A jam-packed two weeks of grassroots basketball concluded Monday with the final games of championship tournaments.
New England's girls AAU programs scattered across the East Coast and Midwest regions to play with their respective circuits. The back-to-back live period weekends provided a critical chance for players to impress college coaches in the thick of the recruiting cycle. For the 2026 class, these were also their last runs on the circuit, some playing with teams they had grown up with.
Though so much of AAU coverage is geared towards individual prospects, the teams also spend months practicing and traveling with each other. Championship weekend is a culmination of that experience. Winning brackets or advancing far can also mean a lot to a program's reputation in New England and on the respective circuits.
Here's a look at some of the top team performances from grassroots championship weekend.
Connecticut Basketball Club (CBC) sends two teams far at Hoop Group
The small Connecticut program only fields two AAU teams in its entire organization, but both of those 17U squads made noise in Atlantic City, N.J., at the Hoop Group championships.
CBC Fairfield finished third in the Hoop Group Showcase League championship bracket, the highest among New England HGSL teams. Star forward Serenity Lancaster (New Hampton/New London, Conn.) dazzled in her final weekend of AAU and earned recognition from the tournament as a weekend standout.
CBC also honored Lancaster during the showcase with framed jerseys. Director Scotty Nails explained that such recognition comes when a player spends two-plus years playing for CBC and racks up more than 20 Division 1 scholarship offers. Nails said Lancaster and Kaitlyn Davis, who was a third-round New York Liberty draft pick this spring, are the two best players he's ever coached.
"She's an absolute game changer," he said. "This year is the best because she's more of a leader. She's a vocal leader, getting the girls ready to play. She's definitely grown up."
Mila Harmon (Sacred Heart Academy/Trumbull, Conn.) also shined for that squad and picked up her first Div. 1 offer from Manhattan. Meanwhile, CBC New Haven surged to a runner-up finish in the 17U Platinum bracket. That team, headlined by 2027 rising star Alannah Baehr (Suffield/Colchester, Conn.), Tessa Porch (Hamden Hall/Middletown, Conn.) and Eva Stirk (Hopkins/Orange, Conn.), is younger and has less experience playing for Nails.
"It's only their second year and Eva's third year, but the vast improvements on all three of them — they all have gotten better," he said. "But Alannah Baehr has just blown up. I knew she was going to be good, but I didn't know she was gonna be good this fast."
Mass Huskies' 17U EYCL squad ends a dominant two-year stretch
The Huskies' top team has played two years on Nike's secondary EYCL circuit and amassed a combined 37-6 record, including 19-2 this season. Some poor timing over the last two weeks shouldn't overshadow the run.
At 14-1 following the third session of play, the Huskies had a shot at earning the all-important promotion to the top EYBL circuit for Nike Nationals in Chicago. But the incident in Louisville messed up scheduling, and with another team at 15-0, they never had a chance to play the last game they needed to and barely missed out on the bid.
Then this past weekend, the team started 3-0 in pool play in Chicago but lost its first-round bracket game to eventual champion All Iowa Attack. The Huskies won out in the loser's bracket to finish in fifth place overall.
"I'm incredibly proud of them," director Hank DeSantis said. "They compete with everybody. They're great role models for everybody. They have the I.Q. and the ability to adjust on the fly. We're drawing something up in the huddle, and we go and execute it."
It was a monster weekend for Lauren Bousquet (Moses Brown/West Warwick, R.I.), whose 33-point performance against Houston Hoops highlighted multiple big games that played her into more significant Division 1 interest. Bella Miele (Marianapolis/Marlboro, Mass.) added her third offer from Albany last week. Sarah Poland (Rivers/Sudbury, Mass.) also made an impact with her versatility at forward.
"They took everything, every punch thrown their way, and were resilient as hell," DeSantis said. "And at the end of the day, they were able to win games that other teams wouldn't win. Three games we won in the last minute."
Mass Rivals battles to reach Adidas 3SSB quarterfinals
Among the programs playing on top grassroots circuits, Rivals had the best results with its 17U team during Palmetto Road championship weekend.
The squad went 4-3 during the weekend and played in several close games, including five decided by 10 points or less. They earned a spot in the quarterfinals but had the misfortune of running into Kaleena Smith, the top national prospect in the 2027 class, and eventual champion Seven Days in a 61-48 loss.
Rivals director Ushearnda Stroud said that as a competitor, she wasn't satisfied with less than a championship, but that she was proud of how her relatively young 17U team handled the pressure of the final live period.
"We knew that (with) our level of play and how we play, that we can match up with anyone in the country, and we can show what we're capable of," she said. "In that second half (against Seven Days), we had about a three-minute stretch where I think some of our youth and experience for some of our younger players — first time being on 17U 3SSB in any playoff round — kind of got to them. And that's part of the growth of doing this."
Fope Ayo (Austin Prep/Methuen, Mass.) averaged 11.9 points during the championship weekend, taking yet another massive leap forward as she turns her athletic potential into production. She's the No. 34 2026 recruit nationally per ESPN, and Stroud appreciated seeing Ayo's internal development as she exuded confidence on this stage.
"There are those coming-of-age moments as a coach where you sit back and you're like, 'Yeah, she figured it out.' And it was special," she said.
Alannah Morantus (Nobles/North Attleboro, Mass.) was new to the program this spring and played up as a 2028 guard, but hit her stride by the championships and averaged 10.9 points on 55.1 percent shooting from the field last weekend.
"She kept coming into the gym and kept competing and kept rising to the occasion," Stroud said. "So by time we got to the championship week of Adidas, she had enough consistent good habits that it helped her to perform at a high level."
Other notable team performances from the final weekend of grassroots championships:
- At the Select Events Finale, MCW Starz and iBelieve Elite were competitive, but didn't advance far into the Power 24 brackets. However, MCW's 17U Select squad did earn a third-place finish in the Select 40 bracket. That team includes Vanessa Ellis (Nobles), Jules Giordano (Brooks) and Annie Zink (Bedford, N.H.) among others.
- The Bay State Jaguars' top Under Armour teams were all in the hunt but similarly mid-pack in the championships. The biggest winner on the Under Armour side came in UA Rise, with MT Ducks Elite's Emerald group going 7-0 and coming out on top in the Gold bracket championship.
- iDream's 16U team finished third in their Hoop Group Showcase League championship bracket. Leah McKenzie (Loomis Chaffee), Taelor Arnold (Ethel Walker) and Iyanna Hodge (Wilbraham & Monson) highlight the roster.
- The Mass Huskies and New England Storm each had 15U teams take home bracket championships.
- Shooting Touch's 15U group did not compete in a full bracket, but did go 6-0, including a championship game win, at the Select Summer Championships.
