Team Lightning Melious 17U Gold Secures Third Place at Splash National AAU Hoops Tournament

After losing a tough one to BounceNation FBC yesterday in the semifinals, Team Lightning Melious 17U Gold refused to be denied this time out.

Behind 25 points from Emma Sollenne (St. Luke’s High School/Conn.), Team Lightning took down the Alabama Starz, 60-46, in the Splash National Girl’s Basketball third place showdown Monday morning at the Kentucky Exposition Center.

Sollenne, a rising senior, added three assists and four rebounds in the victory.

Although down by double digits, Team Lightning zapped back and did what it needed to win the contest.

Two of the team’s standouts — Stella Ziogas and Sollenne helped put their proverbial stamp on the game after trailing the Starz, Lightning head coach Dan Melious noted. But Sara Landry entered the tilt and altered the pace of the affair in favor of Team Lightning, Melious said.

“We were down 10-12 points, and we do what has become out trademark: comeback and win games,” Melious explained. “Stella and Emma set the tone today. Sara, once again, came in and changed the tempo of the game.”

Ziogas, a rising junior at New Rochelle High School (N.Y.), scored 17 points, 11 helpers, six boards, five steals and two blocks.

Melious could not stop praising his star point guard, for her play and presence on the hardwood–game in, game out.

“From day one, Stella has taken the badge of being that kid and that’s why she was invited to John Lucas (Top 160 camp),” he said. “Stella is special because she dominates games on both ends. She plays full court defense, handles ball, scores and makes her team better just by being in court.”

But that is just parts of Ziogas’ Team Lightning’s glorious legacy, which she has cemented this past AAU basketball season.

“She played sick most of the last four days,” the Staten Island native said. “Stella has the heart of a lion. This is her team and her program. When things went bad this year, she was the one all year that kept it together.”

As for Sollenne, “she battles every game,” Melious said. “She’s competes, and cares about winning. She’s a tough kid who, at the end of these two weeks, she must be bruised up,” due to the physicality she faced, per her coach.

Another player that Melious sang her praises about was Kyley Gary-Grayson, a rising senior at West Orange High School in New Jersey.

“There are not any words that give her enough credit,” he said of his gifted guard. “She came in late and lit fire back into the team.”

After a championship, a bronze medal placing a July 17-4 record, including the Staten Island International Tournament, Melious said he walks away with a great sense of pride for the way his girls balled out this AAU campaign.

“I’m incredibly proud of this team this year,” the former Division III hoops player said. “They won Run for Roses Classic Platinum Championship and came in third in the entire NE2K league. This was a great season.”  

— Jerry Del Priore

Photo: Courtesy of Team Lightning Melious.