The 2011-12 Packers saw their first action together this past weekend as they participated in a team camp at the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls. They played well against some top competition, beating a very good Waverly team that won the Iowa Class AAA championship last year and has several returning starters. They also made strong showings against an Evanston, Ill. team and Iowa City West – which made the large-school state semifinals last year in Iowa, and had all of its starters returning.
One of the top games was a contest against the Howard Pulley 16 and under AAU team, one of the top all-star AAU programs in Minnesota. The Pulley team also had a couple of members of its 17U team participating, including Hopkins point guard Siyani Chambers, a member of last year’s Minnesota state champions in class AAAA. The Austin boys battled until the end, when Chambers hit two free throws with six seconds left for the 86-84 Pulley win. Here are some video highlights of that contest:
The Packers head to Ames, Iowa Saturday for the Iowa State team camp, and will be playing together for much of June.
Several Packers are also playing AAU ball, including Brett Lukes who is playing on a strong 15U team, and Joe Aase, Tom Aase and Zach Wessels, who are playing for the Minnesota Fury Gold 16U team that is currently 35-4 on the year. AAU action resumes in July.
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