Entering the 2024 AAU season, MCW Starz's top 17U team faced some great expectations.
Last year, the group reached the quarterfinals of the Select Events championships behind Class of 2024 superstars Orlagh Gormley (Quincy, Mass.) and Ahnay Adams (New Bedford, Mass.). MCW joined Select's new elite tier, Power 24, this spring, and managed to exceed its prior standards.
Among this weekend's championship onslaught, MCW had the most impressive run, making it to the Power 24 championship game in Louisville. The squad ultimately lost, 72-50, to Legends U, who finished undefeated this season.
"The players, the families and the coaches have put a lot of time into learning the game of basketball," coach and program director Mandy Carter-Zegarowski said. "So for us, I feel like, whether you were in that game or you were part of our program and watching it, it felt good to feel success from the work that they've put in."
With Gormley and Adams gone, MCW leaned on three impact players to carry the torch from 2023: Jasmyn Cooper (Easton, Mass.), Ashley Dinges (Haverhill, Mass.) and Grace O'Sullivan (Acton, Mass.), all 2025 wings. Cooper, who is ranked No. 54 in the nation by ESPN, contributed 23 points in a critical 59-45 quarterfinal win again Team Moriah Jefferson. They each committed to big-time colleges in the past three weeks: Cooper to Syracuse, Dinges to Providence, and O'Sullivan to Princeton.
Carter-Zegarowski lauded how the trio has set the tone for the rest of the program.
"They're so important, she said. "They are three of the kids that our younger kids look up to — even kids just a year younger than them."
Here are some other New England AAU teams who stood out on the elite AAU circuits during the final live period weekend of the summer:
Hoop Group Championship Weekend
Connecticut-based iDream matched MCW Starz as the most successful program of the weekend. The squad reached the finals of the 17U Hoop Group Showcase League Championship bracket before coming up short against the DMV Lady Tigers. An independent program, iDream boasts star center Alicia Mitchell (Springfield, Mass.) as the headlining talent along with several impact contributors. That includes Mitchell’s Loomis Chaffee teammate Leah McKenzie (Farmington, Conn.), a 2027 guard playing two years up.
iDream took down the Boston Showstoppers, 53-44, in the first round. Connecticut Basketball Club also lost a narrow, 49-47 first-round game to the New Jersey Panthers.
Nike Nationals and Tournament of Champions
In Chicago, The Mass Huskies 16U Elite Youth Basketball Champions League (EYCL) squad continued to roll after going 7-0 in Louisville the week prior. They went a perfect 3-0 in pool play to earn the top seed in the Platinum bracket, and though they were bounced in the quarterfinals following a 64-55 loss to Inspired Athletics, they rebounded to win their remaining three consolation games.
Lauren Bousquet (West Warwick, R.I.) and Bella Miele (Marlboro, Mass.) are among the team leaders on a roster that finished 16-5 on the EYCL circuit. They also reached the semifinals of the Hoop Group NE Jamfest in June.
The Huskies added an additional championship in the Amsterdam bracket of the Tournament of Champions with their secondary 17U Elite teams.
The Honey Badgers were the highest-finishing local 17U team in the EYCL and the only one to make the top Platinum bracket. Their first appearance at Nike’s championship weekend was also their last big hurrah.
This year was a challenge for the tiny team from North Attleboro, Mass. The Honey Badgers routinely played only six girls after Rachel Carpenter (Westboro, Mass.) was sidelined with a knee injury and star guard Kat Cheesebro (Dartmouth, Mass.) battled multiple illnesses and an ankle sprain. Even Maddy Steel (North Attleboro, Mass.) played sick in Chicago just to give the team a substitute. They lost in the first round of bracket play to Team Iso, but finished 12-12 in total on Nike’s secondary circuit.
This 2025 group is the last iteration of the Honey Badgers, and though they’ll still play together in some fall tune-up tournaments, the EYCL championships were the capstone for the program.
“I'm sure the more I think about it, it's going to hit home,” coach Matt Forbes said. "We do have the fall, which I'm kind of taking some solace in, but this is it. It was eight years [and] this was basically their final exam.”
Under Armour Association Championships
The Bay State Jaguars were the program to watch on the Under Armour Circuit. The star-studded 17U team faced an early exit in the second round of the knockout bracket, and the 16U Jaguars fell in the first round to eventual champion FBC United. But the 15U squad — a promising group that includes Ella Peper (Newton, Mass.), Gabby Middleton (Stoughton, Mass.) and Avery Bollin (Raynham, Mass.) — reached the semifinals before losing to the Minnesota Fury, 66-49.
Adidas 3SSB Palmetto Road
Mass Rivals was the only local program competing on the Adidas circuit, and it was a tough weekend, with the 17U squad going 1-6. Colleen Phiri (Haverhill, Mass.) caught fire for 24 points in the lone victory, a 61-52 triumph against Indiana Elite Thunder.
