeks ago at the King James Classic, Lake Erie Elite eyes for another opportunity to showcase their talents against some elite competition.

Pool Play Games:

Friday May 6, 2011
Lake Erie Elite vs. NW Ohio
7:30p.m at South Side High School

Saturday May 7, 2011
Lake Erie Elite vs. Milwaukee Ruinning Rebels
11:00a.m at Carroll High School

Lake Erie Elite vs. Iowa Barnstormers
3:30p.m at University of St. Francis

Full Tournament Information: 2011 Bill Hensley Run-n-Slam

Lake Erie Elite appears on Ohio High School Hoops Blog!

Ohio High School Hoops was on hand saturday in Akron, Ohio, to watch the 15U division and caught a glimpse of Lake Erie Elite.

15U: Gold Bracket:

King James Shooting Stars- lost in the 15U Gold Bracket title game to Expressions Elite out of Maine.

All-Ohio Red- lost in the Final Four of Gold Bracket play to Expressions Elite.

Ohio Basketball Club- lost in Elite of Gold Bracket to All-Ohio Red.

Lake Erie Elite- lost in the Sweet 16 Gold Bracket action to a very good Mid America Elite squad.

**Lake Erie Elite’s roster includes David Doster of Sandusky Perkins, Cody Thompson of Huron, Gabe Camella of Huron, Chris Laughlin of Milan Edison, Ricky Heck of Monroeville, Denarius Harris of Sandusky St. Mary, Nic Williams of Sandusky Perkins, Luke Frankboner of Milan Edison, Bob Harwood of Norwalk St. Paul, and Derek Gray of Clyde.

15U: Silver Bracket

Ohio Tar Heels- lost in the 15U Silver Bracket Final Four to Indiana Elite Hoopmatics who eventually won the Silver.

15U: Bronze Bracket

Ohio Tigers Select- lost in the 15U Bronze championship game to BSA Select out of Pennsylvania.

2011 King James Recap

Lake Erie Elite turned in an outstanding performance at the 2011 King James Classic in Akron, Ohio, over the weekend. Finishing with a 3-1 record and a Sweet Sixteen Appearance in the Gold Bracket. Lake Erie Elite began with a Friday night game against the Atlanta Knicks beating them 51-42. Saturday morning Lake Erie began their fantastic run to the sweet 16, first beating CTS (PA) 50-33, then beating CIA Bounce from Canada 62-42. The sweet 16 match-up was against AAU power Mid-America Elite and Lake Erie couldn't match their size losing 68-48. Full Tournament Brackets: Results

Lake Erie Elite were without both of their primary post players, 6'7 Luke Frankboner and 6'5 Bob Harwood. Rick Heck and Gabe Camella had to set up and guard the post players for the opposing teams and they did a great job even though they were under sized. A huge pick-up for the weekend was 5'6 Nick Ruthsatz from St. Anthony's High School (NJ). With him and the stellar play from Denarius Harris and Nic Williams Lake Erie Elite put together their best tournament performance of the year. Lake Erie Elite has a week off before the Bill Hensley Run-N-Slam in Fort Wayne, Indiana, May 6-8.

2011 King James Shooting Stars Classic

One of the most anticipated AAU tournaments of the spring is finally here and for the 2nd consecutive year Lake Erie Elite will be apart of it. During the 2010 King James Classic, Lake Erie Elite lost to eventual 14U champs, Ray Allen Select, and against the D-1 Greyhounds during their pool play games and were sent to the bronze bracket. On that sunday, Lake Erie rallied off 2 wins to make it to the semi-finals then losing to Dayton Salvation Army. Here's a look at this years pool play games for Lake Erie Elite:

Friday April 22, 2011
Lake Erie Elite vs. Atlanta Knicks (GA) 8:40 p.m at Green HS Court #2

Saturday April 23, 2011
Lake Erie Elite vs. Court Time-CTS (PA) 8:00 a.m at Walsh University Court #1

Full Tournament Information: 2011 King James Shooting Stars Classic

2011 Toledo Challenge Recap

Over the weekend in Perrysburg, Lake Erie Elite went 3-1 over the course of the 2 days losing in the semi-finals of the Championship Bracket against the Spartans. This is the second lost against the Spartans in a matter of a week. Lake Erie opened up with 2 overwhelming victories in pool play outscoring North Coast Eagles and Anthony Wayne Storm by a combined 110-31. On sunday, Lake Erie was without both their post players but still opened up with a close victory over Jet Stream then eventually losing to Spartans in the semis.


Up next for Lake Erie Elite, is a trip to Akron for the King James Classic, one of the top AAU tournaments in the country. Lake Erie will be undermanned for the trip but will look to put on a good performance.