Castle Athletics dominated the Zero Gravity Winter League Championships on Sunday at House of Sports, nabbing four out of five trophies. On the Boys’ side, Castle went three for three taking home championships in the 11U, 12U and 13U brackets. It might have been four-for-four, but the 14U squad was traveling at the Marquee Hoops Championships. The 12U squad started the Boys’ haul by taking down the Tri-State Thunder 52-32. Virtually all team members got in the scoring column. Over the course of the Winter, the team continued to develop fundamentals and Coaches Bill, Cornell and Ron did a great job working with the boys and helping them improve over the past four months.

The trophies continued to come in when the 13U team took down the Grey Wolves Silver 58-44. This was another example of improvement throughout the Winter months and Coaches Jessie and Darryl should be commended for the Boys development.

The newest team on the block, 11U, continued their dominance of Winter League opponents and ran over the Greenwich Stars 48-16. Coaches Will and Sherman have done a fantastic job molding the team and teaching them the basics of the game.

The Girls 14U similarly went through the Winter League like a hot knife through butter, going undefeated. Coach Baruch led the charges this weekend and they finished off the competition with a 58-33 win over Team Sharp in the final. Team Sharp put up a valiant effort but the Castle press unhinged them and led to some easy buckets.

It should be noted that the two Castle girls teams playing in the 13U bracket toughed it out and were both upset in the semi-finals.

Now, on to the Spring and Summer seasons!!!!

Castle Athletics is proud to announce the developing relationship with Adidas, with it Girls and Boys teams playing on the Adidas Circuit this season. Brian Rosen, Executive Director, said that “Castle has competed previously on the Adidas Circuit and played in its Summer Championships, but having Adidas support and foster this relationship enhances not only the basketball development of our student athletes but facilitates their academic enrichment as well.”

After establishing themselves last year, the Girls 15-17U teams have accepted an invitation to play on the Adidas 3SSB Circuit, www.3ssbcircuit.com/girls-teams, and shall be traveling to Spartanburg, SC, Rock Hill, SC and Ladera Ranch, CA to compete against some of the best teams in the country, besides their already highly competitive schedule. Rock Rosa, Castle Girls Coordinator stated “this is a tremendously opportunity for Castle to continue to develop some of the best basketball players in New York City and showcase that talent in taking on challenges from around the country.” The Girls teams will host tryouts on March 12th and 19th at Mott Hall High School, 6 Edgecombe Avenue, New York, NY. See the annexed flier for times and details.

The Boys 15-17U teams shall be competing on the Adidas Gold Circuit, making stops in Indianapolis, IN, Spartanburg, SC and Rock Hill, SC, in addition to its jam-packed tournament schedule. The Boys team are stocked with talent and Herc Mejia, Boys High School Coordinator, is looking forward to the challenge. “We are excited and ready to play and show what the Castle Boys are able to do.” The Boys teams will host tryouts on March 12th and 19th at Hostos Community College, 500 Grand Concourse, Bronx, NY. See the annexed flier for times and details.

On a related note, due the large of number of Girls that participated in the Middle School tryouts last week and to provide the greatest opportunity for all student athletes, Castle has scheduled a second tryout for the Girls this Saturday at Mott Hall High School. The G12U team tryout will be from 9-10:30am and the G13U and 14U team tryouts will be held from 10:30am-12:30pm. See the annexed flier for times and details.  Girls HS Tryouts Flyer | Girls MS Tryouts Flyer | Adidas Gauntlet Tryout Flyer

This weekend, the Castle Boys 14U team took the championship of the Dyckman Middle School League, beating Mott Hall in the semi-final 42-22, and We Got Next in the final 50-45. The team has continued to grow over the Winter and the chip is a culmination of the efforts of the players and coaches to develop and hone their game. At the post-game press conference, Coach Leaf Johnson said “I could not be more proud of the boys and how they continue to work at getting better. Today was just another example of that work ethic.”

While the championship was a team effort, Coach Leaf and Castle players were also recognized for individual honors. Coach Leaf was named Coach of the Year for the League. Carlos Perez received League First Team honors and was named Co-MVP of the League. And, in the Championship game, was named Most Valuable Player.

Congratulations to Coach Leaf and the team!!!

