June 15, 2007 • Colorado Springs, Colorado

• Box Score: USA Red 106, USA Blue 98
• Box Score: USA White 103, Brazil 81
  
• 2007 Youth Development Festival Results/Schedule

USA White Team center Kelsey Boone looks to slip under Brazil's Fabiana De Souza. (Photo: Steven Maikoski)

The USA White (2-0) earned its second win of the day with a convincing 103-81 win over Brazil (0-2) as Tiffany Hayes (Winter Haven Senior H.S. / Winter Haven, Fla.) led the way with 17 points, and USA Red (1-1) collected its first win after battling past USA Blue (1-1) for a 106-98 win as Tayler Hill (South H.S. / Minneapolis, Minn.) tallied a game high 20 points. The USA Basketball Youth Development Festival, which runs through Sunday, June 17, is being contested at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Final preliminary round contests are scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m. (MDT) on Saturday, June 16, with USA White versus USA Blue and USA Red versus Brazil. The semifinal contests, pitting No. 1 versus No. 4 and No. 2 versus No. 3, are slated for 6:00 p.m. (MDT). The winners of the semifinals will go head-to-head on June 17 at 9:00 a.m. (MDT) in the gold medal game, with the bronze medal contest starting at 8:15 a.m. (MDT).

The USA Basketball Youth Development Festival gives U.S. participants exposure to USA Basketball, international basketball rules and the opportunity to go head-to-head against the best prep players in North America and Brazil. The entry-level event combines position clinics, which target post or perimeter skills, with practice sessions and the four-team, five-game tournament. The Youth Development Festival features top U.S. high school rising juniors and seniors, and a junior national team from Brazil .

USA Red 106, USA Blue 98
Featuring five players scoring in double digits, the USA Red Team fought off a resilient USA Blue Team for a hard-fought 106-98 win.

If not for a suffocating first quarter that resulted in a 23-point (35-12) Red advantage, USA Red may not have been able to secure the win.

"We became impatient," suggested Nikki Speed (Marlborough H.S. / Pasadena, Calif.), who finished with 13 points, seven assists and four rebounds for the USA Red. "We got happy with a big lead we ran up. In the fourth quarter we realized we needed to slow it down and bring back the focus we had in the first quarter. But we got the win."

Hill led all scorers with 20 points, followed by 14 points from Red teammates Brittany Rayburn (Attica H.S. / Attica, Ind.) and Shekinna Stricklen (Morrilton H.S. / Morrilton, Ark.).
With USA Blue sinking just three of its first 23 shots from the field, USA Red stormed out to a commanding 35-12 lead after the first period.

Eight second-quarter points from Alicia Manning (Etowah H.S. / Woodstock, Ga.) and seven more from Jasmine Dixon (Poly H.S. / Long Beach, Calif.), however, helped USA Blue outscore Red 38-23 in the second quarter, and after two quarters of action the Red squad held a much slimmer 58-50 lead.

Mid-way through the third period, Shay Selby (Regina H.S. / Geneva, Ohio) scored six points during a 9-2 USA Blue run that cut the Red lead to 68-64 with 4:30 remaining in the stanza. The run was halted when Hill drained a 3-pointer and the USA Red headed into the final 12 minutes up five, 75-70.

Less than one minute into the fourth quarter, a Casey Morris (Peidmont H.S. / Fairfield, Calif.) layup and a Dixon free throw had cut the Red lead to two points. Rayburn countered on the other end with a 3-point attempt to put Red back up 82-77 with 9:04 remaining.

But the Blue refused to surrender and Manning scored from deep to bring Blue to within one point at 6:15. However, six points from the Red's Speed, followed by a clutch 3-pointer from Hill crushed USA Blue's comeback hopes, as Blue was forced to foul down the stretch, resulting in the 106-98 final score.

USA White 103, Brazil 81

Brittany Rayburn contributed 14 points and seven rebounds in the Red Team's 106-98 win over the USA Blue. (Photo: Steven Maikoski)

The White's 5-11 guard Hayes used an efficient shooting performance on one end of the court that was bolstered by her defense to help lead the White past a physical Brazil team 103-81.

Hayes hit 6-for-11 from the field and brought down six rebounds to go along with four steals.

"She's a good player and has a nice shot," said head coach Caryn Jarocki (Highlands Ranch H.S., Colo.). "She's quick, probably the quickest person on the team."

Skyler Diggins (Washington H.S. / South Bend, Ind.) turned in another double-digit scoring performance with 12 points, after scoring 13 in Friday's early game, and also secured nine rebounds. Shanay Washington (Del Valle H.S. / Austin, Texas) matched Diggins' scoring output, while contributing six rebounds. Ashley Corral (Prairie H.S. / Vancouver, Wash.) was the sixth White Team member to score in double digits, finishing with 10 points and a team best five assists.

Kelsey Bone (Dulles H.S. / Stafford, Texas) led her team with 10 boards, as she often used determination and strength to prevail over Brazilian post players on the glass.

"I like to be on the block," the 6-4, 215 pound Bone said. "I like to be physical. I'm learning to be more aggressive and to do more things, but I'm one of the few traditional post players in the country. I'm a big person, so the block is my home and that's where I like to be."

The White mounted the first of multiple runs near the eight-minute mark of the first quarter. For the next three minutes, they outscored Brazil 9-0 and helped themselves by grabbing six offensive rebounds in that span to take a 20-9 lead with just over five minutes remaining in the first quarter.

The two teams played nearly even the rest of the opening stanza, something Jarocki attributed to the Brazilians' zone defense.

"They're pretty good at their zone. It kinda took us out of our mode." Jarocki said.
Up 49-33 at halftime, the White squad led by as many as 21, 56-35 early in the third quarter.

Brazil rallied, and following a Poliana Saldanha layup, the South Americans had cut the lead to 11, 67-56.

Brazil's push seem to awaken the USA White Team, and behind Diggins' five points, the USA closed the third period with a 17-5 scoring run to take charge 84-61. From there the game was never in doubt as the White went on to post the 103-81 victory.