The New Hampshire Spartans basketball program entered multiple teams at last weekend’s Zero Gravity Boys National Finals in Massachusetts, and the Hampton-based organization brought home two championships.
Both the Spartans’ eighth-grade and sixth-grade teams won all six of their games in their respective divisions, and won the championship.
“These are two very special teams,” Spartans owner/director Chris Coates said. “Our kids are confident. They’ve been going to big events since they were in fifth grade; they are not fazed by these big tournaments. We have some tough kids, both mentally and physically.”
The eighth-grade team beat the Middlesex Magic, 47-44 in the championship game. Hampton’s Kash Bailey was named tournament MVP and was placed on the all-tournament first team. Other members of the team include Nicholas Minutelli (Newmarket), Colin Morse (Exeter), Kavery Daniel (Rye), Will Jernigan (Lee), Peter Leggett (Dover), John Valhouli (Hampton), Dillon Salinas (Dover), Oscar Sims (Greenland) and Sawyer Demers (Rochester). Chad Cyr was the head coach.
The sixth-grade team beat the Schenectady Envy, 62-50 in the championship game. Rye’s Colin Swartz was named tournament MVP and was placed on the all-tournament first team. Other members of the team include Owen Conway, Jake Renna, Nick Pearl, and Ty Sullivan, all of Rye; Brennan Moriarty and Ethan Brown of Kittery, Maine; Tyler Minutelli of Newmarket, Owen Pierce of Durham; and Matthew Linteris of Newburyport, Massachusetts. Coates was head coach.