Rocket Flames finish Rising Stars undefeated

Gaithersburg, 23-July-2007. The Rocket Flames, with their rising stars title already under their belt, finished their summer season with a convincing victory over the Poolesville Falcons 30-11, a game played at Potomac CC on Friday, July 21st.

Quinn with eight points, Kelly and Jasmine with six, lead the winning team but as coach Tony White said "All players played and contributed valuable minutes".

In the first game on Friday, the Flames/Jankowski dispatched the Classics 38-30 to clinch the second place in the standings.

On Monday, in the final game of the season, Flames/Morley beat the Classics 15-11 relegating the team from Bethesda to the fourth place in the standings and giving Flames/Jankowki the second and final place in the standings.

The Classics dropped to fourth place after being on first or second place most of the season due to a more favorable schedule. But the Classics lost three of their last four last games, all agains the older Flames teams, ending a very good season playing up all their games.

2007 6th Grade Rising Stars Summer League standings

Team	P	W	L	Points	PF	PA	Diff	Ave PF	Ave PA
Flames/White	10	10	0	20	266	153	113	30	17
Flames/Jankowski	10	7	3	14	250	226	24	28	25
Flames/Morley	10	6	4	12	160	143	17	20	18
Classics/Arrietta	10	6	4	12	203	176	27	20	18
JH Rockets	10	6	4	12	194	188	6	22	21
Holy Redeemer	10	3	7	5	159	179	-20	18	20
Waldorf	10	2	8	2	123	172	-49	15	22
Poolesville Falcons	10	0	10	-1	139	257	-118	15	29

P=Games Played, W=Games Won, L=Games Lost
PF=Points in Favor, PA=Points Against,
Diff=PF-PA, Ave=Average.

We are the 2007 Summer League Rising Stars Champions!!!

Chevy Chase, 18-July-2007. The Rocket Flames clinched their first Rising Stars crown defeating Lisa Morley's Flames 25-15 at the Leland CC located in Willow Lane, Chevy Chase.

After trailing by most of the game, the girls rallied in the fourth quarter behind 16 points (career-high) from Kelly who also set the record for most points (15) in a quarter in a heroic reaction that overwhelmed Morley's girls. "She was everywhere, she shut down the other team with steals, rebounds and points" said coach Tony White after the game.

The Rocket Flames had a promising start in the game with Quinn stealing the ball and assisting Babette to go ahead 2-0 in the score, just five seconds after the initial jump ball.

That would be the only lead until Kelly's furious reaction in the last quarter. Morley's team had a 5-2 lead in the first quarter, 9-4 in the second and 11-7 in the third quarter.

The Rocket Flames scored 18 points vs only 4 from the Morley's, clinching the RS title and remaining undefeated in the Summer league.

Jasmine with 2 points and Babette with 7 completed the scoresheet for the 2007 Rising Star Champions.

In the second game at Leland, the JH Rockets got their fifth straight victory, beating Holy Redeemer 25-12 and joining other three teams in second place in the standings. Sidney Poretzky and Cameron Kelso lead the Rockets with 8 and 6 points respectively.

The tournament continues tomorrow thursday at Northwest HS in Germantown with two Flames teams (Jankowski's and Morley's) fighting for the second place in the standings. After that game, the Classics face Holy Redeemer.

Jankowski's stuns Morley's Flames

Germantown, 19-July-2007. Jankowski’s Flames shocked Morley’s Flames 31-25 lead by a superb shooting night by Marie Jankowski, who made 10 points in the fourth quarter. This was revenge for Bernie Jankowski, who lost to Morley in the first game of the Rising Stars tournament on June 11, by five points, 21-26.

Sidney Nettles had a strong game in the first half dominating both boards and collecting game-high 12 points overall (4 out of 7 from the free throw line).

The game was pretty tight as the score by quarter indicates: 8-4, 10-10 and 16-15, with Morley always ahead. Jankowski's girls looked tired in the third quarter and Lisa Morley's girls seem destined to clinch the game. Moreover, Jankowski's girls were having problems when Morley instructed her girls to play tight defense around Sidney Nettles.

They finally got a spark at the beginning of the fourth quarter when Sissy Nazzal hit a three-pointer that was followed by Marie Jankowski bombarding Morley’s zone defense with long distance shots.

