June 16, 2007 • Colorado Springs, Colorado

• Box Score: USA White 85, Brazil 62
• Box Score: USA Blue 98, USA Red 80
  
• 2007 Youth Development Festival Results/Schedule

Shekinna Stricklen drives for two of her 11 points in Saturday's semifnal contest. Stricklen's USA Red Team took in on the chin, falling 98-80 to the USA Blue Team. (Photo: Steven Maikoski)

Behind a balanced scoring attack, the USA
White (4-0) express kept right on rolling Saturday night and recorded its fourth straight victory, easily taking an 85-62 decision over Brazil (0-4) to advance to Sunday morning's USA Basketball Women's Youth Development Festival gold medal game. Looking to derail the White in the gold medal contest will be USA Blue (2-2), who behind 18 points from Shay Selby (Regina H.S. / Geneva, Ohio) and Alicia Manning (Etowah H.S. / Woodstock, Ga.) knocked off USA Red (2-2) 98-80 in the evening's other semifinal.

While the USA White and USA Blue square off in the 8:45 a.m. (MDT) gold medal game, the USA Red will face Brazil in the 8:00 a.m. (MDT) bronze medal contest. Earlier Saturday to close out preliminary round play, the USA White squad overcame a 29-14 first quarter deficit to earn a 93-78 win.

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 White 85, Brazil 62
With all 12 players on the score board and three players in double figures, No. 1 seed USA White easily protected it's perfect 4-0 record and coasted to a 85-62 win over an overmatched Brazil to secure a berth to Sunday's gold medal game.

"I wanted us to play physical and tougher tonight because we knew Brazil was a physical team, and we did accomplish that," said USA White head coach Caryn Jarocki (Highlands Ranch H.S., Colo.). "We just want to be 5-0 now, and that's all we care about. Both Red and Blue are very good teams, and our previous games were tight games. It's definitely going to be a challenge to beat Blue. We just need to be patient and play the whole game."

Shanay Washington (Del Valle H.S. / Austin, Texas) led USA White with 14 points and nine rebounds, followed by 10 points and seven rebounds from both Kelsey Bone (Dulles H.S. / Stafford, Texas) and 10 points from Samantha Prahalis (Commack H.S. / Dix Hills, N.Y.). Skylar Diggins (Washington H.S. / South Bend, Ind.) recorded seven points, while adding a game high six assists and four steals.

"How I played tonight was a result of how my team played; we all just work together," Washington said. "It feels great to be on our way to the gold medal game. At the beginning of the Festival, we all sat down as a team and decided our goal was to go to the championship and get the gold medal."

Brazil struggled to execute the entire game and was plagued by 22 of its 35 turnovers in the first half, including a stretch of six straight midway through the second period. USA White threw away just 19 possessions in the contest and tallied a 69-50 rebounding advantage, 31 of those were collected on the offensive end.

Brazil did outscore White 26-21 in the fourth period, but the effort was in vain as a bucket from Tiffany Hayes (Winter Haven Senior H.S. / Winter Haven, Fla.) with 3:50 on the clock sparked a 10-0 USA White run that pushed an already secure lead to 31 points.

Brazil's Bruna Siqueira was the game's high scorer with 19 points and five rebounds; Patricia Ribeiro tallied 13 points and Samara Ferreira scored 10.

 

Shay Selby poured in 18 points to help lead her USA Blue Team to a convincing 98-80 Youth Development Festival semifinals win over USA Red Saturday night. The win advanced Selby and the rest of the Blue squad into Sunday's gold medal game versus the undefeated USA White team. (Photo: Steven Maikoski)

USA Blue 98, USA Red 80
Playing their fourth game in two days, the White and the Blue teams struggled shooting the ball early in Saturday evening's semifinal session. However, the Blue eventually flipped the switch on the way to a 98-80 victory to advance to Sunday's Women's Youth Development championship game.

The Blue Team attempted 22 shots in the first quarter and made just eight, good for a chilly 36.4 shooting percentage. But taking advantage of four first-quarter Red turnovers, the Blue held a three-point lead, 21-18, after one period.

Two of the four forced turnovers were credited to Manning, who turned up her game offensively in the second quarter.

With her Blue team holding onto a narrow 23-20 lead, Manning ignited a 17-4 run spanning just over four minutes. By the 7:07 mark in the second quarter, Manning had racked up four baskets and three rebounds. Chay Shegog (Brooke Point H.S. / Stafford Va.) also grabbed three rebounds during the surge that advanced the score to 40-24.

"I was happy because my shot hadn't been going in, and I had been trying all weekend," Manning said. "My guards did a great job getting me the ball."

Casey Morris (Peidmont H.S. / Fairfield, Calif.) starred in the third-quarter highlights with nine points and two steals in the frame as the Blue pushed their lead to 84-56.

Overall, head coach Brian Robinson's (Bishop McGuinness H.S., N.C.) team made 21 thefts and forced 27 Red turnovers for the contest.

The victors scored 40 points off those turnovers, as compared to the Red, which could only convert its opponents' 31 turnovers into 16 points. The Blue also helped itself by improving its shooting to nearly 43.0 percent by the end of the game, while the Red managed just 26.5 percent shooting overall from the floor .

"Last night I thought we played the way we could play from the second to the fourth quarter," Robinson said. "Tonight we put together four complete quarters. "I'm proud of our kids for bouncing back. That's the funny thing about kids, they bounce back."

Alyssia Brewer (Sapulpa H.S. / Sapulpa, Okla.), who accounted for 11 points, controlled the glass for Blue, posting 15 rebounds to supplement four blocks. In addition to her 18 points, Selby totaled six assists and five steals.

The Red was led by Nneka Ogwumike (Cy-Fair H.S. / Cypress, Texas) who finished with a monster 19-point, 16-rebound double-double. Tierra Ruffin-Pratt (T.C. Williams H.S. / Alexandria, Va.) recorded 13 points, Brittany Rayburn (Attica H.S. / Attica, Ind.) scored 12 and Shekinna Stricklen (Morrilton H.S. / Morrilton, Ark.) added 11 points.