L15 NTT60

Season 60 National Title Tournament

Season's 60 National Title Tournament was one of the few where higher seeds survived and advanced. The Final Four brought us one #1 seed and 3 #2 seeds. Runs by Utica and Charlotte to the Sweet 16 were the only real Cinderella stories. Most of the noise was from the eventual champions, Hot Springs, as their new freshmen, Kenneth Gallagher quickly became a star! Prior to the tournament, the top ranked team was Columbus followed by San Jose, Rochester and Salt Lake City.

Brackets

Northwest Region

	First round					Second round					Semifinals					Finals
	1	Columbus	67
	16	Huntington Beach	63
						1	Columbus	82
						8	Concord	72
	8	Concord	90
	9	Tallahassee	71
											5	Odessa	91
										1	Columbus	62
	5	Odessa	95
	12	Fresno	85
						5	Odessa	83
						13	Morgantown	70
	13	Morgantown	74
	4	Philadelphia	63
																2	Hot Springs	96
															5	Odessa	86
	3	Phoenix	95
	14	Reading	46
						6	Detroit	79
						3	Phoenix	72
	6	Detroit	81
	11	Little Rock	71
											2	Hot Srpings	89
										6	Detroit	87
	10	Kansas City	77
	7	Montgomery	75
						2	Hot Springs	98
						10	Kansas City	62
	2	Hot Springs	74
	15	Tuscaloosa	68

Southwest Region

	First round					Second round					Semifinals					Finals
	1	San Jose	75
	16	Carlsbad	65
						1	San Jose	91
						8	Sacramento	86
	8	Sacramento	93
	9	Durham	80
											1	San Jose	83
										4	Mobile	72
	12	Long Beach	96
	5	Olympia	88
						4	Mobile	88
						12	Long Beach	83
	4	Mobile	78
	13	Las Vegas	76
																1	San Jose	101
															2	Laramie	94
	14	Madison	83
	3	Tulsa	71
						11	Ocala	80
						14	Madison	64
	11	Ocala	75
	6	Clemson	72
											2	Laramie	82
										11	Ocala	74
	7	Fargo	72
	10	Knoxville	58
						2	Laramie	83
						7	Fargo	62
	2	Laramie	93
	15	St. Paul	53

Northeast Region

	First round					Second round					Semifinals					Finals
	1	Rochester	75
	16	Canton	61
						9	Baltimore	87
						1	Rochester	77
	9	Baltimore	74
	8	Colorado Springs	48
											9	Baltimore	76
										13	Charlotte	60
	5	Cambridge	63
	12	Panama City	60
						13	Charlotte	67
						5	Cambridge	66
	13	Charlotte	73
	4	Asheville	60
																2	Aberdeen	91
															9	Baltimore	79
	3	Norfolk	69
	14	Blacksburg	51
						3	Norfolk	92
						6	Boston	78
	6	Boston	75
	11	Fort Wayne	71
											2	Aberdeen	90
										3	Norfolk	71
	7	Abilene	79
	10	Ann Arbor	77
						2	Aberdeen	88
						7	Abilene	85
	2	Aberdeen	67
	15	Lansing	60

Southeast Region

	First round					Second round					Semifinals					Finals
	1	Salt Lake City	89
	16	Lake Tahoe	70
						1	Salt Lake City	89
						8	Dayton	76
	8	Dayton	90
	9	Grand Rapids	49
											4	Jacksonville	94
										1	Salt Lake City	84
	5	Nashville	72
	12	Shreveport	66
						4	Jacksonville	75
						5	Nashville	57
	4	Jacksonville	75
	13	Jersey City	65
																2	Albuquerque	83
															4	Jacksonville	73
	3	Arlington	76
	14	Scranton	75
						11	Utica	85
						3	Arlington	84
	11	Utica	63
	6	Erie	61
											2	Albuquerque	90
										11	Utica	65
	7	Augusta	77
	10	Green Bay	65
						2	Albuquerque	81
						7	Augusta	68
	2	Albuquerque	78
	15	Syracuse	62