For Morley’s, Brooke scored 6 points and Amanda 4 (1 basket and two free throws).

In the second game of the double header, the 97/Classics took care of Holy Redeemer 18-12 in a hard-fought match.

The Classics played zone defense the first half and the size of the Holy Redeemer forwards made a difference on the boards, giving them enough shots to go ahead 10-4 in the scoreboard.

The Classics used a stifling defense in the second half , holding the Catholic School team to just one bucket; At the end of the third quarter the game was already tied and the Classics kept the pressure on the Redeemers to finish the game 18-12.

“We had only six players. Playing in a hot gym, they played their guts out. I am very proud of them” said Holy Redeemer’s coach Tom Morin after the game.

The tournament continues on Friday with Jankowski playing the Classics for the second place in the standings. The champions, Flames/White will face the Poolesville Falcons and Waldorf will encounter the JH Rockets in the final game of the night.

Rising Stars 6th Grade Summer League Results

1	Mon	11-Jun	5:30pm	Flames/Morley	Flames/Jankowski	Leland CC	21-16
2	Mon	11-Jun	7:50pm	Classics/Arrietta	Holy Redeemer	Leland CC	18-11
3	Wed	13-Jun	5:30pm	Flames/Morley	Poolesville Falcons	Leland CC	2-0 (Forfeit)
4	Wed	13-Jun	6:40pm	Holy Redeemer	Waldorf	Leland CC	28-17
5	Wed	13-Jun	7:50pm	Classics/Arrietta	JH Rockets	Leland CC	18-11
6	Fri	15-Jun	6:40pm	Flames/Jankowski	Poolesville Falcons	Potomac CC	35-17
7	Fri	15-Jun	7:50pm	Waldorf	Classics/Arrietta	Potomac CC	26-21
8	Wed	20-Jun	5:30pm	Flames/White	JH Rockets	Leland CC	38-16
9	Wed	20-Jun	6:40pm	Flames/Morley	Waldorf	Leland CC	2-0 (Forfeit)
10	Wed	20-Jun	7:50pm	Holy Redeemer	Poolesville Falcons	Leland CC	29-21
11	Fri	22-Jun	6:40pm	Classics	Poolesville Falcons	Potomac CC	26-7
12	Fri	22-Jun	7:50pm	Flames/Jankowski	Waldorf	Potomac CC	2-0 (Forfeit)
13	Mon	25-Jun	5:30pm	Flames/Jankowski	Holy Redeemer	Potomac CC	16-15
14	Wed	27-Jun	6:40pm	Classics	JH Rockets	Leland CC	32-23
15	Wed	27-Jun	5:30pm	Waldorf	Poolesville Falcons	Leland CC	20-13
16	Wed	27-Jun	7:50pm	Flames/White	Flames/Morley	Leland CC	22-21
17	Fri	29-Jun	6:40pm	Flames/White	Poolesville Falcons	Potomac CC	41-21
18	Fri	29-Jun	7:50pm	Flames/Jankowski	JH Rockets	Potomac CC	38-30
19	Mon	2-Jul	5:30pm	Flames/White	Holy Redeemer	Potomac CC	2-0 (Forfeit)
20	Mon	2-Jul	6:40pm	JH Rockets	Flames/Morley	Gaithersburg HS	15-11
21	Fri	6-Jul	6:40pm	Flames/White	Waldorf	Potomac CC	31-15
22	Fri	6-Jul	7:50pm	JH Rockets	Poolesville Falcons	Potomac CC	19-17
23	Mon	9-Jul	6:00pm	Flames/Jankowski	Poolesville Falcons	Seneca Valley HS	30-24
24	Wed	11-Jul	6:40pm	Classics	Waldorf	Leland CC	21-18 (OT)
25	Wed	11-Jul	7:50pm	JH Rockets	Holy Redeemer	Leland CC	22-12
26	Fri	13-Jul	6:40pm	Flames/White	Flames/Jankowski	Potomac CC	34-32
27	Fri	13-Jul	7:50pm	JH Rockets	Waldorf	Potomac CC	33-10
28	Mon	16-Jul	5:30pm	Flames/Morley	Holy Redeemer	Leland CC	25-15
29	Mon	16-Jul	6:40pm	Flames/White	Classics	Blake HS	15-8
30	Tue	17-Jul	6:40pm	Flames/Morley	Poolesville Falcons	Northwest HS	27-8
31	Tue	17-Jul	7:50pm	Flames/White	Flames/Jankowski	Northwest HS	30-14
32	Wed	18-Jul	6:40pm	Flames/White	Flames/Morley	Leland CC	25-15
33	Wed	18-Jul	7:50pm	JH Rockets	Holy Redeemer	Leland CC	25-12
34	Thu	19-Jul	6:40pm	Flames/Jankowski	Flames/Morley	Northwest HS	30-25
35	Thu	19-Jul	7:50pm	Classics	Holy Redeemer	Northwest HS	18-12
36	Fri	20-Jul	6:40pm	Flames/Jankowski	Classics	Potomac CC	38-30
37	Fri	20-Jul	7:50pm	Flames/White	Poolesville Falcons	Potomac CC	30-11
38	Fri	20-Jul	9:00pm	JH Rockets	Waldorf	Potomac CC	2-0 (Forfeit)
39	Mon	23-Jul	5:30pm	Holy Redeemer	Waldorf	Leland CC	25-17
40	Mon	23-Jul	6:40pm	Flames/Morley	Classics	W. Churchill HS	15-11

