Four local boys basketball players—Sheldon Cooley (Plant), Jordan Davis (Sickles), Austin Suarez (Berkeley Prep) and Lukas Poderis (Ridgewood)—recently helped lead the Florida Elite 17U AAU team to a state AAU championship.

The state tournament was played in Clearwater over the past weekend, where Elite went 5-0 to win the title. Elite, coached by longtime AAU coach Conrad Foss, defeated Orlando Spartans (78-41) and Florida Prospects (65-31) in pool play and Naples’ Finest (77-47) and Q6 All-Stars (74-47), sponsored by the NBA’s Marquis Daniels, in bracket play. Against Q6 All-Stars, Cooley, who has offers from Tennessee Tech, Houston and East Tennessee State, scored 18 points while Davis added nine points and 13 assists.

In the semifinal against OBC Elite, Poderis led Elite with 17 points while Davis had 11 assists in a 85-67 victory. In the state championship game, Cooley scored 15 points while Davis and Poderis had 12 and 11 points, respectively, to lead Elite over Gulf Coast Rams, 85-71.

Foss said Elite earned an automatic bid to the AAU National Tournament in Orlando July 27-30. He also said the team will play in the Reebok National Invitational in Las Vegas the week prior to the AAU tourney in Orlando.

The Florida Elite 15U team, coached by Newsome varsity coach Jon Mackey, also won a state championship at the tournament, going 6-0 to win the title. From the area, players include Trent Mackey (Newsome), Andre Smith (Blake), Xavier Owens (Wharton), Reshard Brown (King), Ryan Coulter (Plant), Noble Fowler (Plant) and Rashawn Rembert (Sickles).