budman0209

In their second round bracket game in the 17u Super Showcase: Shining Star Sports-Ponzer 93 Kappa Magic 83

Good luck to all of the Northern Kentucky boys!!

We sent a couple of our teams out to Vegas last year and didn't feel as if we got as much out of it as we did in Orlando. All of these tourneys are great events and present a lot of exposure for the kids attending. We will probably send some of our 16u teams on the Vegas and LA trips in the future, but will continue to send our 17u teams to Orlando. The Orlando trips have been a great success for our Ohio and Kentucky teams.

Arrez has been very good. He has battled through a couple of nagging injuries during the AAU season. The biggest improvements in Arrez has been his ability to dominate the defensive end. At some point during his high school season last year he decided to really work on the defensive end and became a stopper (ask Ty Profit). He is one of the better defenders in the state in my opinion. He can guard any position on the floor. Arrez has really improved his jump shot. He puts a highlight tape together everytime he takes the floor with his ability to jump out of the gym. He gets off of his feet so quickly. Some of the most amazing dunks I have seen from a 6'0 player. Arrez will be the front runner for the POY in the 9th region. He will battle his teammate Nic Simpson for the honor.

In their first round tournament game at the 17u Super Showcase: Shining Star Sports-Ponzer 61 United Celtics 59 Arrez Henderson tips in a missed shot by Nic Simpson at the buzzer for the Shining Star Sports team to gain a first round victory.

In there third pool game at the 17u Super Showcase: Shining Star Sports-Ponzer 87 Grand Strands Finest- 65

In the second pool game at the 17u Super Showcase: Shining Star Sports-Ponzer 87 West Virginia Select 94

In there first game of pool play in the 17u Super Showcase: Shining Star Sports-Ponzer 83 Kissemmee Wildcats 65 They play again this evening.

Here is the schedule for the Shining Star Sports team at the AAU Nationals: Friday 830am vs Rising Stars Friday 210pm vs Tampa Fast Break Saturday 430pm vs Birmingham Metro Express

Here is the schedule for the Northern Kentucky Jazz in the AAU Nationals: Friday 1120am vs Martin Bros. Select 16u Friday 620pm vs Team Illinios Saturday 300pm vs Augusta Metro

Shining Star Sports Super Showcase Schedule: Tuesday 1245pm vs Kissemmee Wildcats Tuesday 915pm vs West Virginia Select Wednesday 1245pm vs Grand Strand Select

The Shining Star Sports team will be in Orlando for the AAU Super Showcase and the AAU Nationals. They begin play on Tuesday. Tommy Gifford-Lexington Lafyette Nic Simpson-Highlands Arrez Henderson-Covington Holmes Mike Sparks-Lexington Tates Creek Josh Nelson-Covington Holmes Payton Ponzer-Walton Verona Mike Grimes-Covington Catholic Matt Chambless-Louisville Trinity Alex Hall-Beechwood Arron Noll-Covington Catholic Their is also a 6'10" kid from South Bend Indiana that begin playing with them in Louisville. He will be attending both tournaments with the Shining Star team. The Ohio State Champion Shining Star Sports team will also be in Orlando for these two events.

Luke Mace will be the best big man in Northern Kentucky by a large margin. He is the biggest, strongest and has really improved his game and conditioning. You can throw the rest in a hat and pull out a name. Noll, Earls, Nelson, etc.. Not much difference with this group. All three of these individuals play with our AAU club and all can play. Somone that might suprise some people will be Tate Nichols at Ryle. He is a big strong post player. The only thing that will be the question with him will be when the football team finishes their season.

Will he be a freshman this year?

I knew that he was going to be a sophomore but he will not be able to make as much impact this season because of the depth at his position. He is a relentless worker on the glass and will only get better. He spends a lot of time in the gym working on his game.

Spaulding will be a junior this year at Boone County. He is a great athlete. He will be a contributor at Boone this year. He plays football so you never know when he will join the basketball team.

Grant Pangallo will have a chance to start at the point guard position for Newport Central Catholic. One of the quickest kids in Northern Kentucky. Flannery, Popp, Gabbard and Earls will be at the top of the list in Northern Kentucky. Flannery will be one of the top long range shooters in this area. Trevor Wellbrock will be a big time contributor as a Junior at Covington Catholic.

The Shining Star Sports program claimed a second championship this past weekend. One of our 17u Ohio teams won the 17u Ohio AAU State Championship. The club now holds the Kentucky and Ohio Championships!! Congrats to all of the Shining Star Sports family!!

This tournament is not NCAA Certified. Their will be scouting services in attendence, but no college coaches. This is not a recruiting period.

The Elliott County boys were fun to watch, great guard play. Gifford has amazed me this summer. I didn't realize he was as good as he is. Chambliss is going to really help the Shining Star 17u team when he returns in July.

I think it is a two race between summer teammates. Arrez Henderson and Nic Simpson will battle for the ninth region POY. Nic and Arrez are two very talented individuals, very complete players.

He would look good in a Shining Star Sports Brand Jordan Uniform!!:banana:

The Shining Star Sports 17u team is now done until July. They are going to be playing a pretty nice schedule during the month of July. They have a fantastic core group with Gifford, Simpson, Henderson, Sparks, Nelson, Ponzer, Hall, etc.. They are looking to find a couple of bigs to really help them in July because a couple of the guys will not be available in July. Does anyone know of any impact bigs that would want to play with that group?

Arrez Henderson has become a very complete player this year. He has great handles, shoots the ball well from the perimeter, can jump out of the gym, and is one of the top defenders in the state of Kentucky. He could have made a highlight film this weekend with his steals, blocked shots and high flying dunks. There is not much that this kid can't do. Holmes will have the 9th region player of the year for a third consecutive year. Austin Hill was one of the top players in our orginization last year as well as one of the top players in the state of Kentucky. I would have to say that Arrez is a better all around player than Austin was at this point last year. Congrats to Arrez for winning the championship!!

The Shining Star Sports teams had a great weekend. Overall the three teams went 14 wins and 2 losses. (15u loss to OBC Patriots and 16u loss to Charlotte Court) Both losses were to the eventual champion in the age group. 15u and 16u finished in the final four and the 17u team won the championship. Not a bad accomplishment for this only being the second year of the Kentucky program. In the two years the 17u team has a 2nd and 1st place finish in the tourney. Congrats!!