2007 Rising Stars Summer League remaining schedule
Full Schedule

Poolesville's Rosie Barrie attacks Morley's Flames .

Rocket Flames crush Jankowski's Flames and get closer to RS title Germantown, 17-July-2007. Team effort is sometimes a cliché used when describing a good performance by a group of athletes. But the Rocket Flames really put a team effort to beat Jankowski's Flames 30-16 at Northwest HS in Germantown, Maryland. The fact that the usual top scorers (Jasmine and Babette) didn't score a single point show how well the whole team played on both sides of the court, fighting every loose ball, every rebound and playing very agressive on offense. After the agonic victory on Friday over the same opponent, the Rocket Flames showed a strong performance, with suffocating defense and good ball handling when pressured by the Poolesville-based Flames. "The level of intensity was very high throughout the game, from the beginning to the end, showing what these girls are capable of." said Assistant Coach Mauricio Sanmartin to RocketFlames.com. The first quarter ended 13-4 for the Rocket Flames and the dominance continued in the second quarter with the lead extended to 26-8 at the end of the third quarter. Jankowki's girls couldn't break the full-court pressure and the few times they were able to advance the ball to their frontcourt, Adjowa and Quinn were all over the place. Seven girls scored for the Rocket Flames, this time lead by Kelly with seven points from three baskets and 2/1 from the free throw line. Adjowa followed with six points (2 baskets and 2/2 FTs), Quinn 5 points (2 buckets and 2/1 FTs), Dominique and Natalie 4 points, Lauren and Grace 2 each. In the first game of the double header, Lisa Morley's girls beat the Poolesville Falcons with a convincing 27-8 score. With that result, three teams are tied on second place with 10 points: The Classics and the two Flames teams (Jankowski and Morley's). The Rocket Flames face Lisa's team tomorrow at Leland CC in Chevy Chase at 6:40pm followed by the JH Rockets facing Tom Moran's Holy Redeemer. 2007 Rising Stars Summer League remaining schedule

Rocket Flames win 7th straight

Click on each picture to enlarge

Silver Spring, 16-July-2007. The Rocket Flames downed the Classics (97/Arrieta) in the lowest scoring game of the season, 15-8 at Robert Blake HS in Silver Spring, Maryland.

This game was a complete different game compared to the one our girls played on Friday 13th vs Jankowski. Our girls took an quick lead but didn't have enough energy to finish these young Classics early in the game as expected.

The Classics got close in the third quarter (10-8) when coach White was giving playing time to the less experienced players.

With a good rotation against our zone defense the young Classics were getting better shots but -fortunately for us- were not capitalizing them.

Despite having a clear advantage in size and experience, the Rocket Flames were not using those assets in their favor but at the end, our girls prevailed and kept their unblemished record (7-0) with only three games left in the season.

Yet, after the game, the whole team and coaching staff were more focused on tomorrow's game vs Jankowski than the game that just happened against the Classics.

