FBC Defenders

After spending the last two seasons as a member of the supporting cast for the Stuart Country Day basketball team, Parris Branker is ready to shoulder more responsibility this winter.

“It’s difficult but it’s fun; I like being a leader on the court,” said senior guard Branker.

“I have a lot of help from the other two seniors, Jen Dias and Angela Gallagher. They help out and encourage the team.”

Things proved to be a little difficult for Branker and her teammates as they battled Northern Burlington last Wednesday in their first action since late December.

Danielle Brown, who has taken the reigns at Rahway, has seen her team get off to a 2-1 start after Thursday afternoon’s 34-32 victory over St. Patrick.

Brown graduated from St. Peter’s of North Brunswick in 2006 and Kean University in 2010. She was a Third Team All-Middlesex selection as a senior in high school and was a Second-Team All-New Jersey Athletic Conference pick as a junior at Kean.  CLICK HERE TO READ MORE

PHILADELPHIA - Alexis Scott sizzled for 33 points, shattering her previous career high of 21 in a 72-59 loss at Drexel on Monday night in La Salle’s first game back after an 11-day layoff for finals.

She became the second player this calendar year to hit the 30-point mark as Ashley Gale kicked off 2011 with a 31-point performance at Lehigh on Jan. 2.

Scott scored seven of the Explorers’ first nine points and hit double digits just 7:13 into the contest. She added six rebounds and three assists.

The North Brunswick High School girls basketball team has been one on the rise in recent years and this year looks to be one that could top last years’ when the team went 16-9 and to the semifinals of the Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament.

Helping lead the team this season will be senior center Taryana Kelly and senior guard Jasmine Walker, both of whom signed letters of intent to play at Division I universities. Full Article

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - Alexis Scott led all scorers with 21 points and the La Salle women’s basketball team cut the West Virginia lead down to five late in the second half, but the Mountaineers pulled out the 63-52 decision at WVU Coliseum on Wednesday night.

PHILADELPHIA - Alexis Scott scored 18 points, Ruvanna Campbell pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds, and the La Salle women’s basketball team gave #15/15 Rutgers everything it had in a 61-48 loss at Tom Gola Arena on Saturday night.

Khadijah Rushdan led all scorers with 20 points and April Sykes chipped in 12. Jada Payne was the other Explorer in double figures with 11.

Neither team got on the board until the 15:16 mark when Khadijah Rushdan hit a jumper to break the scoreless game.

Payne scored La Salle’s first eight points on two treys and a jumper to put the Explorers up 8-7, before the Scarlet Knights went on a run to push their lead to 10 with a 30-20 edge at the half.

The Explorers opened the second half on a 5-0 run to cut the deficit to five before a 10-2 Rutgers run put the gap back to 13. A Scott trey with 4:52 remaining cut the deficit back to six at 51-45, but that was the closest the home squad got down the stretch.

Campbell was terrific on the defensive end with her game-high 11 rebounds and game-high four blocks. Brittany Wilson added a game-high five steals in 13 minutes of play. The Explorers limited the Scarlet Knights to 36.5 percent shooting (23-for-63).

The Explorers return to Gola Arena on Tuesday (11/22) when they host Big 5 rival Penn at 7 p.m.

Click “Alexis Scott” to go to box score.

The 2012 college recruiting class of New Jersey will contain at least 2 players from the Defenders program. Within the last 24hrs the program has had Jasmine Walker committing to Monmouth University (NEC Conference) and Taryana Kelly committing to Maryland Eastern Shore (MEAC Conference).  With their families, teammates, and friends looking on, these athletes proudly signed and faxed in their NLIs this week making there journey complete and dream a reality. The two players are teammates at North Brunswick Township High School and are going to be relied on heavily by the team if North Brunswick is to make a run at the Middlesex County title this season.

Please join me in congratulating Jasmine Walker and Taryana Kelly as well as Monmouth University and Maryland Eastern Shore!

Raiders’ Walker, Kelly sign letters of intent

As signing day is upon us we received word today that two FBC Defenders 2012 players will announce their college choice early next week. The club has posted a facebook event saying that Jasmine Walker will announce her decision on Monday, 11/14/ at 3:15pm, and Taryana Kelly will announce her decision on Tuesday, 11/15 at 2:45pm. Please join the program in congratulating them both!!

FBC Defenders AAU Club Staff

It was a hot and sunny Thursday afternoon, the bustle of 6th avenue raged in the background, as Arizona Pearson emerged from underground at the subway station on the corner of 3rd street and 6th ave in New York City. This is not uncommon for the man who runs the NIKE NYC High School League at W. 4th Street (The Cage). Indeed this looked like just another day, another girls semi-final game, just something to do as it has been done for years. But today’s game would certainly not be just another game. @4:30 p.m. two teams would square off for the coveted chance to advance to Saturday’s championship game. On this day the FBC Defenders were facing a very talented and well coached Baseline team from NYC. The Defenders would go into this contest with only 7 brave soldiers (Jasmine Walker, Shalette Brown, Taryana Kelly, Jasmine Phelps, Erika Hairston, Ariel Donza, and Jasmine Lombard) in uniform but knowing that they were capable of getting a win if they just maintained their composure. As the game began, Baseline jumped out on top 19 to 10 after the 1st qtr. Unprecedented at W 4th Street, both coaches acted like it was halftime and took their teams to the W 4th street end of the court to talk between quarters. Whatever coach Stone said to his team must have stirred something deep in their souls because the second quarter was all about the “Defenders” playing defense and attacking the basket. The score at the half was 30 to 28 and the Defenders knew they were close enough to make a run at the win.

The third quarter started was a nip and tuck kind of quarter and the Defenders finally started making their free throws. Jasmine Walker started to pick up her game and that was exactly what the team needed. Until that point the team had been carried on the offensive end by Brown(9), Phelps(7), and Lombard(6). The play of Erika Hairston, Ariel Donza, and Jasmine Lombard would prove to be key on the defensive end as Baseline suddenly found it difficult to get open looks. But If the team was going to get a win now that the defense was clicking they would need another scorer. After 3 quarters the Defenders found themselves still down 43 to 45. That is when coach Stone asked what proved to be the most important question of the game. He queried “So is this how we are to go out? Is this how you want your last game of this season to end?” The look in every player’s eyes screamed a resounding NO! So coach said to the team if you want to go to the championship, you will have to just go out there and take it! Final score Defenders 63, Baseline 62!

Box Score:
Shalette Brown 21pts, Jasmine Phelps 16, Jasmine Walker 11, Jasmine Lombard 11, and Taryana Kelly 4!