O'Fallon, Ill., team goes to AAU nationals

Elyse Hart-Shelton

Thirteen-year-old Elyse Hart-Shelton of St. Louis is making her second straight trip to the AAU national girls basketball tournament. But, this year, she's playing for a team that calls O'Fallon, Ill., its home.

She joined the 12-and-under Lady Jets team after playing for the Hoops team of St. Louis. Last year, both the Hoops and the Lady Jets played in nationals after finishing first and second in the Ozark AAU regionals.

This year, the Lady Jets path to the nationals involved beating Elyse's former team during the AAU Ozark regionals early in May. The Lady Jets finished first in this year's regionals. The Hoops lost two regional games and didn't make nationals.

The 2005 AAU national tournament started July 1 in Amarillo, Tex.

Elyse is a shooting guard for the Lady Jets. She said she switched teams this year because "I used to play with Jazmin (Hill) and her dad wanted me to play with them."

Jazmin Hill

Twelve-year-old Jazmin is a point guard and daughter of Todd Hill, the Lady Jets coach.

Several Lady Jets team members had played with other teams and joined the Lady Jets because of friendship with Jazmin.

Another of Jazmin's friends is 13-year-old Stephanie Copelin. The two go to Fulton Middle School in O'Fallon. With Stephanie's move, the Lady Jets got an assistant coach.

Stephanie Copelin

Stephanie's dad is Barry Copelin, a trucking company vice-president who played basketball at Southeast Missouri State University. He had coached kids basketball for several years and signed on as an assistant coach when Stephanie came to the Lady Jets.

Coach Hill is a captain for the East St. Louis, Ill., fire department.

The Lady Jets have four players from O'Fallon, three each from St. Louis and Smithton, Ill., and one from Lebanon, Ill.

Tyler Ituen

Thirteen-year-old Tyler Ituen is another St. Louisan and former Hoops player. She said this is her first year playing for a team from Illinois.

Thirteen-year-old Ja'Maia Nixon is a classmate of Jazmin's at Fulton Middle School in O'Fallon. The 5'7" forward rated the qualifying for the nationals as her best basketball experience. "It was pretty cool to win the regional," she said.

Ja'Maia Nixon

Ja'Maia said there was "a lot of rivalry" between the Lady Jets and the Hoops. She rated this year's regular season loss to the Hoops as her worst basketball experience. Although she noted with satisfaction the win over the Hoops in the regional.

Other Lady Jets on the tournament team are three players from Smithton, Ill. They are 13-year-old Brittany Hubert, 12-year-old Janel Whitworth and 13-year-old Amanda Neff. The other tournament team member is 13-year-old Kaila Appleby of Lebanon, Ill.

Two other team members are 13-year-old Camiyha Tally of O'Fallon and 12-year-old Amarah Brooks of St. Louis. Camiyha is now too old to qualify for the 12-and-under team and Amarah only just joined the team.

Most of the team members have been playing basketball for several years. But, they admit they still have plenty to learn.

Two of them, Stephanie Copelin and Ja'Maia Nixon, said sudden growth spurts set back their overall development.

Stephanie said, "I used to be pretty good at dribbling. But, when I got tall, I concentrated on my post moves. I'm coming back a little as a ball handler but I still lost a lot."

Ja'Maia had the same experience. "I could handle the ball pretty well but then I got tall. But, I'm coming back with the ball handling this year."

Tyler Ituen said she thinks her best strength as a player "is always trying to find the open person." But, she said, "I need to work on my ball-handling in one-on-one situations."

Tyler said she suffers when the team loses. "But, I still learn from the loss," she added.

The Lady Jets haven't been losing much this year. Going into a tournament in mid-June, the team's record was 35-3.

Jazmin and Stephanie admit to getting "constructive criticism" from their fathers.

Jazmin said her strengths in basketball are dribbling and shooting. But, she said she needs to work hard on improving her defense. "My dad says I'm back on my heels too much and can't anticipate the moves of the other player," Jazmin said.

Stephanie said her dad "got on us pretty bad" during a game in last year's nationals when the team scored only six points in the first half. "We came back in the second half but still got beat," she said.

Everyone expects to do better in nationals this year.