Babette scored 5 points, Adjowa 4 points, Kelly, Quinn and Dominique 2 apiece for the Rocket Flames who were averaging 32 points before this game but scored only 7 baskets and one free throw in this one.

On the positive side, the girls played strong defense and allowed only 7 points to a team who had an average of 22 points per game in its past six games.

The refereeing was another huge contrast between the two games. After having a over zealous referees on Friday, who were controlling everything from the violations on the free throws to the water on the time-outs, to the referees tonight who were more interested in finishing the game and going home.

But that's something we are getting used to it, the inconsistency between refs from the same organization. We'd like to have refs who treat these rec leagues with more respect and who seem to care more about the players and the coaches who put a lot of energies and commitment on this wonderful sport.

Anyways, we have a great game ahead of us, let's support our girls tomorrow night at Northwest HS in a crucial match against Jankowski's Flames.

These are the contenders' remaining games:

Flames/White (14 Points in 7 Games): Flames/JANKOWSKI, Flames/MORLEY and Poolesville.
Classics/Arrieta (10 Points in 7 Games): Holy Redeemer, Flames/JANKOWSKI and Flames/MORLEY.
Flames/Jankowski (10 Points in 7 Games): Flames/WHITE, Flames/MORLEY and Classics.
Flames/Morley (8 points in 6 Games): Poolesville, Flames/WHITE, Flames/JANKOWSKI and Classics.

Final Week for Rocket Flames at Rising Stars

Potomac, 16-July-2007. On top of the standings, the Rocket Flames are entering this week with very difficult games against -starting tonight- the Classics (shown below), Jankowski's Flames (tomorrow) and Morley's Flames (on Thursday), not to forget the Poolesville Falcons on Friday.

The Rocket Flames play tonight their first game of the tournament's final 10 days against the Classics. The most crucial games are on Tuesday vs Jankowski's and on Thursday against Morley's, though.

The Rocket Flames need to win three of their last four games to secure the title but it won't be easy.

All teams want to beat the leader so it will be a very demanding week indeed. Fortunately, the team has a big roster with girls that are making big strides when given the opportunity.

However, the main focus this summer season has been been on giving opportunities to new players to grow and improve their skills.

97/Classics: Our rivals tonight at Blake HS.

The Rocket Flames have been thriving with a combination of solid defense and hustle on every loose ball.

Wether it's full court pressure, zone or man to man, the girls are agressively defending their turf.

Lauren, Rachael, Kelly, Jasmine, Liz and Grace usually suffocate the others guards on both sides of the court while the forwards (Quin, Adjowa, Babette, Sarah and Dominique in the last game) have been good at controlling their opponents.

In offense, Kelly has been instrumental in getting the team together. After fracturing her hand at the Tar Heels tournament in Virginia, she has recovered beautifully and has been giving a good lead in the point guard position to the rest of the team.

The number 1 spot was vacated when our former point guard (Yasmine) went to the Classics, where coincidentially Kelly played for a couple of seasons. So it was an unintended "swap" of players that played very well for the RocketFlames.

Elizabeth, a new addition in the Spring has been playing as a forward and sometimes as a point guard with good results. She is a good passer and agressive on offense.

Quin, who is lucky to live next to one of the venues where we've been playing in the summer, is getting strong on defense and using her long arms and good timing for rebounding both defensively and offensively.

Natalie who has been also adjusting back from Lacrosse into basketball, while attending very demanding summer camps is getting back to her old form.

So in general, we have a very good group of talented girls, and the future certainly looks promising. Go Rocket Flames!!

Rocket Flames survive Jankowski's to stay on top of standings

Potomac, 13-July-2007. With a strong performance by Rachael both in defense and offense (4 points and several offensive rebounds) plus great hustling by Lauren and Dominique nullifying their most dangerous player (Alexis Nettles) the Rocket Flames got their sixth consecutive win at the Rising Stars Summer League.

This time, the Rocket Flames, who never had a lead in the game, survived a strong performance by the Poolesville-based Flames coached by Bernie Jankowski.

Jankowski's Flames seemed poised to take the game from the beginning, leading the first quarter 10-2, having the widest lead 13-2 minutes later and closing the second quarter 20-10.

