By Brian Hoffman
Gabby Crawley(#8 right) and MacKenzie Stovall(#27 left) of Salem compete for the Lady Storm U17 basketball team at the NTBA tournament in Myrtle Beach. Photos by Amy Crawley.
Two Salem girls are members of the 17U basketball team that won the NTBA National Championship tournament on June 26 in Myrtle Beach, SC. MacKenzie Stovall and Gabby Crawley played for the Lady Storm team.
The team went a perfect 6-0 in the tournament, averaging a tournament-high 53.9 points per game. The team was coach by Sherrod Butler and Brandon Mills, both graduates of Liberty High School in Bedford. The team was comprised of girls from eight different schools. In addition to the two Salem girls the team had players from Cave Spring, William Fleming, Liberty, Bland County and two West Virginia cities, Bluefield and Princeton.
“It’s just a great group of kids,” said Butler in a story by Chris Morris of the Bedford Bulletin. “They work very hard. They really emphasize team. Everybody works together … They worked very hard and we’re extremely proud of them. What they’ve accomplished, not many are able to say they’ve done that. We really look forward to watching the girls play with their high school teams.”
