Danielle puttin pressure on the Ravens Jasmine shooting at the Ravens More pictures from Damascus CC: Relaxing before the game Danielle drives to the basket What now? Kelly guards the Ravens point guard Brad Roos and the Ravens coach Here you are, lady Ravens' Coach and point guard The Nintendo kids

Rocket Flames capture Rising Stars Holiday trophy One more trophy for the Rocket Flames Damascus, 29-Dec-2007. The Rocket Flames conquered their second Holiday Tournament trophy in 2007, beating the Columbia Ravens 28-11, in a game held at Damascus Community Center. The Ravens advanced to the final with an overtime victory over the Howard County Sharks the night before, while the Flames dispatched the Holy Redeemer 26-6 at Bauer Drive CC. The first quarter had multiple errors from both sides, missed layups, with the Rocket Flames leading 6-2. The second quarter was similar, with both teams scoring only one basket, ending the first half 8-4. The second half was more intense and the Flames scored 10 unanswered points to take a 14-point lead (18-4) until the Ravens hit a 12 foot shot to score their third basket of the game. Seconds before the end of the third quarter, the Flames scored again, leaving the score 20-6. In the final quarter, the Ravens tried to apply pressure but the girls responded adequately and outscored the Prince Georges County team 8-5 finishing the game 28-11. The lead could have been wider, if the girls had been more accurate on free throws. The whole team made 2 of 13 free throws, for a very low 15%. But the lack of free throws was compensated by good reboundind and hustle in defense. "I am very pleased with the girls. Everybody contributed to this victory and different players have stepped up in the last several games, either in offense, defense or both" said coach Tony White after the award ceremony. Adjowa lead the scoring with 10 points, followed by Danielle (4) Babette 3 (1 Basket and 1/2 FTs), Kelly 3 (1 Basket and 1/4 FTs) and 1 basket from Jasmine, Dominique, Quinn (0/2 FTs) and Janel (0/1 FTs). Natalie and Morgan missed 2 and 3 FTs respectively. The Rocket Flames will start the 2008 year on Saturday trying to prolong their seven-game winning streak facing the AAU Division II reigning Champions, Classics, coached by Bobby Green. That game is part of the MAGNBL league where the Rocket Flames are winningless, after consecutive losses against the Arlington Matrix and the Patuxent River Silver Stars. Time and venue will be announced on Thursday. On Sunday, the Rocket Flames will play the Holy Redeemer Cardinals, in their first game of the Rising Stars Winter Season. To complete the perfect weekend for coach Tony White and wife Jonell, the Redskins beat the Cowboys and advanced to the playoffs.

Rocket Flames advance to Championship game

Silver Spring 28-Dec-07. The Rocket Flames beat the Holy Redeemer Cardinals 26-6 and advanced to the Rising Star Holiday final to be played tomorrow at Damascus CC.

The game didn't look good in the first quarter for the Rocket Flames, scoring one single point (record low) and trailing the Cardinals 2-1.

The girls reacted in the third and last quarters with a full court pressure and a better effort in offense. Kelly lead the scorers with 9 points (4 baskets 1/2 FTs), followed by 6 from Babette (3 baskets 0/3 FTs), Danielle (4 points from 2 baskets), Adjowa 3 (1 three point play), Sydney (2/2 FTs) and Jasmine (1 basket for 2 points).

Holy Redeemer had beaten the JH Rockets 25-22 a couple of hours earlier at the same venue.

Tomorrow the Rocket Flames will face the winner of the other semifinal between the Howard County Sharks and the Columbia Ravens.

The Sharks shocked St. Bernadette early on 30-26 and finished second in group A. They were scheduled to play the top seed in Group B, the Columbia Ravens at Damascus CC.

