The Predators won the USBA Lake Norman Shootout this past weekend in Mooresville.

Play began Friday night against the Charlotte Storm.  The Storm were in control most of the game but the Predators made a late run to take the lead.  The Storm missed a shot at the buzzer that would have tied the game and the Predators escaped with a hard fought 73-71 victory.  Charlie Wilson had 20 points and 7 rebounds to lead the Predators.  Chris Patterson also had 20 points and Jalonde Willis had 10.

The Predators faced the High Point Heat in the second round of pool play Saturday morning and jumped to an early lead and never looked back in route to an 85-52 win.   Patterson paced the scoring with 25 points.  Wilson had a double double with 19 points and 10 rebounds.  Willis added 13 points and 8 rebounds from the point guard position.

Those two victories earned the Predators the #1 seed in bracket play and a rematch with the Storm Saturday afternoon.  This time, the Predators held the lead most of the game only to see the Storm come back and send it into OT with a 3 pointer at the end of regulation.  The Predators controlled the OT period and claimed an 88-80 win.  Patterson exploded for 35 points.  Tyrell Sutton added 15 and Philip Hux chipped in with 11 in his first game back after an ankle injury 3 weeks ago.  Wilson led all rebounders with 7.

The Predators 17+ team played in the MMK Coach's Tourney in Salisbury this past weekend and took second place, losing in the Championship 64-63 in overtime.

Play opened Friday night at Hall's Gym against the Carolina Kings from Hamlet, NC.  The Predators opened an early lead and led by 7 at the half before opening up a 20 point lead in the second half and holding on for a 62-52 victory.  Chris Patterson and Tyrell Sutton led the scoring with 14 each.  Charlie Wilson claimed yet another double double scoring 12 points and grabbing 12 rebounds.  Jalonde Willis chipped in with 13 points.

This led to a Saturday match up with the defending USBA national champions, the Ditra Diamonds.  The Predators came out hitting on all cylinders and started the game with a 9-0 lead the grew to a 49-38 halftime lead.  The second half was more running by the Predators who ran away with a 91-79 victory.  Sutton led Mooresville with 31 points and 10 rebounds.  Patterson added 23 points and 9 rebounds.  Philip Hux chipped in with 11 points while Jamie Graham added 10. Wilson had another 12 rebound game.

 The Diamonds defeated the Kings and that led to a rematch with the Predators for the title.  Mooresville couldn't get the running game in gear in the first half and the Diamonds held a 36-32 lead at the half.  The Diamonds opened up a 10 point lead in the second half but the Predators stormed back to force the game to OT only to come up short, 64-63.  Patterson led the scoring with 17 points while pulling down 7 rebounds.  Charlie "Double Double" Wilson had 11 points and 10 rebounds.  Sutton and Hux added 11 points each.

The Predators will participate in the USBA state tournament in Raleigh May 15-17.

Congratulations to the 16U Predators who won the Championship in their division!

The Mooresville Predators 16U and 17+ teams both won the USBA Mike Minter Invitational Tournament in Charlotte this weekend. 

 The 17+ Predators opened play Friday night at Providence High School against the Charlotte Mustangs.  The first half was a defensive struggle as neither team was able to get their offense going and the Mustangs held a slim 21-20 lead at the half.  The Predators got their running game in gear in the second half while continuing to play great defense in route to a 58-48 victory.  Chris Patterson led Mooresville with a double double, scoring 14 points and grabbing 10 rebounds.  Jamie Graham added 10 points and Charlie Wilson had 9 points and 13 rebounds.

Saturdays second round of pool play saw the Predators taking on the Charlotte Storm at South Mecklenburg High School.  The Predators came out hot and jumped to an early lead and took a 37-30 lead into halftime.  The second half was all Predators as they ran away from the Storm for a 72-51 victory.  Patterson once again led the Predators with 15 points but was matched by Orion Adams with 15.  Philip Hux added 13.

The 2-0 pool play record gave the Predators the #1 seed going into bracket play Sunday and were once again matched against the Storm.  This time the Storm came out hot against the Predators 3-2 zone and jumped to an early 13-2 lead.  Mooresville went to a man to man defense and got their running game in gear and took the lead at the half 38-36.  The second half was tight throughout but the Predators pulled away late for a 72-63 win.  Patterson had 18 ponts to lead the Predators.  Tyrell Sutton added 16 while Jalonde Willis added 13 and Hux had 10.

