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| 2006 Men's Champions - Class of 2000 | 2006 Women's Champions - M.O.B. (ask them what it stands for!) |
To quote Yogi Berra, it was a case of “déjá vu all over again” in the 4th annual O’Neill alumni basketball tournament held this past weekend. Both the ‘00 men and the MOB women repeated as champions. Sixteen men’s teams and five women’s teams competed in the three-day event that featured graduates of both O’Neill High and St. Mary’s. A total of 36 games were played.
In the women’s bracket each team played two pool games on Saturday. Teams were then seeded into a five-team tournament. In the #4 vs. #5 game played late Saturday afternoon, the ‘04-05 women won despite some hot shooting from Lynae Hesse Hilker of the 90's/Community Team. The former Orchard standout hit 4 three-point goals and finished with 14 points, but ‘04-05 had plenty of offense of their own. Lynnsey Davison, Kara Garman and Melanie Adamson combined to score 53 points in the 56-41 win.
Sunday morning’s semifinals saw ‘04-05 take on the top seeded MOB team in one game, while ‘00-01 met ‘02-03 in the other. The MOB scored 18 points in each half to advance to the finals with a 36-25 win. Kacy Heiss Kienholz led the winners with 12 points, while Lynnsey Davison finished with 13 for ’04-05. The 00-01 women found the usually unforgiving rims of the O’Neill Elementary to their liking, as they jumped to a 34-15 halftime lead en route to a 44-34 win. Courtney Flaherty Maas had 15 points in her team’s win, all from behind the arc. Autumn Hanson had 13 more. Brandy Spiegel led the ‘02-03 women with 10 but their second half comeback effort came up short. In the finals Autumn Hanson scored 17 points but ‘00-01 couldn’t overcome the inside outside combination of Heiss Kienholz and Amy Brodersen Riggs. The duo combined to score 38 points as the MOB broke a halftime deadlock to win 42-32.
In the men’s portion of the tournament, teams were divided into 4 pools. The Class of 2000 played in pool B and went 5-0 to win their second title in as many years. But as was the case a year ago, their run to the top was far from easy. Saturday afternoon they faced a hot shooting ‘04 Red team. ‘00 had to come from behind in the final three minutes to win 62-54. That win was sandwiched between victories over ‘85-85 and ‘86-87. Other pool winners were ’96 in pool A, ’03 in pool C, and ’04 Blue in pool D. All four winners went 3-0 in pool play Saturday.
“Oh brother” could have been theme for Sunday’s men’s semifinals. Three sets of siblings faced off. At the O’Neill Elementary the ’96 team met ’00. Mitch Heiss and Ryan Berg played for ’96, while Beau Heiss and Ross Berg donned the Carolina Blue jerseys of the ’00 team. ’00 won 47-42 despite the efforts of Ryan Berg and Kyle Schellpeper who combined to score 28 points. Ryan Cameron led a balanced ’00 attack with 13. The other semifinal pitted the ’03 team against the 04 Blue team in a game played at O’Neill High. Travis Ptacek played for ‘04 Blue and brother Tyler battled for the ’03 team. In a well-played contest, ‘04 Blue came away with a 50-47 win. Travis Ptacek led the victors with 21 points. ‘03’s Ryan Hickey tied his own alumni record for free throws in a game with 10. He finished with 20 points as ‘03 narrowly missed playing in their second consecutive final. In the exciting final ’00 overcame a one-point halftime deficit to prevail 60-53. Beau Heiss and Andy Shong each scored 14 to lead the champions. Ptacek continued to impress as he led all scorers with 23.
Alumni All Tournament Teams
Five women and ten men were named to the O’Neill Alumni Basketball Tournament All Tournament team. Women’s team members include Amy Brodersen Riggs, Lynnsey Davison, Autumn Hanson, Kacy Heiss Kienholz and Courtney Flaherty Maas. Named to the men’s team were Travis Ptacek, Ryan Cameron, Andy Shong, Ross Berg, Kyle Schellpeper, Ryan Berg, Jed Givens, Mendel Miller, Kevin Morrow and Kasey Brosz. In the three-point contest Courtney Flaherty Maas won for the women and Andrea Howe placed second. In the men’s division, tournament veterans Dave Eby and Chuck Price finished first and second respectively.