Texas D-1 Ambassadors-Team Josephs Win GASO's NBA Division

Picture courtesy of www.texashoops.com

The Texas D-1 Ambassadors-Team Josephs out of San Antonio, TX made the trip down the road toHuntsville, TX to the 1st Great American Shootout Event of the 2010 Season.  The talented group of 2011 & 2012 players had a perfect 5-0 record in taking the GASO-Hunstville title in the NBA Division.                                                 

 Coach Paul Josephs

The D-1 Nation handled the Houston Gold 77-41, and then defeated Arlington Metro Elite 67-53.  In Sunday's bracket play all three games were tough, physical affairs with a total of 8 points being the difference on the way to the title. In the quarterfinals, D-1 defeated the Dallas Heroes 67-61. Facing full court pressure for 32 minutes, 2012 PG's Carter Josephs (San Antonio Clark) and Adam Perez (San Antonio Clark) these two linchpins consistently broke the press and allowed D-1 to get into their offense.

In the semi finals, D-1 beat the West Houston Warriors 69-68 with a free throw at the buzzer by 2012 G Michael Douglass (San Antonio Churchill) who was fouled driving to the rack with a second left to play.  West Houston's Sheldon McClellan (University of Texas) was a tough matchup as he dropped 29 points but 2011 W/P Ansley Benjamin made him earn them all. 

2012 G "Iron" Michael Douglass propelled D-1 into the GASO Championship game with clutch free throws at the buzzer.

The D-1 Ambassadors beat a very good Houston Lynx-Team Schudy by coming from behind and grabbing another nail biter 49-48 to claim the hardware. This time it was a driving layup by Adam Perez which provided the slimmest of margins for the win.  The tournament MVP was 2011 Ansley Benjamin of San Antonio Clark.  The athletic 6'4" swingman/post recently bench pressed 285.  The son of former NBA player Benoit Benjamin is an intriguing prospect and if he grows another 2-3 inches, then you'd better watch out!  Coming off the bench & notching a double double in all 5 games, Benjamin exhibited his toughness inside along with an ability to guard players from the two to the five position.  The folks at Texas Hoops informed Coach Josephs that they'd "missed" on Benjamin but would quickly add him to their ranked players in the Class of 2011.

2012 G Adam Perez' driving layup with 4 seconds left lifted D-1 over the Houston Lynx to win the GASO Championship.

2012 P 6'8" Connor Lammert of San Antonio Clark continues to improve at a rapid pace.  His skills are ahead of the curve for a player projected to be a 7 footer.  The roster of seven 2011's mixed in with four 2012's will only get better as the season goes on. It was a team effort, with balanced scoring and contributions by all. 

Texas D-1 Ambassadors-Team Josephs Roster

Sean Bambrace           2011                     San Antonio Antonian
Carter Josephs            2012                     San Antonio Clark
Michael Douglass        2012                    San Antonio Churchill
Adam Perez                 2012                     San Antonio Clark
Connor Lammert        2012                    San Antonio Churchill
Alec Senioris               2011                     San Antonio Central Catholic
Kyle Rutledge             2011                     San Antonio Clark
Ansley Benjamin        2011                      San Antonio Clark
Tom Berry                  2011                      San Antonio Central Catholic
Clark Lammert          2011                      San Antonio Churchill
Jacob Palacios            2011                      San Antonio Clark