This landed Mooresville in the Championship Game Sunday afternoon with a rematch against the Mustangs who had earlier knocked off the Chapin (SC) Topps.  The first half saw the Predators play a swarming man to man defense but could not get shots to fall on the offensive end.  The first half ended with the Predators only scoring 19 points but their defense was keeping their title hopes alive as the Mustangs only managed 21.  Midway thru the second half, the Predators got it in gear and went on to earn a hard fought 57-50 victory.  Sutton led the Predators with 19 points.  Patterson added 16 and Wilson had 12.  Hux led the way on the boards with 10 rebounds.

The 16u Predators opened up with a  71 – 67 win over the EA Prep Stars.  Derrick Howell and Donteze Caldwell finished up the game with 17 points each while Patrick O’Brien added 13.  The Predators dropped their next game to the Carolina kings 67 – 54 causing them to enter bracket play as the #3 seed against the second seeded Kannapolis Komets.  The Komets weren't able to keep up with high scoring Predators who ran away with a 96 –81 win.  Isaiah Johnson led Mooresville with 22 points followed by Patrick O’Brien with 20 and Derrick Howell with 17.  This earned the Predators a trip to the Championship Game and a rematch with the Carolina Kings. With a total team effort, the Predators jumped out to and early lead and never looked back in route to a 66 -59 victory.  This gave the Predators their first tournament win of the 2009 season!

The Predators got off to a good start in the Carolina Rise Classic with a win over the Charlotte Storm but dropped the next two games.

The Predators played a very strong game in the opener as they took the lead early against the Storm and kept the lead for the remainder of the game to take a 63-47 victory.  Chris Patterson had a double double with 17 points and 12 rebounds.  Philip Hux added 22 points while Jalonde Willis and Orion Adams chipped in with 8 each.  Charlie Wilson pulled down 10 boards.

The next game was against the Augusta Runners.  The Runners ran a spread offense to perfection but the Predators only trailed by 5 at the half, 42-37.   However, the Runners opened the margin in the second half and took a 76-60 victory.  Patterson led Mooresville with 17 points and 7 rebounds.  Hux added 13 points and Willis had 12.

This set up a rematch with the Storm.  The Storm came out very aggressive on the offensive end led at the half 38-35.  The Predators changed their defense to a 3-2 zone in the second half that kept the Storm off balance as they were only able to put up 21 points in the second half.  However, Mooresville struggled on the offensive end, only scoring 18 in the second half as Charlotte came away with a 59-53 win.  Hux was the only Predator to score in double figures with 22 points.  Wilson added 9 points.

The Predators opened their season over the weekend and finished second in the USBA Tournament of Champions.  The opening round opponents were the Omega Ballers from Monroe, NC.  The game was played Friday night at South Mecklenburg High School.  The Predators came out a little flat and the Ballers jumped out to a 9 point lead in the first half.  The Predators switched from a man to man defense to a zone and it seemed to slow the Ballers down a bit while the Predators were heating up.  Mooresville managed to take the lead in the second half and held a 2 point lead with 7 seconds remaining in the game.  The Ballers went the length of the court and scored on a runner in the lane to tie the game up.  Jalonde Willis' desperation shot from 3/4 court bounced off the side of the rim and the game went to OT.  The Predators held on in OT for the 63-61 victory against a quality opponent.

Tyrece Scott led the scoring with 12 points and 8 rebounds.  Philip Hux had 12 points while Chris Patterson and Willis had 10 each.  Matt Powell added 7 rebounds.

Saturday's first opponent was the defending USSSA National Runner-up, the Norfolk Knights.  The talented Knights were just too much for the Predators in this game and ran away with a 62-32 win.   Patterson led the scoring with 12 points and was the only Predator in double figures..

Mooresville took the #2 seed into bracket play Saturday night against the Charlotte Storm.  The Predators managed to hold the lead throughout the game but could never really pull away as they came away with a 54-42 victory.  Scott led the scoring with 16 points while pulling down 9 rebounds.  Jamie Graham chipped in with 9 points and 5 rebounds.  Charlie Wilson had 7 points and 5 rebounds and Orion Adams had 7 points.

Sunday morning's game was at the Charlotte Sports Center against the EA Prep Stars with a trip to the Championship on the line.  The talented Prep Stars built and early lead but the Predators were determined not to let this game get away from them as they were finally able to take the lead late in the second half and held on for a hard fought 60-58 win.  Patterson led the way with 15 points.  Willis had 13 and Hux had 10 points and 7 rebounds.

This led to a rematch with Norfolk in the Championship game.  The Predators came out hot and took an early lead but the Knights were too much once again and took a 95-67 win.  Hux led the Predators with 23 points while Graham and Patterson had 9 each.

The Predators will return to action in 2 weeks at the Carolina Rise Classic in Charlotte.

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