Contratulations on a successful showing at the 2009 North American Chinese Basketball Association Invitational Tournament in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. CCYAA had four teams participating in the tournament (Boys Under 15, Masters, Girls, and Womens).

The CCYAA Boys Under 15 team had three (Eric Chong, Ivan Chan, and Andrew Yan) returning players, and nine rookies. In their first game of the tournament, they started off slow, playing against the Philly Suns, but eventually closed out the game with a win. It seemed as if the team woke up from the first game and came out strong leading in double figured against New York USAB. Alex Chong, the youngest player on the team, made his debut and was able to score 2 points off a layup attempt. Their final round robin game was against Maryland - the only other undefeated team. Maryland had a very talented point guard, but great overall team defense along with individual defensive efforts by Paul Fedoryshin and Ivan Chan; who split time playing defense on the Maryland superstar PG, were able to limit his effectiveness. With a perfect 3-0 round robin record, CCYAA earned a bye to the finals. Although they lost to Maryland in round robin play, New York USAB was able to win the semi-final matchup for a chance to claim the championship.

So the stage was set - CCYAA U15 vs New York USAB for the 2009 title. CCYAA started off slow and were down 8 early in the game, but they managed to chip away at the deficit and ended the first half down just 2 points. THe second half began slow yet again for CCYAA, and within the first couple minutes, they were down by 12. A few defensive adjustments and solid rebounding efforts by the entire team for the remaining duration of the game helped get CCYAA back in it. With less than one minute left in the game, and down 8, Ivan Chan made a layup, Eric Chong made a 3-pointer, and perhaps with one of the biggest shots of the tournament, Preston Lam hit the game-tying 3-point shot after CCYAA stole the ball on the defensive end. USAB tried to push the ball, but were unable to put up a shot as CCYAA stole the ball yet again. With 7 seconds remaining in the game, score tied, CCYAA inbounded the ball, got it to Eric Chong and as time was winding down, he took a 3-point shot... the buzzer sounded, signaling the end of the game... but to the surprise of everyone in the gym, there was a foul called by the baseline referee. Eric stepped up to the line and took his first shot... swish! And that was the game. CCYAA emptied the bench and the celebration began.

Congratulations to the entire team! Tournament MVP went out to Eric Chong, and Chris Wong was named to the All-Tournament Team. Thank you goes out to Coach Brian Chow for dedicating his time and effort to guide the team for the past 5 months. A special thanks also goes out to Garvin Yeung who came to practices as a Skills Development Coach.

Not only can the young guys from CCYAA ball, but the Masters team can still run with the best of them. The Masters team returned to the tournament as defending champs, and were successful at retaining the title by winning their third championship for the third straight year, and their fifth title in the past six years. They look to make it four in a row in 2010 right here in Toronto!

Girls and Womens team updates coming soon...

For general recap of the entire tournament: http://www.nacbait.com/