Storm off to a good start

Discussion

July 30, 2010

Corey Davis CNHI The Suwannee Democrat Fri Jul 30, 2010, 08:51 AM EDT

Live Oak — corey.davis@gaflnews.com

ORLANDO-The Suwannee Storm has been in Orlando since last weekend competing in the YBOA National tournament. Storm sponsor Tracie Daniels sent me an update Wednesday with how the team is doing.

According to Tracie, the team arrived on Sunday and officially registered. There are eight 16-under Division 2 teams in attendance, all from the United States except one team from Mexico.

The out-of-state teams include the Bomb Squad, Massachusetts; the Cajuns, Louisiana; the GT Stars, Georgia; the Urban Ballers, Maryland and METEPEC, Mexico. We also face in-state rivals Central Florida Yellow Jackets and the current D2 state champions, Heart and Soul.

The tournament kicked off on Sunday with individual and team skills competitions. Tony Frierson represented the Storm in the national free-throw competition and placed second overall in the 16-under age division. Others representing the Storm included DeAngelo Ross and Jimmie Taylor, III.

The official opening ceremonies were held Sunday evening. The Storm walked in olympic-style fashion behind the banner that members of the Live Oak community had signed in support of the team, in front of a crowd of over 3,500.

In their opening game, the Storm fell to the GT Stars 57-49, but rallied to win the next two games against the Urban Ballers 49-33 and Mexico 51-20.

Leading scorers and rebounders have included Jimmie Taylor, Marcus Lane, Tony Frierson, and DeAndre DeVore and Big Jarvious George, who achieved his second dunk in the game against Mexico.

Taylor is playing with a back injury sustained in the first game; DeVore and Alex Robinson have been filling in at the point guard position.

The Storm placed second in their pool and now advances to the final playoff bracket. In order to win the championship they will have to win the next three games in a row, which will begin with the Central Florida Yellow Jackets on Thursday.

Many of the games and award ceremonies are covered through live-stream internet at allmetrosports@ihigh.com, including the entire game of Storm vs/ Mexico. Please refer to that site to follow the team the rest of the weekend.