Lady Phoenix Select 2018 National Classic Bracket Div I 7th Grade AAU National Champs!
Pictured in team photo: L to R
Front row: Madeline Hardy, Kiyana Brown, Jazmin Harris, Emma Heard, Maren Shumaker, Mahlon Brady
Back row: Coach Stacy Ellis, Kirsten Deans, Nichelle Jeffries, Jillian Heard, Thallan Howard, Coach Rick McLean, Olivia Gabriel, Roxanne Pfenning, Destiny McLean, Coach Greg Deans
With girls from across the State of North Carolina, Lady Phoenix Select 2018 bonded together to bring home their first AAU National Championship. Although the team got off to a slow start with losses to a strong shooting team from Indiana – Indiana Elite 2018, who finished in 7th place in the 2012 Nationals, and a loss to the 2013 Georgia 7th Grade State Champs – Georgia Pistols Elite who was one of the most aggressive teams in the tournament. The Lady Phoenix Select group battled back to win 6 straight games. Of which the final game was a 54-49 effort to defeat the defending AAU National Champs from 2012, Tennessee Fury Navy.
Lady Phoenix Select 2018 Team Motto:
Risen
From the ashes of a fire
A Phoenix will rise.
From that Phoenix’s birth and attitude
Comes a rising Legacy!
That has been the course
Of the Lady Phoenix Select!
By Airen Leanne Ellis
I have been around tons of basketball games, but this group of young ladies made this the most enjoyable. Great group to coach. Can’t wait to see what next season holds.