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”.

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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.

The Castle Athletics boys 15U team traveled to Orlando to compete in the AAU Memorial Day Classic and returned undefeated and with a championship in hand. In pool play, the team took down FG-Miami Dynasty Black 51-39, Team Dynasty 59-38, and Ultimate Warriors-Armour 60-35. In the knockout round, Castle again beat Ultimate Warriors-Armour 54-32 in the Semi-finals and then bested Mayaguez PR LJJB 70-52 for the championship. Coach Mejia noted that the team has truly come together and played cohesively throughout the tournament, getting contributions from all players. Coach Mejia referenced the strong inside play of Steven Solano (7 blocks, numerous dunks and countless rebounds) and Moussa Samake, outside shooting of Clive Thompson, defensive presence of Tyson Clark and all-around play of Mathew Morales and Dayn Campbell.

Steven has received numerous scholarship offers from high-major programs and Tyson has garnered offers from several mid-major programs.

The team continues its play in June and July, including attending several high-level events during the “live period”.

This weekend, the Castle girls 5^th through 7^th grade teams ran the table at the Zero Gravity Queen of the Court tournament, claiming championships in the 5^th grade through 8^th grade divisions.  That is correct!!  The 7^th grade team split in two, with one team playing at the 8^th grade level.  Even playing up, the girls took the crown and won the group final with a 63-47 victory.  The 5^th grade squad (11U) took the chip with a 39-13 win and the 6^th (12U) and 7^th (13U) grade teams won their final games by the same score, 47-41.  Congratulations ladies!!  Keep working hard, on and off the court!!