But Tony White's girls still had the presence to recover from that slow half, pressing and fighting for every rebound. With Quinn and Babette in foul trouble (both would eventually foul out), Dominique, Lauren and Rachael stepped up to the plate.

The girls tied the game at 29 points apiece but a defense lapse, after a missed free throw, allowed an easy basket for Jankowski's who gain the lead 32-29 with only forty seconds left.

In the ensuing possesion, Lauren went hard for a layup and got a foul. Calmly, Lauren converted the free throws to get within one point. The Jankowski girls kept pushing but weren't lucky in their attempts and the Rocket Flames were getting desperate.

With only eight seconds left, Kelly stole the ball in the middle of the court and passed it to Jasmine who went to her right side and made a layup while being fouled to stop the clock at two seconds.

Jasmine (Game's MVP) converted the basket and two seconds were not enough for Jankowski's to try a single shot. "Great game, it couldn't be better" said Bernie after the game.

Jasmine lead the scorers with 13 points (5 baskets and 3 out of 3 from the free throw line). Kelly followed with six (2 baskets and 2/2 from FTs), Lauren with 5 (1 bucket and 3 out of 4), Rachel and Dominique (2 baskets for 4 points) and Babette 2 points (2 missed FTs).

The accuracy from the free throw line really helped to this victory. In total, the girls shot 67%, making the last five consecutive free throws to stay in contention.

"It might be a good idea to bring a defribilator to these games, I might have a heart attack in one of these games" said one of the Flames parents to RocketFlames.com after the game.

These two teams will face again on Tuesday at 7:50 pm at Northwest High School in Germantown. Tickets are already on sale!

The coming week will be unforgiving for most of the teams, playing a NBA-esque schedule with four games in five days.

In the second game of the double header, the JH Rockets beat Waldorf 33-10, capturing their fourth consecutive win and ascending to the fourth slot in the rankings.

"The girls played a great game, everybody contributed offensively and it was really a team effort" said JH Rockets Joel Poretsky after the game.

The tournament continues on Monday with Holy Redeemer facing Morley's at Leland CC in Chevy Chase and the 97/Classics facing Tony White's Flames at Blake HS in Silver Spring. The Summer tournament is in the last stages. Four of the eigth teams are still in the race .

These are the contenders' remaining games:

Flames/White (12 Points in 6 Games): Classics, Flames/JANKOWSKI, Flames/MORLEY and Poolesville.
Classics/Arrieta (10 Points in 6 Games): Flames/WHITE, Holy Redeemer, Flames/JANKOWSKI and Flames/MORLEY.
Flames/Jankowski (10 Points in 7 Games): Flames/WHITE, Flames/MORLEY and Classics.
Flames/Morley (6 points in 5 Games): Holy Redeemer, Poolesville. Flames/WHITE, Flames/JANKOWSKI and Classics.

Cameron Kelso scores a layup for the Rockets. A Classics attack vs Waldorf See more pictures from the Game .

JH Rockets continue hot streak Chevy Chase, 11-July-2007. The Juwan Howard Rockets continued their hot streak beating Holy Redeemer 22-12 at the Leland Community Center in Chevy Chase, Maryland. The first half ended 12-4 for the Rockets. The Rockets dominated from the start, with a superb performance from Cameron Kelso who lead the scorers with 12 points (5 baskets and 2/2 from the free throw line). Kelso, who played in the Spring for the 95/Flames (Hall) team, was accompanied by Sidney Poretsky in the boards and the scoresheet with six points. For Holy Redeemer, Christie Moran shone in offense with 5 points. In the first game of the double header, the Classics defeated Waldorf 21-18 in overtime. The Classics were up the whole game by four points but Waldorf kept the pressure and tied the game 18-18 at the buzzer with a basket from Ashley. But the Waldorf ran out of gas and didn't score in the four minutes of overtime, while the Classics made one free throw and one basket to capture their fifth victory in six matches. The tournament continues this Friday at Potomac CC with two Flames teams facing each other (White vs Jankowski) at 6:40pm. Bernie Jankowski will try to stop the Rocket Flames dominance since they the two teams met for the first time in the Fall of 2006. After that game, at 7:50pm the JH Rockets will face Waldorf. The JH Rockets are looking to get their fourth consecutive victory. Trivia Question: Juwan Howard was traded a couple of weeks ago from the Houston Rockets to another NBA team. What is that team? Hint: It's part wood, part animal. Woof!! See more pictures from both Games

Whitney Carmack putting the Falcons closer to the Flames 28-24. See more pictures from the Game Falcon Rosie Barrie puts a good boxing technique against Flames' Alexis Nettles.

