A group of 11 basketball players from Maine and New Hampshire shocked some of the best young players in the country last week, as the Maine Elite Basketball Club tenth grade boys team won the 2014 AAU Silver Super Showcase National Championship in Tavares, Florida last Sunday.
MEBC beat the Boston Warriors 61-47 in the tournament final, after beating some of the nation’s best and most talented teams to get there.
“First and foremost, it’s huge for the kids,” said MEBC club owner and head coach Chris Binette, of Waterboro. “For them to go to a national tournament stage, and really they played the best they’ve played all year long at the perfect time. Their timing couldn’t have been better for them to click as a team.
“I’ve been coaching for 20 years, and this is the pinnacle of my career so far. And it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the boys.”
MEBC plays out of XL Sports World in Saco, and the tenth grade team is made up of players from all around southern Maine, as well as a player from North Conway, New Hampshire. Massabesic’s Dan Amabile and Sanford’s Haris Layn are on the roster, as well as three players from the Portland High School team that won this year’s Class A state championship.
“We didn’t have any individual on our team that was head and shoulders better than anybody else,” said Binette. “We had a bunch of really good players that played together.”
MEBC’s tournament started with a loss on July 16, as the team blew a five-point lead with 42 seconds to play against Each 1 Teach 1. Despite the loss, Binette said his team gained confidence by taking an elite team ”“ E1T1 plays in the EYBL, which has fostered seven of the last eight No. 1 NBA draft picks ”“ to the brink.
“After that game, we had a long conversation about (how) we can play with the best in the nation,” said Binette.
That was the last game MEBC lost in the tournament. And it all started with the team’s defense.
“Of course we need to play defense,” said Binette, “because we’re not as talented.”
MEBC twice held teams under 40 points, and only once gave up more than 50.
The latter came in a quarterfinal matchup against Nike Team Florida.
“Everything they do is paid for by Nike. We are from Maine; we can’t compete with that,” said Binette. “But we did, we won.”
Binette admitted, however, that his team might have had destiny on its side in beating Nike Team Florida. The teams were tied 60-60 with seven seconds left in regulation, with Nike Team Florida only needing to make a foul shot to take the lead.
“The ball rolled around the rim and fell out, and we collected it and went into overtime,” said Binette. “If Nike Team Florida hits that foul shot, we lose; we go home.”
Instead, MEBC took advantage of its new life and outscored Nike Team Florida 11-7 in the extra period, and moved on to the final four of the tournament.
Another daunting foe was in front of the players in the semifinals last Sunday morning, as they had to face Team NOLA from New Orleans.
“During warm-ups, they were doing 360 dunks and tomahawk dunks,” Binette said of Team NOLA. “We just dug deep and the kids came to play.”
Despite being a big underdog in the game, MEBC prevailed, holding Team NOLA to just 48 points to advance to the tournament championship.
“After the game, when I talked to the kids, I started crying talking to them, because I was so happy for them,” said Binette. “They just did it; nobody had done that.”
With two powerhouse teams out of the way, MEBC had only the Boston Warriors standing between it and the national championship. Binette said that Team NOLA was a much better team than the Warriors ”“ a team MEBC had played before in New England tournaments ”“ and his players proved just as much.
MEBC jumped out to a 23-4 lead at the end of the first quarter, and as Binette said, “took the legs out of them.”
MEBC led by more than 20 points for much of the game before the Warriors hit some 3-pointers late for the 14-point final margin.
“It never happens,” said Binette. “Maine teams playing at a national level never come home with national championships.
“I know it sounds cliché, but we really did everything perfect.”
Binette said that he had coaches come up to him all week raving about his team’s defense, as his club made an impact on some of the nation’s more well-known teams. Binette and his team certainly did their share to help put Maine basketball on the map.
“(The players) realized that this is something special in Maine,” said Binette. “It’s something that may not happen again for a long, long time.”
— Staff Writer Wil Kramlich can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 323 or sports@journaltribune.com. Follow him on Twitter @WilTalkSports.
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