In girl's basketball, it's the Great Divide, the line between the Swooshes and the Three-Stripers, that is the source of such uncertainty. For the most part, the teams and players sponsored by Nike play in one circuit and the ones sponsored by adidas in another. And rarely do the circuits intersect.

In fact, a couple of the Flight's major imports - LaSondra Barrett of Jackson, Miss., and Candace Wood of Charlotte, N.C. - significantly boosted their reputations on such a major and sneaker-diverse stage.

Barrett, HoopGurlz.com's choice as tournament MVP, was a 6-foot-1 pillar of strength all weekend and was the one who stepped in the final two minutes to snatch what had been a lackluster championship game dominated by tired legs. First she showed her versatility from the high post, making a nifty interior pass to a teammate for a bucket. Then, when Cinncy's Finest, needed to answer, Barrett made a clean strip for a steal that sealed what eventually was a 50-45 Flight victory.

Yet the Flight would not have been in such a position had it not been for Wood, the North Carolina commit. Not only did the daughter of former NBA player and UNC great Al Wood prove her defensive mettle for three days, particularly with her length in the passing lanes, she hit two of the most meaningful shots of the tournament. Both came during the epic, four-overtime semifinal struggle between the Flight and West Coast Elite that Flight coach Matt Insell called "the best game of the club season so far."

Insell's claim is difficult to refute. The Flight took the previous matchup between the rivals, by a point after a single overtime, during the Boo Williams Invitational. Wood helped engineer a confirming victory by drilling a three-pointer in the left corner during the second overtime, then one from the right corner that proved to be the game-winner in the fourth extra period. Afterward, Wood would say that she was just "doing my job," though it is a critical one with the likes of Barrett inside and penetrators such as freshman Lauren Avant, who already is committed to Tennessee.

It also was no small feat getting by Cincinnati's Finest, which had one of the more impressive runs through the tournament, including a fairly easy victory over hulking West Coast Elite and later over talented DFW in the quarters. Cinncy's star, Amber Gray, whose career at Tennessee will intersect Avant's, now has a stock with booster rockets attached. She proved to be more than anyone could handle inside and, when the Flight put her in lockdown for the first 12 minutes of the first half, she stepped to the outer limits to drill a three and another long jumper to keep her team in the hunt in the first half.

In terms of enhanced street cred and rankings flex, Gray was in good company this weekend. Fellow three-striper Glory Johnson, another adidas circuit staple, took a Tennessee Team Pride team that looked mediocre at the Deep South Classic last month and during its first outing here, and transformed it into a formidable contender. For West Coast Elite, Texas' Kelsey Bone probably solidified her status as the top player in the 2009 class and Las Vegas' Monique Oliver put the squeeze on her club teammate with a monstrous inside presence, great boardwork and extremely impressive defensive work on the perimeter against all types.

Destini Hughes of DFW stamped herself as one of the best point guards in the nation, making a move on Samantha Prahalis of Commack, N.Y., who has a million of them (moves, that is). For her part, "Sudden Sam" Prahalis continued to establish herself as the female second coming of Pistol Pete. Also waving like mad in the point-guard department was the Family's Yvonne Anderson, the daughter of Missouri head men's basketball coach Mike Anderson.

And for every choice in the Nike column (say, Chay Shegog of the Fairfax Stars), there was an equally impressive pick from adidas (eg., Justine Raterman from the Dayton Lady Hoopstars).

It was enough to make one pine for the day when the relativity of the players and teams would be as self-evident as the of Tennessee Flight Silver and its heroes, Barrett and Wood.

Note: Listen to post-game comments from coach Matt Insell, LaSondra Barrett and Candace Wood of Tennesee Flight and coach Steve Sanders and Amber Gray, as well as an extensive interview with Gray, on HoopGurlz Podcast No. 3, which will be posted on Wednesday. Also look for our all-tournament team, photo galleries, video highlights, revised 2008 rankings, news and more features from the Nike Midwest Showdown over the next week plus.

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