craigdailypress.com

A group of Craig sixth-graders making up a boys Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) basketball team didn't back down against out-of-state competition and earned a second place finish among 12 teams Friday through Sunday at a Laramie, Wyo., AAU tournament.

On Friday, Craig started off the tournament by beating a Cheyenne, Wyo., team, 63-33, moving them into the semifinal game.

"We played a pretty good game against Cheyenne," said coach Jim Duran. "It was a good way to start off the tournament."

In the semifinal game Saturday, Craig downed Rock Springs, Wyo., 51-35, to earn a spot in the title game.

"They played us pretty tough," said Duran. "We ended up going inside a lot to Kevin Loughran. Tim Knez and Derek Duran all had a really good game."

In the championship game, the sixth-graders faced off against another Cheyenne team.

"They are tough team," said Duran. "We played them last year and split with them."

According to Duran, Craig was down by two at halftime and ended up dropping the game by 10 points.

"This year we got in a little foul trouble with our big guys and our guards," said Duran. "Cheyenne had a really outstanding point guard. In the second half, Cheyenne came back and hit a lot of free throws. The kids felt bad about the loss, but you win some and lose some."

Despite the setback, Duran praised the team effort and believes good things will happen to this age group.

"This is a really good group that we have here," said Duran. "I think that we will continue to play through the summer. This group has some tall kids and they have some quickness. They are going to be tough."

The sixth-graders finished the year with a 13-3 record.

"We had a pretty successful year," said Duran. "If you want to get to the state tournament level when you are in high school you have to play 50 or 60 games a year.

"I think that these kids are pretty well committed and if they want to play then we will take them."