This weekend the 6th grade Fierce team took home the championship trophy in the Connecticut States tournament!   On Saturday, their ferocious defense was on full display as they turned back the clock and looked like the old 'bad boy' Detroit Pistons. Three players were blocking the same shot. The defense was scrambling and rotating all over the court to put pressure on the ball. Between TWO games, opponents scored a TOTAL of 22 points -- 13 points in the first game and only 9 points in the second game. Charlie Jones was cutting off the passing lanes and then going coast to coast on his way to a season high 22 points. Finbar Malloy was like a "swiss army knife" -- providing a little bit of everything -- scoring, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks. Kyle Dulak shot lights out with 4 three pointers. Joshua Stewart-Jones and Ryan Grooms contributed timely buckets as well.   On Sunday, the competition got tougher but the Fierce stepped up their level play another notch. In a 31-20 morning win over the Newtown Monarchs, Danny Goldberger controlled the offense as point guard and also caused chaos with his pressure defense. The victory advanced the Fierce to the 4pm Championship Game at Insports, where they had a showdown with 3D Basketball. Everything came together for an all-around 52-42 team win for the state title. Nick Brodsky received MVP honors as he recorded the first triple double in Fierce program history -- with approx 15 points, 11 rebounds and 10 blocks. Justin Wang led all scorers with 16 points. Matt Goos was tremendous in the paint with 10 points and 14 rebounds.   Congratulations 6th grade!

Freshmen win both games in their opening day together.   They came out of the gates with great passing in a 56-26 blowout over My Brothers Keeper and followed that with a gritty 51-44 victory over NY Pride.

WOW what a weekend of hoops for the Fierce.   4th grade won all 3 of their games convincingly to capture the Vertical Hoops Spring Tip-Off Crown. Led by Coaches Andy and Sam, the boys passed the ball beautifully and ran the floor as if they've been playing together for years. The defensive energy turned into quick and easy scoring chances.   Shortly after, 5th grade led by Coach Judah pulled out the Championship as well! They too delivered relentless defensive pressure and unselfish ball movement. In the semi-final game, they had to overcome the CBA team that had defeated them just one day earlier, and they rose to the challenge.   6th grade played an excellent first game where they held their opponent to only two points in the second half to win 46-22. They then faced a tough CBA squad in 2 straight games, and competed all the way until the end in both.   7th grade grew tremendously together in their 2nd weekend. On Saturday they locked in for impressive victories over two strong teams, including an overtime thriller vs CT Spartans. Then on Sunday after a quarterfinal win over North Stars, the Fierce found a way to out-muscle a bigger, faster opponent by a final score of 65-57 to advance to the Championship. They fought hard vs Elm City Elite in the Finals but came up just short by 5 points.   8th grade had a fantastic weekend as well, winning 2 out of their 3 games including a cohesive 45-32 win over CBA in the early Sunday game. Coach Rob has those boys clicking.   Congrats to all of our Fierce teams this weekend!

In the first day of Spring AAU action, all Fierce teams had an impressive debut.   4th grade won both of their games including a 30-26 nail-biting victory to tip off their season. Matty Raffaeli and Landon Gartner led the offensive attack with strong drives to the rim. But the team received contributions across the board.   5th grade found themselves behind by 12 points in the second half of their opening game, but stormed all the way back to pull it out by a final score of 41-37. Their ball movement was fun to watch. Luca Scalera was flying around everywhere on his jet pack. Blake Watkins and Roderick Hill Jr. were relentless on defense. Mitch DeBernardo and Carson Dodder gobbled up rebound after rebound. Krish Dodani and Devin Brenner were knocking down their open outside shots.   6th grade held their own against a high level Heat Elite squad, only trailing by 1 point in the second half. Justin Wang flashed around the court like a bolt of lightning. Danny Goldberger and Matty Kleinman controlled the ball, while Mark Kingan and Matt Goos controlled the paint. Finbar Malloy was aggressive attacking from the wing.   7th grade split their two close games and looked terrific doing it. Gerald Jacobs, Devin Julious, Bobby Welch, Liam Yin and Luca Fusco all highlighted the day.   8th grade also split their games and were powered by Nolan Hansen, Jack Plesser, Anthony Gambuzza... and everyone else.   A phenomenal opening day to the spring season!

The Fierce started off 2019 where they left off 2018.... playing high-level team basketball.   6th grade got the day started with a big blowout win over Guilford. Jack Cramer enjoyed a breakout game with 14 points.   5th grade competed hard but came up 6 points short against a physical St. Theresas club.   7th grade rallied in the second half to pull away from Milford by a final score of 46-29.   Bring on 2019!

The Fierce finished off the fall season this weekend in strong fashion!   5th grade ran off three straight hard fought victories to advance to the championship game. Then as a heavy underdog, they almost pulled out a major upset against the Fenom Fire, missing a three pointer at the buzzer that would have sent the game into overtime. Their teamwork together vs Day 1 of the season was night and day.   6th grade John also ran off three straight wins against High Rise Elite, CT PHD and 3D Basketball before coming up short in their championship. The boys grew stronger together as the season went on.   6th grade Sam experienced a story book ending to their resilient season. In a fall where wins were hard to come by, and then trailing by as much as 14 points in their final game, magic happened and they stormed back to win the game in the final moments. The boys were on cloud 9.   7th grade pulled out magic of their own with two separate amazing comebacks. They were down by double digits to 3D basketball and then clicked on all cylinders in the 2nd half to steal the game back. Then they did the same again in the late 8pm game vs the Dragons, winning by 5 after falling behind early by 9 points.   8th grade also put on a show with 3 straight wins, including a thrilling 59-55 victory over a tough CSA Velocity squad. The ball movement, team defense and outside shooting all came together. These boys had a balanced attack all season and shared fun team chemistry both on and off the court.   And of course 9th grade fought all weekend and all season. They pushed themselves to compete against elite competition, and rose to the occasion. As the Fierce program's oldest team and most tenured Fierce players, these boys continued to lead the way for all of the younger guys looking up to them.   We are proud of all of our players for their hard work!

After coming close several times this fall... 7th grade has captured their first tournament title! Congrats boys!   8th grade and 9th grade both advanced to their championship games, with great weekends of their own.

It was another fantastic all-around weekend for the Fierce. 9th grade, 7th grade and 5th grade all advanced to their Championship Games.   9th grade ran by the Queens Pythons, DTX Basketball and then pulled out a nail-biting 2 point win over a favored Team Austin.   7th grade topped DTX Basketball and Newtown Monarchs.   5th grade put together 3 straight wins over Greenwich Stars, Tri State Hornets and High Rise Elite. Their passing and teamwork was on full display.   Back to work in practice!

This weekend, 8th grade took center stage, as the "cardiac kids" (led by Coach Matt) squeaked out a pair of 1 point victories on Sunday to win their tournament! In the morning game, they stormed all the way back from a 20 point deficit to pull it out. Then in the championship, they held off the late surge of a relentless opponent. Congrats boys!   6th grade also took a trip to the title game with wins over DTX and 3D Basketball.   All teams competed hard, as always!

Congratulations to our Freshman team for winning the Vertical Hoops Fall Tip-Off Tournament this weekend!   Coach Judah and Coach Cleveland led them to 4 straight defensive masterpieces. We are proud to have grown up with this group and welcomed some new faces into the mix.   7th grade took their Championship Game into overtime against a team that had defeated them by 11 points the day before.   5th, 6th and 8th grades all competed hard. A great weekend by all Fierce teams!