Prep Spotlight: Local AAU hoops teams competing in Myrtle Beach

A trio of Greenville-based AAU travel basketball teams are representing their community on the national stage this week in Myrtle Beach, S.C.

The IGI Blue (5th grade), IGI Red (8th grade) and IGI Black (9th grade) youth basketball teams, coached by Greenville native and former Lenoir Community College and Winston-Salem State hooper Antwaun Smith, tipped off in the 2024 NTBA Boys National Championship II this week.

The tournament runs through Saturday.

In eighth grade pool play, IGI Red won its first game, 50-45, over Team ALLIN Brotherhood ‘28 on Tuesday. The team played again on Wednesday against D1 Sports Academy and is back on the court Thursday against the Beach City Mambas.

In the fifth grade tourney, IGI Blue lost its opener on Tuesday to Durham Hurricanes Sinclair, 50-32. The Blue squad was set to face CRU Basketball on Wednesday and GCYA on Thursday.

Little League

The Tar Heel 9-11 and 10-12 Little League baseball teams kept winning in convincing fashion to start the week, and both were set to play in their respective state championship games at the Gillette Sports Complex in Wilson with a loss to give in the double-elimination tourneys.

The Tar Heel 9-11s smashed Bull City in a 10-0 rout on Monday night to leap into the championship round against Lake Norman scheduled for Wednesday night.

The Tar Heel 10-12s followed suit by dominating East Chatham, 16-3, on Tuesday night to earn a berth in the title round against the winner between East Chatham and Bull City. The championship round is set for Thursday night.

LLSWS

Another berth was claimed this week for the Little League Softball World Series, which is set to begin Aug. 4 at Elm Street Park, and it’s another familiar squad to the event.

For the third consecutive year, Negro Occidental Little League out of Bacolod City, Philippines, will represent the Asia-Pacific Region.

According to a release, as in recent years, the Little League International Tournament Committee’s decision to advance the national champion from the Philippines to the LLSWS was made based on the strength of the local Little League Softball programs throughout the Philippines, along with there being only a limited number of teams able to travel to participate in the Asia-Pacific Region Tournament.

Recipients of the 2022 Girls with Game Team Sportsmanship Award, Negros Occidental finished the 2022 Little League Softball World Series with a 3-3 record to finish among the top four in the event. In 2023, the team went 0-2.

Negros Occidental will once again compete in the Purple Bracket and open the tournament against Pitt County’s squad in Game Four at 7 p.m. on Aug. 4. The game will be streamed on ESPN+.