2001 Showcase Champs

The 2001 Miss Basketball Showcase featured 32 prep girls all-star teams from 13 states. Tournament Gold from Omaha, Nebraska, came out on top. Congratulations to these players and all who participated for a job well done! The following article is from the July 16 issue of the Kearney Hub newspaper.

Golden Touch

By JASON LUTH, Hub Sports Writer

07/16/2001

KEARNEY — By all indications Tournament Gold has aquired the Midas touch this summer.

Tournament Gold, an Omaha team, lifted its second tournament trophy this month by edging the Sioux Falls Riders 48-40 in the championship game of the Miss Basketball Showcase on Sunday.

Tournament Gold won the Dakota Showcase that was held June 28-30 in Sioux Falls.

“We have had a great couple of weeks,” Tournament Gold I coach Doug Woodard said. “I think losing a game in pool play was the best thing that could have happened to us. We weren’t getting after it like we had been, and it seemed to wake us up.

“We may not get the publicity of some of the other all-star teams, but these girls firmly believed that they are the best team in this tournament.”

Bellevue West senior Kristi Woodard and Millard North senior Angie Janis were named co-MVP’s of the tournament after scoring 15 and 11 points, respectively, in the championship game.

The Sioux Falls Riders, who are comprised of players from Sioux Falls Roosevelt High School, were led by Lindsay Thomas’ 17 points.

The Rider players are no strangers to success — Roosevelt High has won 86 straight games and boasts four state championships in as many years.

“We felt like we gave it a great shot considering that we are a high school team,” Sioux Falls coach Charlie Luecke said. “We are glad to be a part of this tournament, and I’m sure the Riders will be back again next year.”

Tournament Gold, the sister team to the Mr. Basketball Invitational champions of the week before, trailed by as many as nine points early in the first half, but quickly turned the tide with superior defensive intensity.

Bolstered by several late defensive stops, Tournament Gold took a 22-21 lead into halftime, and never trailed in the second half.

“We are fairly long and athletic,” Coach Woodard said of his team. “And when these girls get after it, they can really cause problems for teams on the defensive end. Sioux Falls plays so well together. …We knew we would have to match their intensity and take care of the ball.”

They did.

Tournament Gold claimed its largest lead of the game on a short jumper by Kristi Woodard that made it 39-30 with six minutes remaining in regulation.

“We had a couple of teams that we struggled with, but we pulled through and did what we had to,” Kristi Woodard said. “We worked together to get this win, and that’s probably what makes this team as good as it is.”

TEAM ROSTER: