The 6th Annual YouthBuild Basketball Tournament Recap

2013 YouthBuild Basketball Tournament Champs, YB Fall River

We told you in a previous post to expect some exciting play from our students, but not even we were ready for what we saw yesterday at our annual YouthBuild Basketball Tournament in Fall River. Every program in Massachusetts brought a team, and every team brought their "A" game. Students were diving for basketballs, hitting shots with the game on the line -- nobody left anything on the court, and it showed on the scoreboard. Most of the games were decided by six points or less! That includes a few that went into overtime and even one that went into triple overtime. Have you ever been to a game that went into triple overtime? We didn't think so...



Taking home the title of 2013 YouthBuild Basketball Tournament Champion was YouthBuild Fall River, who edged out YouthBuild Boston in overtime in the last game of the day. Boston fought valiantly, though, winning six games back to back just to reach the championship from the consolation bracket, then beating Fall River in the first game of the finals to force a second, and holding them off until the final seconds of overtime. All teams were equally talented and every match-up was a close one; there's no doubt in my mind that if you played yesterday's tournament over again, we'd end up with completely different results. 

However, as entertaining as they all were, the highlight of yesterday's games wasn't a buzzer beater, or a three-pointer, or a no-look pass -- it was the way in which every player on the court carried themselves -- with great sportsmanship and pride, regardless of whether they won or lost. Each student-athlete that participated yesterday embodied the spirit of YouthBuild, and it's for this reason that we continue to hold the tournament and cannot wait for 2014. So work on your game for next year, YouthBuilders, and we'll see you at the 7th Annual YouthBuild Basketball Tournament.

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