Twisters test skills in tough camp

from staff reports

   It was four days of learning and getting better for members of the Twisters' 7th-grade basketball team.
   The team -- consisting of eight rising seventh graders and two rising sixth graders who will attend T.A. Dugger this fall -- went 4-8 against extremely tough competition at the Stars of Tomorrow Camp at Murphy Center in Murfreesboro from Sunday through Wednesday.
   All of the teams the Twisters faced were comprised of mostly eighth graders with the exception of the Madisonville #3 squad.
   The Twisters posted wins of 22-14, 27-0, 21-19 in overtime and 15-3. The team lost 19-14 and 19-13 on the final day, narrowly missing a chance to finish at 6-6. Included in the field of opponents was traditional Class A power Celina, Smyrna, Christ Presbyterian Academy, Madisonville, Rossville (Ga.) Ridgeland and Huntsville (Ala.) Monrovia. The Huntsville team rolled through the camp and walked away with the middle school camp championship, led by star eighth-grader Adrienne Webb, who totaled 12 points in just one quarter of play against the Twisters.
   Twisters head coach Jeremy Simerly said his team's effort on the final day against CPA -- which had handily defeated most of the other teams at the camp -- was its best performance. The Twisters stayed within two or three points throughout the game before falling by five, 19-14.
   Rising sixth-grader Chelsea Bowling lead the team in scoring for the week with 41 points. She was followed by Kamra Fritz (36 points), Jasmine Jefferson (33 points) and Kadey Robinson (27 points). Robinson hit the game-winning shot in the 21-19 overtime win over Madisonville.
   Jefferson led the team with an incredible 78 rebounds, followed by Elizabeth Quintero (43), Robinson (38), Fritz (19), Tara Kauffeld (17), Diamond Myrick (17), Natalie Waddle (16), Jenna Markland (14) and rising sixth-grader Megan Hyatt (11).
   Kauffeld led with eight assists while Bowling had seven, Robinson six, Fritz five and Jefferson five.
   Fritz led with 22 steals, followed by Robinson (18), Kauffeld (14) and Bowling (12).
   Jefferson had seven blocks followed by Quintero (6), Waddle (5) and Fritz (4).
   In the Team Competition, held on the main court at Murphy Center, the Twisters got a third-place finish in the middle school division from Kamra Fritz in the 3-point competition. She made six total threes in two 30-second competitions. The Twisters finished third in their heat in the dribble relay competition.