(KB - 04/11/06)  The Orlando Comets Fusion 15U won their second tournament of the young 2006 AAU season this past weekend.    The Fusion took on a series of old rivals and re-established themselves as the premier girls 15U AAU team in Florida.   In the process, they qualified for yet a fifth trip to AAU Nationals.

Fifth?   How is that possible for a first year team?

Well, you know how it is.   Four of those trips came under the guise of the FBVA Miracle.    The Fusion are an extension of that storied team.

And they looked like it over the weekend.

The Fusion were pooled with the Premier Jags, the Bay Area Ballers and the Tampa Extreme.     Only the Extreme were a familiar name.      The other two teams are relative newcomers.

The Fusion opened against the Extreme on Saturday afternoon.     And they picked up right where they left off against this team.    The last time these two teams played, the Miracle jumped out to a 14 point lead, allowed the Extreme to close to within 2, then finished the game on a 17-0 run at the 2004 AAU state championships in Tallahassee.

In the 2006 AAU super regional, the Fusion jumped out to a 21-4 lead and looked to make the game a walkover.     The Fusion were running and gunning at will, firing crisp upcourt passes and getting open layups in transition.   Ayiesha Vickers dominated in the paint.     She used her turnaround jumper effectively in the Fusion's half court sets.    Kourtney Berry also finished looked fantastic in transition, scoring 13 of her 18 points in the first half.     She drained three consecutive treys on the break.

The Extreme battled back.   Kayli Keough(#22) began to find the range in their half court sets and they started to make defensive stops.    At halftime the score was 31-19 in favor of the Fusion.

The Orlando team maintained a 12-14 point lead throughout much of the second half.      The Extreme never gave up, however.     They made one final determined run in the waning stages of the game and closed to within four points.    Keough and Kerah Nelson(#20) led the Extreme charge.

But the clock ran out on their effort and the Fusion won 63-59.

In their other pool games, the Fusion beat the Premier Jags 53-38 and downed the Bay Area Ballers by 31.

The Fusion were paired against long time rival Leesburg Boys and Girls Club in the semi-finals of bracket play.   Andrell Smith led the Fusion with 19 points as they scored a 71-33 win.    Amanda Woodside tallied 10 points in the win.

In the championship game against the Sixers, the two teams battled evenly for about 5 minutes.    Then Sixers forward Brianna Fields injured her knee while attempting a rebound and had to sit.    The Fusion then went on a 16-0 run to put this game away.

The second half of the game was sloppy as the Sixers battled to get back into the game.    Both teams suffered numerous turnovers.     The Fusion ended up winning the championship, 65-55.