Castle Athletics announced today that Girls Middle School team tryouts will be held at Mott Hall High School, located at 5 Edgecombe Avenue, New York, New York, on February 26, 2022. Throughout the Winter, the teams have competed on the Made Hoops and Select Events Circuits and locally, gaining experience and testing themselves against some of the best competition. With the proposed Spring and Summer schedule, the teams will ratchet up the intensity and push themselves even harder. Anwar Gladden, Castle Girls Middle School Coordinator and Coach of the G12/6th Grade team, stated “the schedule shows that we are placing our program at the forefront of all girls programs and provides development for play ultimately on the Adidas 3SSB circuit as high-schoolers”.

Download the Flyer

Castle Athletics released its schedule for the B11-14 (5^th through 8^th grades) upcoming season.  It is extremely competitive and has the boys rotating between the Marquee Hoops and Jr. Exposure Circuits, with a touch of mayhem and far off travel thrown in between.  Middle School Coordinator Jessie Sapp said that “the Winter season established that the boys will be competitive at any level and we are looking to challenge them and demonstrate the constant improvement throughout the year.”  The teams will be traveling to New Jersey, Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Florida and Massachusetts.  They will also be playing locally in New York.

To fill out the rosters, Castle also announced that tryouts for the Boys Middle School teams will be held at The Salvation Army, 540 Lenox Avenue, New York, NY 10037 (located at 137^th Street) on the following dates and times:

B11U/5^th Grade:
Wednesday, February 23, 2022, at 6:00pm
Monday, February 28, 2022, at 6:00pm

B12U/6^th Grade:
Tuesday, February 22, 2022, at 6:00pm
Thursday, February 24, 2022, at 6:00pm

B13U/7^th Grade:
Tuesday, February 22, 2022, at 7:30pm
Thursday, February 24, 2022, at 7:30pm

B14U/8^th Grade:
Wednesday, February 23, 2022, at 7:30pm
Monday, February 28, 2022, at 7:30pm

Anyone interested in trying out for a Castle Middle School team must arrive at least fifteen minutes prior to the start of tryouts for registration.  There is no fee for attending a tryout.

After advancing and being runner-up in three tournaments, the Castle Knights 16s, led by Coach Kenny Pretlow won the ZG Summer Finale Championship this past weekend.

The team started out by routing Connecticut Elite CB 59 to 34, hitting twelve 3s for the game. Next up, the team took on High Rise Basketball and pulled out a 69 67 win in thriller. The Knights started out cold and could not defend the High Rise big men. At the half, the team trailed by twenty points. The second half started out the same and, with only five minutes to go, Castle was still down by twenty, 59-39. At that point, Coach P. went aggressive, pressing High Rise full court.  Guards Nasir Muhammad, Siyani Arthur and Keshawn Morris caused turnover after turnover and the team came all the way back and Nasir hit a three with 30 seconds to go to give Castle the lead.  After a defensive stand,  the Boys came away with the victory and clinched a playoff spot.

On Sunday, the team took on Connecticut Elite KM, with a bye to the championship game on the line.  The game was a back-and-forth affair, with Connecticut Elite leading at the half by ten. In the second half, Castle tightened its defense and, with three minutes to go, held a six point lead. But, the opposition was able to hit back-to-back three’s and pulled out a 61-58 win.  Nevertheless, Castle moved on to the championship to challenge Pro Skills Gold.

Having played a tough earlier game, Castle started out cold and a little tired.  But, the team received some strong minutes from Kenohi Davis and Kamden Vidal.  At the half, Castle trailed by fifteen points. In the huddle, Keshawn Morris exhorted his teammates to pick it up because the team was not going to lose another championship. Not leaving it in the huddle, Keshawn led by example, defending Pro Skills’ best player and scoring 15 second half points.  Siyani Arthur added 3 three pointers of his own and helped the lock down on defense. The MVP, however, was 5’5” Nasir Muhammad.  Nasir came up with four second half steals, drew three charges and hit five three pointers. With the team down one point with 20 seconds to go, the Knights ran their out-of-bounds play to get Nasir a three pointer which he buried giving the team the lead.  The Knights held on defense and, after Keshawn hit two free throws, came away with a 59-58 win!!! It was a well-earned Championship and sets the tone for the upcoming Live Period.