The Tar Heels dreams of an undefeated season came to fruition on Tuesday as they topped the Jazz 32-18 to win the 8-10-year old division of the Washington Youth Basketball League.
The win allowed the Tar Heels, who were also the regular season champions, to finish the year with a perfect 11-0 record.
“I’m very happy and the girls are extremely happy,” Tar Heels coach Franz Holscher said. “They managed to get through both the regular season and the tournament without a loss. It’s a really special year.”
The Tar Heels Ki’Nyah O’Neal and the Jazz’s Tianna Hopkins were explosive throughout the game and both gave dynamic performances as they finished with 16 and 14 points, respectively.
Leandra Prayer added four points for the Jazz. Mary Emma Holscher added nine for the Heels, while Shantasa Brown scored five and Khalyia White totaled two.
“Ki’Nyah had a fantastic game, she scored 16 points. Mary Emma Holscher had a good game with nine and Shantasa Brown has been working really hard in the middle all year long getting rebounds and today she was able to score a little bit more,” Holscher said.
After falling behind 6-4 in the first, the Jazz was forced to try and play catch up the rest of the game. Despite Hopkins’ effort, the Jazz could not overcome the Tar Heels.
“It was an excellent year,” Jazz coach Marquita Parker said. “At the end we all came together as one and all helped each other.”

Jazz    4    4    3    7    —    18
Tar Heels    6    8    6    12    —    32
Jazz (18)
Tianna Hopkins 14, Leandra Prayer 4.
Tar Heels (32)
Ki’Nyah O’Neal 16, Shantasa Brown 5, Khalyia White 2, Mary Emma Holscher 9.