By BOB PUTNAM, Times Staff Writer
Published July 7, 2005
The Bay City Kings, a 15-under AAU team in St. Petersburg, will play in the national tournament in Kingsport, Tenn., this weekend.
This is the first year of existence for the Bay City Kings, and its 9-under, 10-under, 12-under and 17-under teams also qualified for the national tournament. The 15-under team qualified after placing third in the state tournament. Initially, the team had 12 players but will have only seven for the national tournament: Anthony Bennett (Bradenton Manatee), Brandon Green (Lakewood), Charles Fields (Lakewood), Brian Parker (Bradenton Southeast), Reggie Reed (Lakewood), Brian Smith (Bradenton Southeast) and Jacob Troyli (Canterbury).
The team is coached by Brian Stapf, a standout for Lakewood from 1993-97 before playing at Indian River Community College and Eckerd. His assistant is Jermaine Jones-Phillips (St. Petersburg/South Carolina State). Both played on a 17-under AAU coached by Ernest Crumbley that qualified for the national tournament.
