Orlando Comets

(KB - 08/21/05) The 2005 AAU season started promisingly for the Comets Blue team. They had a big front line consisting of Candace Thompson, Brittany Waters, Laquita Curry and Jelana Childs--all six footers. They had an excellent cadre of guards led by Asia Wilson, Tiara Jackson, Jessica George and Lallique Roman. They added Cody Franklin as an assistant coach. Plus, during the off season, the Comets organization picked up a Nike sponsorship that would guarantee exposure during the competition season to both teams. The Blue team committed to attend the same tournaments as the Red team. The difference between the teams would be that the Red team was now fully committed to the 16U division while the Blue team would have a free hand in the 15U division. The Blue team would be out of the Red team's shadow for the first time. There was only one slight problem. The Nike sponsorship obligated both teams attend Basketball on the Bayou in New Orleans. Basketball on the Bayou conflicted with AAU 15U nationals. The Blue team would not be able to attend their own national tournament. They brashly decided to attend AAU 16U nationals. But first the Blue team had to navigate thru the spring season. They mapped out a series of AAU and Nike tournaments designed to give their players maximum exposure and experience. The Blue team opened the AAU season by competing at the FBVA Miracle Challenge in Orlando. They won all their pool games but eventually lost to the Palm Bay Lady Ice in the semis. What happened? "We were exhausted. We just ran out of gas." This sequence repeated itself at the Essence Girls Basketball Classic in Tallahassee in late March. Undefeated in pool play, the Blue team lost first bracket game to the Columbus Blazers. What happened? "We were exhausted. We just ran out of gas." The Blue team competed at the Boo Williams event in mid-April. Both the Blue team and the Red team competed in the 15U division at this event (at Nike's request). The Blue team finished 1-1 in Pool play, then lost their first bracket game to the Tri-State Tarheels, 51-23. Laquita Curry took an elbow in the Blue team's first pool game requiring stitches and did not return for the remainder of the tourney. The Blue team again played in the 15U division at the SC 76ers Invitational two weeks later. Undefeated in pool play, the Blue team played four games on Saturday and won three of them. The fourth game of the day was first bracket game. What happened? "We were exhausted. We just ran out of gas." Somehow a pattern was developing. To be fair, the Blue team suffered several nagging injuries to key players. Asia Wilson had an ankle injury that kept her from performing at peak capacity. Laquita Curry was in and out of games. But the 2005 Comets Blue was fast gaining a reputation for not finishing on Sundays. The Blue team did little to cast off this reputation at the AAU state tourney in mid-May. On the first day of competition, the Blue team blew out their historical rivals, the Clearwater Heatwave, 54-33. The Blue team dominated the Heatwave in the transition game, forcing their rivals into a number of ill-advised turnovers and capitalizing at the offensive end. Nothing the Heatwave devised could break the Blue team's defensive pressure. It looked as if the Blue team's strategy of competing against top competition at Nike events was paying dividends. The Blue team sliced thru the competition at states and found themselves in the 15U championship game matched, again, against the Heatwave. But this time the tables had turned. Noting the Comets' pressure tactics, the Heatwave opened up their long game and blistered the Blue team with ten three-pointers in the first half alone. They took a 30 point lead into halftime and won the game 73-44. This time exhaustion and injuries could not be blamed. The Heatwave were just unconscious from the perimeter that day. For the first time ever a non-Orlando team won the AAU b. 1989 state championship. And the Blue team continued their Sunday winless streak.