11 year old John Venturi of Point Pleasant, NJ has traveled to Vienna, Austria to represent the USA in the 12U Junior Olympics from July 4th to July 14th. He has decided to take Basketball Spotlight along for the ride. John will be sending us updates on his international experience on and off the court. Here’s his final entry.
Hey USA - John here with my final post from Vienna, Austria.
Basketball competition began a couple days ago with a big SURPRISE!!! No 12U!!! Because not enough countries had 12U teams, we were put into the 14U bracket. We ended up going 1-3 in pool play.
The Czech Republic tore us up in our first game. They were too big and strong and they dominated us from the start. I had 12 points - 2 3s in each half, but committed too many turnovers. We played well in our next game against Switzerland, but lost by 11.
Our only win came against Austria. We were up by 6 at the half and coasted to a 26 point win. We needed to beat Romania in our final pool game to get into the Championship Round. We didn't! Romania led from the start and beat us easily 83-36.
I averaged just under 14 ppg and had a great time playing with and against players from all over the USA and the world. Oh, I almost forgot, USA #1 14U team won the Gold Medal by beating Hungary.
Last nights' Closing Ceremonies were amazing, with everyone singing, dancing and having one last night of fun.
I hope you all enjoyed my journal. See you all at the Nationals in Cocoa Beach. TEAM BATTLE bringin' it!!!
John