Jankowski repeats against Poolesville Germantown, 9-July-2007. The Jankowski Flames put down the Poolesville Falcons for the second time this season at Seneca Valley HS, by a score of 30-24. The first match, on June 15th was also favorable for the Flames by a wider margin, 35-17. Once again, the size of the Flames was too much to overcome for Poolesville but good boxing technique by Poolesville made this game more even and interesting to watch. Despite outsized under the boards, the Falcons didn't give up and with less than a minute came dangerously close in the scoreboard with a basket by Whitney Carmack (28-24). In the ensuing seconds, the Flames tried to control the ball and got a basket at the buzzer by Alexis Nettles to finish 30-24. Alexis Nettles finished with career-high 15 points from six buckets and three free throws. On the losing side, Whitney Carmack was again the engine for the Falcons, moving the ball very well against the Flams zone defense. Whitney scored also career-high 17 points, from seven baskets and three free throws. The Falcons have been showing signs of major improvement over the last few games. They are learning how to attack the zone defense and are pretty resourceful to break the full court press from more experienced teams. Bernie Jankowski was relieved after the game: "It's getting more and more difficult to win games. All teams are getting better and no game can be taken from granted" said Bernie to Rocketflames.com. With this win, Bernie's team climbed to the top of the standings sharing the lead with Tony White's Flames team. These two teams will have a showdown on Friday evening at 6:40pm at POTOMAC Community Center in Falls Road. Tomorrow, Waldorf School from Bethesda faces the 97/Classics. The Classics haven't played since June 27th when they beat the Rockets 32-23. In the second game, Holy Redeemer will play the hot Juwan Howard Rockets, who have won two games in a row, lead by strong performances by Sydney Poretsky. See more pictures from the Game

Rocket Flames beat Waldorf to collect 5th victory

Potomac, MD 6-July-2007. With only seven players available, the Rocket Flames beat the Waldorf team from Bethesda, 31-15 (Half time 16-8) at the Potomac CC in Falls Road.

The Waldorf team went ahead 4-0 with baskets from 12 and 14 feet respectively, but the full court pressure and a tighter zone defense made the difference along the way.

Babette played a great game attacking the offensive boards and scoring 14 points. Kelly was also very productive in the scoresheet with 10 points. Lauren had a couple of buckets for four points and Grace and Quinn scored one basket apiece.

Lauren and Quinn played great defense, as usual, hustling on the full court pressure and fighting every rebound. Grace was also very active on defense against bigger girls from Waldorf.

In the second game, the JH Rockets seemed to control the game from the beginning against the Poolesville Falcons, leading 8-1 in the first quarter. But the Falcons, coached by Sandy Chittenden, kept shooting and hustling to get closer in the score.

The final result, though, 19-17 was favorable for the JH Rockets, who collected their second win this week to move two spots up in the table.

The tournament continues on Monday at Seneca Valley HS (Germantown) with the Poolesville Falcons facing Bernie Jankowski's Flames.

On Wednesday the Classics play Waldorf and the JH Rockets face Holy Redeemer, both games at Leland CC in Chevy Chase.

On Friday is the showdown between the Rocket Flames and Jankowski's at Potomac CC followed by the JH Rockets against Waldorf.

JH Rockets stun Morley's Flames

Gaithersburg MD 2-July-2007. The Juwan Howard Rockets beat a depleted Flames (Morley's) team 15-11 in a game held at the Gaithersburg High School. Half time ended 12-8 for the JH Rockets. The Flames team had only seven players, missing key players due to the 4th of July (holiday) week.

The game was the lowest scoring game of the season, and at the end, the result rewarded the JH Rockets who played with enthusiasm and energy to overcome a more experienced team.

The Flames tried to get closer but missed a couple of easy layups that proved to be costly in a very low scoring game.

The JH Rockets, on the other hand, kept shooting and getting offensive rebounds to score a decisive basket with two minutes left.

