The Bradley Beal Elite Lady Eagles 17U program completed a dominant run through a busy week at the Run 4 Roses in Louisville, Kentucky with a pair of titles to bring home.

The BBE Girls won the Gold Bracket Championship in the Blue Division at the Run 4 Roses Classic and a few days later went on to secure a Platinum Bracket Championship in the E40 Division at the Run 4 Roses Championships.

“It’s a great feeling to come here and win two championships,” BBE Girls 17U coach Ken Robinson told the St. Louis American. “The kids are starting to buy into the system and they did a great job.”

Strangely enough, the winning week began with a loss for the BBE Girls on opening night, a heartbreaking 49-45 defeat against Illinois Lady Lightning Select Seberger on Thursday.

But that was the last time they’d lose all week.

They turned over a new leaf on Friday and followed that loss with wins over AUSA Australia Team Megan (43-38) and XGEN ELITE Premier 2024 (52-40).

Those victories put them second in their pool and into the Gold Bracket. There they defeated Blaze Inferno 49-31 on Saturday morning to advance to the Blue Gold Championship, where they beat Michigan Drive Premier Copeland 43-41 on a last-second shot by Chantrel Clayton to claim the title. Clayton won a state championship with Vashon high in Missouri this spring and is getting familiar with coming up clutch in championship moments.

“Chantrel Clayton has grown so much in four months since our state championship,” said coach John Albert, who coaches the Lady BBE 16U team and is the head coach at Vashon, told the St. Louis American. “She’s become a leader and also leads by example by staying in the gym and working on her game. It has shown in July, not just with scoring points, but getting her team involved and rebounding the ball on a high level.”

Amiah Hargrove had a pair of 30-point games during the four-game winning streak and earned Blue Division All-Tournament Team.

Hargrove, Clayton and their teammates carried that momentum into the second phase of the Run 4 Roses, The R4R Championships, where they were seeded among highly-ranked teams in the ultra-competitive Elite 40 Division. They tipped off the tournament with wins on Sunday over Hoop Dreams Athletics (52-24) and OPS Jordan 2024 (54-29). They finished off a perfect run through Pool H on Monday with a 51-40 victory over OK Swarm 17U Elite.

The 3-0 mark in pool play put The BBE 17U into the Platinum Bracket, where they would face top competition. They once again defeated WI Blaze Inferno on Monday evening to set up a championship battle against Heart of Illinois National.

On Tuesday they finished a victorious week with a 54-49 win, behind a 24-point performance from Clayton to secure a Platinum Bracket title

“I think I’ve matured so much more as a basketball player,” Clayton told the St. Louis American. “I’ve become better at making plays for the rest of my teammates and seeing the entire game. Playing in those big games in the state tournament has also prepared me.”

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