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DME Sports Academy HS National Team and PG National Team each played three tough games this weekend, as part of their first of many national events. They traveled to Connecticut and took part in the Power Five Tip Off tournament along with Putnam Science which is ranked 4th in the country, Woodstock Academy ranked 5th, Redemption Christian, and Commonwealth Academy.

Post Grad Head Coach Wesam Al Sous said that the experience of playing three strong games in 3 days is essential and serves as a good foundation to build on for the next events. “We have to work on our offensive system and try to build chemistry. I am happy with the energy levels, we fought as a team.”

High School Head Coach Daniel Mondragon was happy with how his team handled the first two games, “We competed against high-level teams. We showed toughness and the win against Woodstock — we came back from an 11 pt deficit.”

However, there are valuable lessons to be drawn here,  “The last game showed us that we need to learn how to win close games. We were up 9 pts with three minutes left in the game and we couldn’t close out, so we will be working on that in the next few weeks.”

DME GM of Basketball Nick Couluris stated that the trip was a good opportunity for DME Sports Academy to showcase their talent on a national scale, “The kids performed well on the court, and held their own against some of the best teams in the country.” When discussing the trip as a whole, Couluris said, “Our kids thoroughly enjoyed the experience. For some it was their first time on a plane. These kids were able to experience once in a lifetime things like our day trip to the basketball Hall of Fame.”

The next national event will take place in Memphis in less than a month.