CKaTT News

September 12, 2007, Niagara Falls, NY. CKaTT Juvenile Team #1 won the 16th annual Can-Am / PAL Basketball Classic tournament held at the Niagara Falls High School in Niagara Falls, NY on September 7-9, 2007. The Can-AM/PAL tournament, participated by teams from New York, Michigan, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Ohio, California, Ontario and Quebec, is considered a showcase for high school players with numerous college coaches in attendance.

CKaTT opened the tournament with a lopsided victory against Jamestown of New York, 86-43, led by the great three point shooting of Cory Cooper. In its second round game against another Western New York team, CKaTT again held their opponent to a mere 43 points, going on to win by 24 points. The team began to gel fairly quickly with the outstanding guard and small forward plays of David Tyndale, Kareem Malcolm, Robert Hanson and Ante Cosic.

CKaTT played its first real test of the tournament in game three when they played the Hamilton Elite, the team that beat CKaTT early in the season during a consolation finals at the Hoopdome in Toronto. This time, however, the result was different as the Elite were no match against the surging CKaTTs.  CKaTT won, 69-47, led by Ante Cosic who scored the first 16 points punctuated with a thunderous dunk.  Clearly, CKaTT was the class of the tournament with the outstanding performances by the team and individual displays of athleticism notably by Tyler Anderson, Allan Anderson, Alonzel Lowe and Andrew Nicholson.

CKaTT entered the finals facing a very strong opponent with a home court advantage, the Niagara All Stars powered by a strong and talented starting five. The game was fast, physical and a defensive battle as both teams were able to score by putting up tough shots. The result was a half time score deadlocked at 27 points each.  But defense was the key from the very first game. A strong zone defense was initiated that completely put the opponent on their heels defensively (give credits to coaches Pryce, Anderson and Tyghter).  Cory Cooper, David Tyndale and the rest of the team eventually shut down Niagara's premier players. That coupled with some offensive outburst from the tournament's MVP, Cory Cooper and All Stars, Ante Cosic and Andrew Nicholson, propelled CKaTT to a championship victory beating the All Stars, 62-54.

Congratulations to the CKaTT Juvenile Team #1 for such a great tournament and  a great effort from all the players, coaches and to their family who attended and cheered for the team towards the victory. The team coaches hope to build on this impressive performance as they look forward to a  fruitful new basketball season.

Tournament recap:

Game 1 - CKaTT-86; Jamestown, New York-43 High scorer Cory Cooper 16

Game 2 - CKaTT-67; Western New York Thunder-43

Game 3-Semi-final - CKaTT-69; Hamilton Elite-47 Ante scored the first 15 points