BY KEVIN ROBERTS
REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN
DERBY — The CBT Second Annual Valley Alumni Tournament featured eight teams and some exciting games at Derby High School on July 9.
Naugatuck won the alumni tournament in its first appearance, defeating Derby, 66-65, in the championship game. Dayvon Russell led Naugatuck with 20 points and was named tournament MVP.
“The event was two times better than the first CBT tournament,” said tournament organizer Ronte Byrd, owner of Coach Byrd Training LLC, “so we’re heading in the right direction.Our goal is to have everyone in the valley or out of the valley all come together and spend time together and watch, good competitive basketball games. I’m just so glad that everyone had a great time.”
Naugatuck beat Seymour, 68-55, in its first game before knocking off Shelton, 65-54, in its second contest to reach the final. Derby got to the final with wins over Woodland (101-60) and Ansonia (64-59). Woodland was also a new team in this year’s tournament. Ansonia was last year’s winner and received a first round bye, as did the runner-up Shelton. Of note, Derby’s Kevin Rivera sank six 3-pointers in a quarter in one game.
Another new feature was the high school all-star game. Team Pink squeaked past Team Purple, 88-87. Team Pink was coached by Ansonia girls assistant coach Natalie Ramadanovic while Team Purple was led by O’Brien Tech boys coach Craig Behun. Taeshaun Sanchez of Derby led Team Pink with 16 points. Team Purple’s Tra’shawn Reynolds of Ansonia paced all scorers with 31 points.
Here are the final scores and leading scorers from each alumni tournament game:
Game 2
Derby 101, Woodland 60
Derby: Jahwan Cody, 25 points
Woodland: Nathaniel Smith, 21
Game 3
Naugatuck 68, Seymour 55
Naugatuck: Dayvon Russell, 16
Seymour: Dion Perkins, 14
Game 4
Derby 64, Ansonia 59
Derby: Cody, 23
Ansonia: Tarell Vargas, 18
Game 5
Naugatuck 65, Shelton 54
Naugatuck: Russell, 14
Shelton: Brian Belade, 36*
*tournament high
Championship
Naugatuck 66, Derby 55
Naugatuck: Russell, 20
Derby: Cody, 25