Final Four

	Semi-finals				Final
	Hot Springs	101
	San Jose	68
					Hot Springs	81
					Albuquerque	69
	Albuquerque	76
	Aberdeen	56

Game Summaries

FINAL FOUR

Down to the Final Four. Every season coaches put in a ton of time with their players, just hoping they can get them to understand how teamwork, hard work and dedication to their programs just might get them to this point. Although getting to the Final Four in itself is a huge accomplishment, once their, every young man on the floor wants to push one more step and get to the ultimate goal, the NTT title game. Let's review how Wednesdays night matchups went.

(2)Hot Springs 101 - (1)San Jose 68

In the night's first game, Hot Springs immediately jumped all over San Jose, building up a 24-4 lead in the first 7 minutes. The combination of Carl Kraker and Marquez Sparkman scored 16 of those 24 points, exploding down the court and hitting shot after shot. Finally when the halftime buzzer sounded, the Orange Krush were clearly in control with a 53-31 lead. The second half wasn't any different as Hot Springs were just to much for the Hammerheads. The play of Kraker, Sparkman and Kenneth Gallagher was to tough for San Jose to handle as the 3 combined for 63 points on 26-42 shooting. The Orange Krush committed only 6 turnovers while the Hammerheads had 19, five by Jordan Keith. David Stroh was the lone bright spot for San Jose, scoring 23 points, while Keith shot 2-9 in clearly his worst game of the season.

(2)Albuquerque 76 - (2)Aberdeen 56

The nightcap was a much different story early as the game went back and forth as A Easterday for the Marvelettes and the Redmen's, S Francois exchanged buckets repeatedly. Early in the second half, Albuquerque went on a 15-2 run, blowing the game wide open and going into the half with a big 46-28 lead. Francois ended the half with just 7 points after a quick start. In the second half, everytime Aberdeen got close to cutting the lead to single digits, Albuquerque stepped up and hit key shots, keeping the game out of reach. John Gunderson was nearly perfect, hitting 8-11 shots and going 5-5 from the free throw line, leading the Marvelettes with 22 points. Bobby McCurdy scored 16 while Alvin Easterday and Luke Crane both added 13. Francois ended the night with a disappointing 15 point, 10 rebound performance. Aberdeen definitely needed more out of their superstar, but Albuquerque constantly kept double teams on the Redmens star player.

NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP

When coach Krush signed McDonald's All-American, Kenneth Gallagher, he knew he might have something special. With Marquez Sparkman and Carl Kraker returning for their senior year, he had all the pieces in place to make a run for his first NTT title.

That's exactly what happened as Gallagher led all scorers with 23 points, hitting 10-15 shots from the field, while Kraker added 16 points as Hot Springs took out Albuquerque, 81-69.

Nestor Foust had a great game up front, grabbing 11 rebounds and scoring 11 points while Jeremy Wright held his own, grabbing 8 boards and blocking 3 shots.

Hot Springs started out behind the sharpshooting of Kraker and Foust, but George Moffett kept Albuquerque in it by hitting 2 three pointers in the first 6 minutes, while hitting another bucket for 8 points. It was back and forth until the Marvelettes finally took their first lead with 4:56 left in the half behind a deep field goal by Luke Crane. Then a 13-2 run to close out the half gave the Orange Krush a 44-34 lead at the half.

Albuquerque came out pushing in the second half, behind Moffett and Alvin Easterday, cutting the lead to 3 with 10 minutes to go. But that would be as close as it gets as another run by Hot Springs put it away.

Moffett ended with 19 points and 12 rebounds while Alvin Easterday scored 13 and added 7 rebounds in the loss.

Unfortunately their will be no rubbermatch between these two powerhouses as the Orange Krush won when it counted the most. They got their sweet revenge and watched as Sparkman, then Kraker took the ladder first to cut down the nets for the season 60 NTT championship.

Congratulations to coach Krush and the Hot Springs Orange Krush!!!