August 5th, 2018

United. Strong. Empowered. Use basketball to educate yourself. That's the theme every year. The 5th annual U.S.E Basketball Family Reunion was held at Pikesville High school this year. Coach Mike Dukes and his Pikesville family opened their doors when we found out Baltimore City Community College would not be available. Pikesville is a great venue and they were very accommodating hosts. An electrical malfunction caused a delay in getting the bleachers opened, but Team Sol's Saladin Reese came to the rescue and figured out a way to get them out. He is the real MVP. 

Our discussion panel started a little after 10am and host Briera Barksdale, a City College graduate who played at UNC- Asheville and Tusculum, took control. Ms. Barksdale guided the guests and participants through an informative back and forth question and answer session that covered a wide range of topics related to playing at the collegiate level. This year's panel included Amber Singletary, Cassie Cooke, Lindsay Spann, Brittany Whitley and Talen Watson. 

The Baby Ballers provided an exciting game to start the action off. Coaches Tully Sullivan and Howard Dorsey guided the teams through a game filled with runs, but the Blue team surged late and pulled it out. The DMV is filled with young talent so I am excited for what the future holds. 

The Alumni game was filled with some real high level players who can still bring it. Lashay Taft still has long ball range to rival Steph Curry, Ty Marshall (who is stil playing professionally) is still a beast, and Bones Moseley can still give you buckets. Bones set the single game record at the Family Reunion with 50 points to lead the Red team to a 102-78 win. 

Brene "Bones" Mosley 

In the High School Showdown Team 2020 put the smack down on Team 2021 as Mir Mclean of Roland Park led all scorers with 16 points. Also in double figures were Ajae Petty of IND, Dasia Townes of Poly, Charia Roberts of Pikesville and Eniya Russell of IND who all scored 10 points. Sanaya Gray of Western scored 10 points for Team 2021 while Messiah Hunter (Hopewell, VA), Jayla Oden (McDonogh) and Kristen Sterling (Pikesville) all scored 6. The final score was 85-65 and Team 2020 moved their Family Reunion record to 2-0 as they defeated Team 2019 last year. 

The Middle School game saw the light blue squad hold off the white team 61-47 behind 19 points by the Zoe "The Bully" Brooks, 2023 guard from the New Jersey Sparks. Nehku Mitchell, 2022 wing from Power Move added 10 points for the winners. Andre'a Cherisier 2023 forward of the MD Belles led the White team with 12 points, while Gabby "Showtime" Johnson chipped in 9 points. 

I really enjoyed this year's Family Reunion. We had a real laid back atmosphere and all the players had fun. This is the pefect way to end the club ball season and I'm looking forward to making next year's event even better. See you all on August 4th. 

Zoe Brooks, New Jersey Sparks, 2023 

Aniya Gourdine, 2021

Tyra Robinson, 2020