Christine Morin attacks the Ravens A Ravens girl drives to the basket

Ravens and Rocket Flames top their pools The Columbia Ravens and the Rocket Flames advanced to the semifinals of the Rising Stars Holiday tournament. The Ravens beat the JH Rockets on Wednesday and defeated the Holy Redeemer Cardinals 24-18 today at Leland CC in Bethesda. The Ravens played a combination of man-to-man defense and full court pressure the whole game, while the Cardinals played mostly a zone defense in a very entertaining game. The Columbia team lead most of the game by 8 points until 2 minutes to go in the fourth quarter, when the Cardinals got close (20-18). But a couple of offensive rebounds allowed the Ravens to take an insurmountable lead and clinch the top spot in Pool B. Meanwhile the Rocket Flames beat the Howard County Sharks in a very low scoring game, 22-11 played at East County CC in Silver Spring. Kelly lead the scorers with seven points, followed by Jasmine, Babette and Danielle with 4. Natalie added 3 more points. The Rocket Flames will face the winner of the game between the Holy Redeemer Cardinals and the JH Rockets. The game will be late at night, at 8:20pm at Bauer Drive CC in Rockville. Meanwhile the Ravens will face the winner of the match between St Bernadette and the HC Sharks. That game will be played at 7:20pm at Damascus CC. The winners will play the Championship game on Saturday at Damascus CC. It's scheduled for 12:30pm.

Girls beat St Bernadette 38-27

With a superb performance from Natalie (career high 10 points) and strong rebounding and defense by Adjowa, the Rocket Flames beat St Bernadette's team 38-27 at Bauer Drive CC in Rockville, MD (half time 18-15 for the Flames).

The game was pretty contested, with St Bernadette trailing most of the game by 4 points, only tying the score in the third quarter 24-24. But the Flames replied with a three pointer by Jasmine (third 3 pointer in the last three games) and from then on the Silver Spring team never came close again.

It was an interesting game, with St Bernadette playing a very wide 3-2 zone defense that was deciphered by good inside passes from the girls and great cuts from Natalie.

"It was a perfect opportunity for Natalie to use her skills against the open spaces that St Bernadette defense was creating" said the Flames' assistant coach to Rocketflames.com after the game.

St Bernadette also tried to apply full court pressure to the Flames team, but one more time, the girls showed a big improvement in handling the ball and breaking the press with very few turnovers.

Adjowa was big in both boards, scoring team-high 14 points (7 baskets and 0/2 FTs), followed by Natalie's 10 (4 buckets and 2/2 FTs), Danielle 4 (2 baskets), Jasmine 4 (1 3P and 1/2 Fts), Dominique (2 points), Janel (2 points) and Babette (1 basket and 0/6 FTs).

For St Bernadette, (Flames') Kristen Carter had 16 points and Joe Dunston's daughter, Jillian, had 6.

Tomorrow, the Rocket Flames will play the Howard County Sharks at 11:10am at East County CC in Silver Spring.

Rising Stars Holiday Tournament

Group A	Group B

Rising Stars Holiday Tournament Schedule

Wednesday, December 26	6:00 p.m.	St. Bernadette	Maryland Flames	Bauer Drive CC
Wednesday, December 26	6:10 p.m.	J H Rockets	Columbia Ravens	East County CC
Thursday, December 27	11:10 a.m.	Maryland Flames	HCYP Sharks	East County CC
Thursday, December 27	7:20 p.m.	Columbia Ravens	Holy Redeemer Cardinals	Leland CC
Friday, December 28	12:10 p.m.	HCYP Sharks	St. Bernadette	Bauer Drive CC
Friday, December 28	3:40 p.m.	Holy Redeemer Cardinals	J H Rockets	Bauer Drive CC
Friday, December 28	7:20 p.m.	2nd Place – Division A	1st Place – Division B	Damascus CC
Friday, December 28	7:20 p.m.	3rd Place – Division A	3rd Place – Division B	Leland CC
Friday, December 28	8:20 p.m.	2nd Place – Division B	1st Place – Division A	Bauer Drive CC
Saturday, December 29	12:30 p.m.	Championship game		Damascus CC