Local Girls Basketball Team Takes Major Tournament

The Wisconsin Legends Silver U15 girls basketball team shocked organizers of the Chicago Nike Summer Showcase tournament when it won the prestigious tournament July 14 in Schaumburg.

The team includes Ashley Aune of Gibraltar High School in Fish Creek, five Algoma players, two from De Pere, and one each from Green Bay Southwest and Green Bay Prebble.

Coach Mark Aune (Ashley’s dad) said the tournament is one of the elite college recruiting tournaments in the country made up of 288 teams from all over the U.S. and Canada. Among the college coaches in attendance were Pat Summitt from the University of Tennessee and Geno Auriemma from the University of Connecticut, the two premier coaches in the college game.

The Legends defeated teams from California, Arizona, New Jersey, Minneapolis and Texas to get to the title game, where they defeated Team Iowa in overtime, 41 – 40. Aune said the Iowa team featured two Division – I recruits.

“We’re a bunch of misfits,” Aune said. “We’re not supposed to win this thing. But the girls play hard, play smart, and they play for each other. They’re a coaches dream.”

The team practices twice a week, once in De Pere and once in Algoma, and requires great dedication from its players. Aune said Courtney Dart, of Algoma, finished the final game of a softball tournament at around midnight in the Fox Valley, packed up her things, and hustled to Chicago for the Legends’ 10:45 am basketball game the next morning.

The girls dedication paid off with a title. They’ll play next at the end of July in the Minnesota Meltdown tournament.