Janie Davidson was fouled with one second left, converting the first free throw. Coach Joe Welch (subbing for Lisa Morley) instructed Janie to miss the free throw but the rebound went to the Rockets capturing an unlikely victory after four losses.

Sydney Poretsky (#23) lead the scorers with seven points (three baskets and one free throw) for the JH Rockets. Her dad, coach Joel Poretsky, was upbeat with the team's first victory. "I am very proud of how you played today" said Poretsky to his girls after the game.

The Rocket Flames, meanwhile, went to the top of the standings with a victory over Holy Redeemer. The CYO team didn't have enough players to field and lost by forfeit.

The league continues this Friday with the Rocket Flames facing the Bethesda Waldorf School and the JH Rockets facing the Poolesville Falcons, both games at Potomac Community Center in River Road.

2007 Rising Stars Summer League remaining schedule
Full Schedule

Rocket Flames shot down the Falcons

Potomac, MD 29-June-2007. The Rocket Flames collected their third victory of the Rising Stars Summer League beating the Poolesville Falcons 41-21 at the Potomac CC in River Road, MD.

The Falcons put some resistance in the first half but our girls size and experience made the difference keeping the Rocket Flames as the only undefeated team in the 6th Grade division.

For the Flames, Jasmine lead the scorers with 10 points, followed by Babette and Adjowa with 8 apiece. Elizabeth and Dominique added two buckets each and Kelly 3 points (one basket and 1 of 2 from the free throw line). Margot made a basket in her debut with the Rocket Flames.

The Poolesville Falcons showed good fundamentals, though. They have a couple of good passers and few girls that are very good executing layups. Their inexperience in competitive basketball is hurting them, but if they stick together, they will be a tough team to beat in the future.

In the following game, Bernie Jankowski's Flames team beat the JH Rockets 38-30.

The league continues this Monday with the Rocket Flames facing Holy Redeemer at Leland CC and Flames/Morley matching the JH Rockets at Gaithersburg High School.

Rocket Flames get a tough win vs Morley's The Rocket Flames captured their second win of the Rising Stars Summer league beating their arch- rivals, the Flames coached by Lisa Morley 22-21 at Leland CC in Chevy Chase, Maryland. The girls were again having problems solving the full court pressure and also making unforced errors. "They are sleepy tonight. Maybe playing this late at night (7:50pm) is not a good idea after all the camps and other activities they have during the summer" said one parent who spoke to RocketFlames.com in condition of anonymity. Sleepy or not, the girls persevered and got the win with a basket by Babette with less than 40 seconds to go in regulation. Morley's team had an opportunity to tie or win the game but failed to capitalize it. With seven seconds left, the Rocket Flames got the ball and lost the ball in the throw-in, and the ensuing attempt was off the rim. This was a game between the last two undefeated teams in the tournament. And the Rocket Flames were lucky to get away with the win. Babette had five points, Jasmine and Elizabeth dropped two buckets each, as well as Adjowa, who missed a couple of free throws in the first quarter. Kelly also scored 4 points (1 basket and 2 for 2 from the free throw line) and Natalie scored one basket. In defense, Quinn and Adjowa played great protecting the boards and blocking some shots from Morley's girls. Dominique, Grace and Rachael hustled in defense. Kelly and Jasmine made a couple of nice assists. Jasmine assisted Elizabeth in her second basket and Kelly passed the ball to Babette in the crucial and final shot for this agonic win. But the problem was on the offensive side attacking both the full-court and the zone defense. In the full court press, our girls were making errors and giving opportunities to the opponents to stay close in the score and take the lead in the game's final minute. In the previous match, the Classics continued their good campaign beating the JH Rockets with a score 32-23. Both teams were tied at 22 points each at the end of the third quarter but consecutive three pointers by the Classics distanced the girls coached by Jose Arrietta from the team sponsored by Houston Rockets' forward, Juwan Howard. The tournament continues this Friday with the Rocket Flames facing the Poolesville Falcons at 6:40pm at Potomac CC. After that game, another Flames team, coached by Poolesville resident Bernie Jankowski will play the JH Rockets at 7:50pm.

Rocket Flames get first victory in Chevy Chase

The Rocket Flames collected their first win at the Rising Stars Summer league beating the Juwan Howard Rockets with a comfortable score, 38-16.

