The Fab 5 of the RYTES Warriors
Friday, February 4, 2011 at 8:20PM 
It's not as if there has never been a group of outstanding Warriors basketball players assembled in one class.
This season, however, the Warriors have only added players and they have come in and dominated the competition consistently enough to be an early pick to repeat at AAU Nationals. The team is Warriors - 5th Grade Holt, the time is now.
Eden Holt, Jalen Preston, Noah Thomas, Jamal Bieniemy, Derrick McDonald, Malik Tousant, Shawn Thomas and Jhamon Ausbon have helped transform a Warriors team that finished 2nd in the nation last season into an early two tournament champion that seems destined to repeat in Cocoa Beach this July.
The Warriors are playing top notch talent and have played up in one tournament this season and this year the Fab 5 are taking their game on the road to cities like San Antonio, New Orleans, Atlanta, Tulsa, Little Rock, Ak and Dallas before embarking on the challenge of winning it all in Cocoa Beach this Summer.
"It's gonna be tough getting back to Nationals," Lamar Holt, 5th grade Warrior's head coach, said. "In mid-December, we were finding ourselves; we added two players, and have had more peaks than valleys with this team. We look like a better team now and I'm sure Team Ramemy (St. Louis, Mo) is too."
“They have pretty good teamwork, which is often overlooked because of some of the players’ individual skills,” says Tony Williams, a Warriors assistant. Indeed, from their very first tip-off, McDonald, Holt and Bieniemy in particular exhibits tremendous flavor to go with their swagger. McDonald has a dominant post presence albeit undersized with huge power. Holt is a confident point with a knack for keeping his team under control and creating opportunities. And Noah Thomas is a tremendous finisher as well as a deadly three-point shooter and reliable defensive stopper. Bieniemy, meanwhile, is rock solid on the perimeter, making teams pay for collapsing on McDonald or Jalen Preston, and Malik Tousant plays his role well and comes through often with crucial boards and stops. Jalen is the engine that keeps this team playing at a high level with rebounds and put backs. The two new additions to the team, Shawn Thomas fits real nice with this team. It's hard to figure out what's his niche is, whether it's his defense up top or pushing the ball up court for a quick hitter, but either way you can hear him on the ball or slapping the court trying to get his team pumped up on shutting teams down and Jhamon Ausbon plays like a beast in the paint with a nose for finding the ball or the open man. Many can't wait to see these fabulous EIGHT!
It's a long season, but these boys are focused on getting back to finishing what they started last year.
5th grade, basketball, fab fivem aau, rytes warriors, story in article
Reader Comments (3)
as long as they play as a team they will be hard to beat. keep it up fellas!!!!!!!!
on and off the court these boys are a team...
yep, they do seem to be all brothers.