As Full Court correspondent Bob Corwin describes in greater detail in our related article "Twelve Talented Teens Named to U-16 Team"USA Basketball spent the last weekend in May sifting through 34 candidates from across the country in the process of selecting the first U16 National Women's Team to represent the United States in international competition. The 12 players who survived the winnowing process will travel south later this summer to vie for gold in a FIBA's Americas' event to be held in Mexico (the date, to be determined, has been postponed due to the Swine Flu outbreak), and if they prevail, may represent the U.S. next year in FIBA's inaugural U-17 World Championships.
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| Mater Dei's freshman combo guard Jordan Adams also made the U-16 team. |
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| Alexyz Vaioletama put herself over the top and joined her two Mater Dei teammates on the USA U-16 team with a solid shooting exhibition on the final morning of trials, according to Full Court's Bob Corwin who observed the proceedings |
Four of those who made the cut hailed from California and three turned out to be teammates on the Mater Dei Monarchs of Santa Ana, a team that spent much of this season at the top of the national rankings. Sophomore Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis - one of the top-ranked players in the country (indeed, Corwin called Mosqueda-Lewis the best player of the camp - made the roster along with her Monarch teammates, sophomore Alexyz Vaioletama and freshman Jordan Adams. The fourth Californian was sophomore power forward Justine Hartman of nearby Brea-Olinda High School. Another prep powerhouse, Bolingbrook High School in Illinois, offered up a duet of teammates in point guard Ariel Massengale and Morgan Tuck (who made the team despite tearing her her left ACL during the trials).
The balance of the team was rounded out by Cierra Burdick (South Mecklenburg H.S., NC), Betnijah Laney (Smyrna H.S., DE), Alexia Standish (Colleyville Heritage H.S., TX), Breanna Stewart (Cicero-North Syracuse High, NY), Kiah Stokes (Linn-Mar High School, Iowa), Elizabeth Williams (Princess Anne High School, VA), and alternate Bashaara Graves (Clarksville H.S., TN).
The Mater Dei trifecta was the first time any high school has landed three berths on a national team, or national age group team, and Monarchs' coach Kevin Kiernan is pleased as punch at his young players' accomplishment.
"We're really happy for them," Mater Dei Coach Kevin Kiernan said of himself and his staff. "Kaleena really, really wanted it, and Alexyz didn't even dream of it. They are great kids and they will do great."
In addition to her efforts on behalf of the red, white and blue, this spring and summer, Mosqueda-Lewis has a bit longer of a way to travel to her club team tournaments.
That's because she's playing for the nationally-ranked Tennessee Flight.
Interestingly, Kiernan said Mosqueda-Lewis and her family chose the Flight because they wanted to cut back on the sophomore's club ball committment.
"The Flight told her that she'd only have to play in two tournaments this spring, as opposed to most every weekend on other club teams," Kiernan said.
A major consideration in this was Mosqueda-Lewis' anticipated participation on the U16 National Team this summer, according to Kiernan.
Kiernan said pressure on young athletes to play all spring and summer is tremendous.
"It's crazy how much (coaches) play them," Kiernan said. "Kids are pulled in a bunch of different directions."
Kiernan added that most players participate for exposure, but Mosqueda-Lewis, who has taken an unofficial visit to the University of Connecticut, isn't short on that.
"She doesn't need anymore exposure right now," he said.