Rosenthal, Litalien help Stars win tourney
Helped by Carli Rosenthal of Coeur d’Alene High and Brooke Litalien of Post Falls, the Spokane Stars Blue won the Midsummer Nights Magic AAU girls basketball tournament Tuesday in Seattle, beating Tree of Hope from Seattle 44-42 in overtime in the championship game.
It was the sixth time in the past seven years the Stars won the tournament, and second straight year.
The win capped quite a week for the Stars, who placed second out of 128 teams at the End of the Trail tournament last week in Oregon City, Ore.
At Seattle, the Stars beat Club Shock (Bellingham, Wash.) 79-19 and Hoop Dreams of Boise 76-19, then lost 48-47 to West Coast Extreme from southern California.
The Stars then beat Hoop Dreams again, 69-17, Sage Brush (Tri-Cities) 52-48 and Northwest Blues (Oregon) to reach the semifinals this morning, where they beat Wiggens Basketball Program of San Diego 47-32.
That put the Stars in the finals vs. Tree of Hope, who they beat in last year’s final. The Stars trailed until Jordan Loera hit a 3-pointer with 17 seconds left to force overtime. Tree of Hope got the tip in OT, then missed a shot inside with 1 minute left. Loera was fouled on a shot with 5 seconds left, hit both free throws, and Tree of Hope missed a desperation shot at the buzzer.
At Oregon City, the Stars beat the San Diego Sol 58-10 in their opener July 6, then beat West Coast Premiere, Nike’s No. 1 team, 54-47 in a practice game.
Back in bracket play, the Stars beat Alaska 44-26, the Colorado Hoopsters 58-32 and YEA 47-38. The Stars then lost to the Minnesota Stars 61-55, but still advanced because Minnesota had to leave for home and was unable to continue in the tournament — a fact Stars coach Ron Adams knew coming in.
In the semifinals, the Stars beat California Swish Black 54-47. In the title game on July 9, in a rematch with West Coast Premiere, the Stars lost 58-36.
“That was like playing a WNBA team,” Adams said.
Rosenthal, who will be a senior this fall, was named to the all-tournament team along with Shaniqua Nilles of West Valley.
In 16 games over the two tournaments, Rosenthal averaged 11.3 points, 8.2 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 1.5 blocks and 2.1 steals per game.
Adams said the Stars played against many of the top posts on the West Coast, but “I would not trade Carli for any of them,” he said. “She is so steady, she’s a force in the middle; without her, we can’t win.”
Litalien, who will be a sophomore this fall, averaged 3.6 points, 1.2 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 2.5 steals off the bench.
“She’s the only freshman on our team, playing with eight juniors who are going to be seniors,” Adams said. “She’s getting the experience of a lifetime.”
The Stars next play in the Spokane Summer Heat tournament July 22-23 at The Warehouse in the Spokane Valley.