The game was held at the Leland CC in Chevy Chase.

Coach White was pleased with the result and the fact that he could rotate all his roster and still keep the team rolling.

The game was moved to the 6:40pm time because Waldorf could not present a team against Flames/Morley and had to forfeit its game.

It was the third victory for Lisa Morley's team, two of them by forfeit.

The tournament continues this Friday at Potomac CC with Poolesville facing the Classics and Jankowski's girls facing the Bethesda-based Waldorf School.

The big showdown will be this coming Wednesday with the only undefeated teams, (Flames/Morley and Flames/White) will face at 7:50pm again at Leland CC in Chevy Chase.

Next Games

Game #	Date	Tip off	Guest (Wears Black)	Home Team (Wears White)	Location
14	Wed 27-Jun	5:30pm			Leland CC
15		6:40pm			Leland CC
16		7:50pm			Leland CC
17	Fri 29-Jun	6:40pm			Potomac CC
18		7:50pm			Potomac CC

Jankowski's tall girls were too much for the Falcons

Jankowski beats Poolesville and Waldorf stuns the Classics See full gallery The 96/Flames Jankowski team beat the Poolesville Falcons 35-17 in a very entertaining game held at the Potomac Comunity Center. Poolesville put a stiff resistance in the first quarter but the size of the Flames was too big of an obstacle for the Falcons to overcome. Yet, the Falcons showed very good fundamentals and they seem to have a bright future ahead of them. In the second game, the Waldorf school from Bethesda stunned the Classics, who were undefeated after two games. The summer league resumes next week with the Flames/White facing the Juwan Howard Rockets, Flames/Morley facing Waldorf and the Flacons facing Holy Redeemer, all games at Leland Comunity Center in Chevy Chase.

2007 Rising Stars Summer League Full schedule

Poolseville Falcons Picture courtesy of PBAHoops.com. Juwan Howard. Picture courtesy of JuwanHoward.com

Rising Stars 6th Grade Preview Eight teams from Montgomery County will be playing the 6th Grade Rising Stars League in the Summer. Three of them are Flames teams, including the Rocket Flames coached by "Coach of the Month" Tony White. The Rocket Flames will miss two veteran players (Simone and Sydney) but will have Natalie back from her incursion into Lacrosse during the Spring season. "The emphasis in the Summer League is to give all players the opportunity to grow. I plan to rotate everybody using this league as a developmental step towards the Fall League" said coach White to RocketFlames.com. Meanwhile, the Classics is bringing a young team of ladies born in 1997 coached by Jose Arrietta. They played recently at the Flames "Gettin Hot" tournament in Germantown and had strong performances. Lisa Morley and his co-coach Joe Welch are bringing their girls for the second time to the Rising Stars. Morley's girls played up at the Winter League in the very tough Patriot Division, loosing all their games but learning a lot. Bernie Jankowski's Flames team is also in the Summer League. Bernie's team has several new players, many of them very tall and enthusiastic, looking forward for an opportunity to show their progress in the Summer. The Poolesville Falcons won the 5th-6th Rising Stars league in the winter but most of those players will be attending 7th grade in September so they are ineligible to play in the Summer league. However, the Poolesville organization always brings good teams to every tournament so the Falcons are the favorites to take the title. The JH Rockets is named after the team sponsor, former Washington Wizard star and currently Houston Rockets forward, Juwan Howard. The JH Rockets is a former MCRD league team, whose players are playing in Rising Star league for the first time. All the JH Rockets players are going into the 6th grade this fall and most are students at Holton-Arms school in Bethesda. The rest of the girls on this summer team, have been coached by JH Rockets coach, Joel Poretsky in soccer and/or played Rec. ball. The Waldorf team is from the Washington Waldorf School in Bethesda. John Brauer, their head coach said to RocketFlames.com "We are simply looking to improve our basketball skills by playing against good competition". They will certainly find good competition. Good Luck to all teams and have fun everybody

Rising Stars schedule is now available

Brad Roos, from the Montgomery County Rec Department released the Rising Star full schedule last night in Silver Spring. Our girls will play their first game against the Rockets on June 20th (at Leland CC in Chevy Chase) and will finish on July 20th against the tournament favorite, the Poolesville Falcons.