Hoopville Spring Finale

 This weekend, the Hoopville Spring Finale will be taking place at the Reggie Lewis Center in Boston.  The tournament features a field of teams which is interesting in that there are teams from some of the top Eastern New England Programs and also teams which we have never heard of before.  Here's a look at each age division.Click here to view Hoopville Spring Finale Schedule

Preview

12u...4 Teams:  Expressions, Mass Evolution, The Stars, The Marshall - Prediction: Pick'em

13u...8 Teams:  Expressions, Mass Evolution, Big Time, Prodigy, South Shore Basketball Club, Greater Boston Lions 
Prediction: Pick 'em

14u - 8 Teams - Contenders: GBL, Expressions, Shooting Stars...Interesting rematch in pool play between GBL and Shooting Stars.  When the two teams squared off in pool play in the State Tournament, GBL got the best of the Shooting Stars and beat them by 10 or so..(The Shooting Stars came back during bracket play to make it all the way to the State Final)  Another interesting rematch would arise if the Shooting Stars and Expressions met in the Final.  In the Semi-Finals of the Super Regionals, the Shooting Stars pulled off a huge upset by knocking off an Expression squad who many expected to run the table locally this Spring.  Seems a safe statement to say that Expressions might look forward to an opportunity to even the score with the Shooting Stars. 

Prediction: Look for Expressions to have a big weekend and establish some momentum going into July.

15u...BABC is the heavy favorite in this division...They will play two tough teams in pool play in the Boston Spartans and Basketbull...The New England Ballas 15u squad reached the final at Gym Rats in Albany a few weeks back and are looking to make a splash bacvk home this weekend. Other teams entered are Mass Evolution, GBL, and Boston Titans.  

Prediction: BABC...Roll Tide

16u...This is the definitely the age division with the most loaded field of teams, with four of the best five teams in New England slated to play.  Pool A features BABC, who will be without Nerlens Noels who is in Chicago at the Amare Stoudamire Skills Academy..  The New England Playaz and the RI Hawks are in Pool B, and Expressions is in Pool C.  It is likely that the four big fish will end up in the final four on Sunday. 

Prediction:  I suppose if there was a weekend to get BABC, this would be it, but until that happens, they get the nod.

17u...The biggest name in the 17u field is Expressions, and we will be curious to get a look at the make-up of this roster heading into July.  The New England Ballas is another big name heading into the weekend as their 16u squad is coming off a Chip at the Zero Gravity Nationals at Brandeis last weekend.  Other than those two teams, the field is made up of a dozen teams that are unknowns to the Hooprootz Spaceship...We''ll see what these squads are all about.

Prediction: Expressions starts to put something together as the Holy Grail Month nears.

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