Triumph Region Recap at The Exclusive

The Exclusive took place in the Chicagoland area this weekend as a collaboration event with Jr. All-Star for the Spring Evaluation Period. The <strong>PGH Circuit</strong> consists of 4 different regions, and they come together during the Live Periods to compete against each other. This event displayed a lot of talent from the Midwest, but we also had teams from Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Kentucky, Alabama, Florida, and more. As I cover the Triumph Region (Southeast), I wanted to showcase the three programs we had in the building: <strong>Alabama Twisters Elite, Candace Parker Hoop Dreams Elite, </strong>and<strong> Miami Impact.</strong> Here is a recap of how those teams performed: <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>Alabama Twisters Elite 2023 (1-3)</strong></span></span> Let’s be real. Records and stats don’t truly matter during summer basketball. Do you think a college coach cares if you win or lose or score 20 ppg? Most likely not. Unless you lost in poor fashion and showed negative emotions towards that loss. That was not the case for Alabama Twisters Elite. On Friday night, they narrowly lost to Overtime Performance out of KY by 3 points. On Saturday morning, they lost to Wisconsin Blizzard by 9 and beat Team Firstep (KY) by 4. Finally, on Sunday, the lost to Chapman Basketball Academy (WI) by 4. Every single game was competitive for this team which is all you can ask for. They fought hard, and I’m sure they learned a lot of lessons this weekend! <em> Standout Players:</em><strong> [player_tooltip player_id="330691" first="Nailah" last="Mayes"]</strong> and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="419733" first="Ashaunte" last="Monday"]</strong> <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>Candace Parker Hoop Dreams Elite 3SSB 2023 (1-3)</strong></span></span> Another talented team from the South who was exposed to some basketball outside of their region. CP HDE played in the toughest pool in our entire event. They struggled against both Metro Stars (MN) teams early in the event, but regained their footing with a win over Minnesota Fury Premier and only lost by 6 to Chapman Basketball Academy (WI). <em>Standout Players</em><strong>: [player_tooltip player_id="166168" first="Hannah" last="Kohn"]</strong> and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="243934" first="Milan" last="Santos"]</strong> <em>Impressive New Faces</em><strong>: Zoe </strong><span style="font-size: 1rem;"><strong>Tennell</strong>,<strong> [player_tooltip player_id="247233" first="Ella" last="Ortman"]</strong>, and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="409186" first="Holland" last="Harris"]</strong></span> <hr /> <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>Alabama Twisters Elite 2024 (1-3)</strong></span></span> I did not get a chance to watch this squad as they were at our Supreme Courts location. I heard they played a lot better on Saturday with a 13 point win over Illinois Phoenix and a 5 point loss to Michigan Lady Playmakers before losing both on Sunday to Foundation Athletics (WI) and the Quad City Shockers. <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>Candace Parker Hoop Dreams Elite 3SSB 2024 (1-3)</strong></span></span> CP HDE played in the top pool in 16U, so they got the experience of playing against some really tough teams: Oklahoma Swift, Metro Stars (MN), Minnesota Fury Premier, and their lone win was over Wisconsin Playground Club on Sunday. There is a lot of talent on this team that could make them dangerous as they begin to mesh. <em>Standout Players</em><strong>: [player_tooltip player_id="349386" first="LeighAnn" last="Hanley"]</strong>, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="249400" first="Pink" last="Sturdivant"]</strong>, and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="219928" first="Leah" last="Barnes"]</strong> <em>Impressive New Faces</em><strong>: [player_tooltip player_id="248300" first="Zoe" last="Sedo"]</strong> and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="248298" first="Alana" last="Seward"]</strong> <hr /> <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Miami Impact 2025 (2-2)</span></strong></span> Miami Impact was the most successful team that represented the Triumph Region in Chicago. They have a very young roster, but they held their own all weekend long. On Saturday, they went 2-0 with a 6 point win over M14 Hoops 2025 Rising 3SSB (IL) and a big victory over City Elite Basketball (IN). Day 2 brought their two tough losses that they did a good job of fighting adversity and staying competitive in. Lady Pure Prep (IA) beat them by 8, and Chapman Basketball Academy (WI) beat them by 1 as they had a chance to tie it at the end. Standout Players: <strong>Ava Jones</strong>, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="243916" first="Victoria" last="Valle"]</strong>,<strong> [player_tooltip player_id="415867" first="Hailey" last="Clements"]</strong>, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="243907" first="Ashley" last="Martinez"]</strong> <a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2022/04/IMG_0940-scaled-crop-2194x1440-1650924006.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-419281 aligncenter" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2022/04/IMG_0940-scaled-crop-2194x1440-1650924006-300x197.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="197" /></a> <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Candace Parker Hoop Dreams Elite 3SSB 2025 (0-4)</span></strong></span> CP HDE ’25 also played in the top pool with Miami Impact, but they struggled to put points on the board and defend the Midwest talent of Metro Stars (MN), Chapman Basketball Academy (WI), City Elite Basketball (IN), and Lady Pure Prep (IA). <em>Standout Players</em>: [player_tooltip player_id="410044" first="Jayla" last="Johnson"], <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="248681" first="Alayiah" last="Johnson"]</strong> <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Alabama Twisters Elite 2025 (1-3)</span></strong></span> I also did not get to see this Alabama Twisters Elite team as they split their time between the Supreme Courts location and Illinois Basketball Academy on Sunday. &nbsp; It is early in the travel ball season, so look for this weekend to be a good learning lesson for all of these teams! Keep an eye out for individual evaluations coming out this week!