Virginia Venom AAU Hoops Team Captures Tournament Title in D.C.

Virginia Venom AAU Hoops Team Captures Tournament Title in D.C.

ALL-MET ELITE

The Virginia Venom 17U AAU boys basketball team captured its first tournament title of the season this past weekend after a strong showing at the Big Shots tournament in Washington D.C.


The Venom, made up of many of the top high school basketball players from the area, went a perfect 4-0 over the weekend with victories over Canada’s Triple Beam Elite (79-75), the Maryland 3D Shots (61-60), the Diamond State Titans (79-71) and Nike Team Takeover (67-55) in Sunday’s championship game.

After claiming five titles in eight tournament appearances during their inaugural season last spring, head coach Donovan Bridgeforth says the Venom continue to build a reputation on the east coast circuit.

“I think we made a lot of noise this weekend,” Bridgeforth said. “It was a total team effort; everybody left everything on the court and played out of their minds.”
Dirk Williams, a senior transfer from Alabama who sat out this high school season at Jamestown due to VHSL regulations but will reclassify and play for Williamsburg Christian Academy next winter, made arguably the most noise. Bridgeforth said Williams picked up an offer from Division I Longwood after a 33-point performance in Sunday’s tournament final.
Among others who chipped in with strong performances over the weekend according to Bridgeforth were Warhill junior guard Marcus Brooks, whose buzzer-beating three-pointer from the corner lifted the Venom 61-60 over Maryland 3D Shots in round two, Tyler McMillan and Kevin Barnes of state runner-up Grafton, Lafayette all-district guard Colton St. Cyr, and point guards Keenan Gasway of WCA and York’s Quentin Martinez.

Said Bridgeforth of his players, “Dirk [Williams] shot very well and put himself on the national scene… Tyler [McMillan] showed his ability to rebound at the point guard position and had close to a double-double each game… Colton [St. Cyr] hit a lot of jump shots and clutch free throws… Keenan [Gasway] was our catalyst- he set everything up and had double-digit assists three out of four games, Kevin [Barnes] shot the ball well and played a lot of solid minutes and Quentin [Martinez] came off the bench and was always a spark.”
The Venom will next compete in the Under Armour Southern Invitational held at the Boo Williams Sportsplex May 18-20.