AAU basketball

Missouri high school basketball teams already have completed their 2001 tournament season. 

But, for younger boys and girls, the tournament season is just starting. April and May are months when the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) holds qualifying for summer national tournaments. 

For boys, the competition involves teams as young as 8-and-under. For girls, the competition starts with 10-and-under teams. 

Middle schoolers Kate Seabaugh, Courtney Alvey and Jessi Rosehill are among the girl players involved. But, for them, things are a little different. 

They’re actually trying to get back to the nationals again this year. 

Last year, they were members of the St. Louis Crusaders’ 12-and-under team that played in the national meet at Ogden, Utah. They finished 17th out of 64 teams. 

This year, their 13-and-under team is among the favorites in Ozark AAU District tournament play. 

Thirteen-year-old Kate and 14-year-old Courtney will be trying for a fourth consecutive trip to the nationals. They went earlier with Crusader teams in the 10-and-under, 11-and-under and 12-and-under age groups.

Thirteen-year-old Jessi is looking for her second nationals trip. 

With that sort of success, it’s obvious the Crusader organization does more than form pickup teams. 

Courtney said, “We play more games in a season than in the WNBA.” That’s the women’s professional basketball league which plays in the summer. 

Kate said, “We practice twice a week and then play as many as four games just about every weekend.” 

But, they love the activity. Courtney said, “We have so much fun together as a team at out-of-town tournaments.”

Sometimes, they have to play in pain. Jessi is just getting back in action after breaking her ankle in an earlier games. After a recent preliminary tournament win, she said, “I used to be able to drive to the basket better before I broke my ankle.” 

She relied mostly on 3-point baskets to lead her team in that tournament win against a team of older girls. 

These three girls are veterans of national tournament play. But, their team also has lots of other strengths, including 6-foot-6 center Erin McCarthy and a lot of other fast players. 

The team also uses a full-court press on defense. And they can shift easily into a controlled overload offense when faced by the opponent’s zone defense. 

One thing that is quite common among the Crusaders players is their early start in basketball. 

Kate, Courtney and Jessi all said they started playing basketball in Y leagues at age four. Usually, they were the only girls playing in the boys games. 

All of the girls hope to play basketball in both high school and college. 

Kate is a 5’10” power forward. She is a 7th grader at The College School of  Webster Groves. 

Courtney is 6-feet tall. She usually plays center but said, “I move to forward when our big girl (Erin McCarthy) comes in.” 

She and Jessi are both 8th graders at Crestview Middle School in the Rockwood School district. 

They said the Crusaders are more than a basketball team to them. They consider their teammates as their best friends.