Sports

Albany’s AAU Hotshots head to national tournament in S.C.

• A local girls AAU basketball team, the 14-and-younger Albany Hotshots, leave today for a trip to the national adidas Classic in Columbia, S.C.

Scott Chancey

ALBANY — The Albany Hotshots’ 14-and-younger  AAU girls basketball team only took seven players last weekend to an Atlanta tournament and finished fourth.

Coach Gary Smith was happy with that — considering the circumstances.

But now that his team will have a full roster in this weekend’s adidas Classic in Columbia, S.C., he is expecting better results.

“We definitely had a good showing in Atlanta, in my mind,” said Smith, who is in his first year as coach.

Smith, who is coaching the team in his first year, said this is the team’s second year together. While practicing for the tournament which features more than 60 teams, he felt his team had plenty to be motivated about considering the magnitude of the tournament.

“There will be plenty of college scouts there, already,” Smith said.

Among the top players so far have been Miranda Phillips and Lauren Fulford.

“Miranda is our leading scorer and best ball-handler,” Smith said.

Back to today's Sports>>