| NACA REPORT By Anthony Petrilli |
This past week the men of American International took a trip down to Dayton, Tennessee for the naca nationals. There first game was
the primetime game on Wednesday night against Central Park Academy from Birmingham, Alabama. The peace took an early 9 to 2
lead. Central park came back very quickly and went on a run and took the lead going into halftime. Central park started to pull away
towards and defeated the peace 81 to 63. James Boonstoppel contributed 13 points, Gaellan Bewernick contributed 20 points and 12
rebounds, and Giannis Stavrianidis added 22 points, and Mitch Trestrail added 8 points and 15 rebounds. The peace took on Our Savior
Christian Academy the next morning. The peace jumped out to an early lead and never looked back. They played shutdown defense all
game and defeated Our Savior 89 to 41. James Boonstoppel poured in his career high 41 points, Gaellan Bewernick also added 20
points and 15 rebounds, Stavrianidis added 17 points and Luke lougoon added 14 assists and shutdown our saviors leading score also
all tournament player to 6 points. Although the peace won greatly they took an even bigger loss after the game. Starting point guard
Luke Lougoon was hit in the head in the 2nd quarter and kept playing. After the game he was rushed the hospital and diagnosed with a
concussion and was told he could not suit up for a week.
The Peace took on West Oaks Christian Academy later that night and it seemed that the peace would be greatly undermanned, this
would seem to be the most exciting game of the tournament. The peace went down very early to the men of West Oaks but before
anyone knew it they were down by 5 at halftime. Key shots from Shota Tsiklauri and a Dominate yet short performance from Bewernick
due to foul trouble kept the Peace hanging around. The second Half Began and the Peace once again seemed to fall deep, deeper than
before with west oaks having an 18 point lead at one time. The peace began to play lockdown defense and began to execute on the
offensive end. The peace cut the lead down to 10. Once again Bewernicks dominate performance and big shots from Tsiklauri kept
there motor running. Anthony Petrilli took 3 vital charges during the run and the peace capitalized on all 3 extra possessions cutting the
lead down to 3. The next possession down Boonstoppel hit a 3 with 5 minutes left in the 4th quarter to tie the game up. It was a back and
forth battle until around 3 minutes to go in the game when Bewernick fouled out. From that point on west oaks gained a pretty
comfortable 6 point lead and it became a free throw shooting contest. West Oaks defeated American International 70 to 61. Bewernick
ended with 20 points and 11 rebounds, Boonstoppel added 25 points and 10 assists, and Tsiklauri added 15 points, and Petrilli added 2
points and 7 assists. Trestrail also added 18 rebounds. The next day American International faced Lancaster Christian Academy and this
one was over before it even started. Stavrianidis did not play due to a sprained ankle suffered against West Oaks. Boonstoppel poured
in 39 points, going 11 of 20 from beyond the arc. Bewernick added 19 points and 18 rebounds, and Petrilli added 15 Points and 13
assists in the 90 to 61 win over Lancaster.
The American International Peace took 3rd place in the tournament behind All tournament team performances by James Boonstoppel
and Gaellan Bewernick. "This tournament highlighted each of our players specialties" said coach John Jordan. "James is a lights out
shooter, Gaellan is a workhouse, Giannis gives mismatch problems on the perimeter and on the inside, Mitch is the one who just never
gives up, he goes 110 all game, Luke Lougoon is our leader and he's what keeps us in tact. Anthony is a lockdown defender, and Shota
can extend the defense with his shooting ability. We have a very good team and I learned this week that we are deeper than I thought we
were."
--anthonypetrilli
