On Saturday, Millburn hosted its second edition of the Millburn Invitational, played this year on the RAFT Housewrite, partially written by New Jersey (and Millburn's) Dean Ah Now.
Congratulations to Hunter A of New York took a runaway first place finish, with an incredible 25.66 PPB and 109 powers en route to clearing the field with an 10-0 record.
Tenafly A:
On the strength of top-25 scorers Andrew Hau, Juno Lee, and Alex Slusarev, led by fifth-leading scorer Hau's 68 PPG, Tenafly took second behind Hunter A, finishing as the top team from New Jersey (though they were unable to play a final match). They put together an impressive string of victories Varian Fry, Hunter B, and East Brunswick B, who eventually finished in the top 10 at the tournament. Tenafly put up an impressive 23.71 PPB, including one game with 28.33 PPB, showing that the team is a force to be reckoned with throughout the rest of the season.
East Brunswick A:
East Brunswick A was dominant through much of the day, despite missing most of their usual A team. They cleared 650 points twice and 10 powers 3 times. Led by second-scorer Jackson Lee's 55 powers (good for a 77% powerrate!), they went 8-2, with a 22.54 PPB, third highest at the tournament. Their only losses came to eventual champion Hunter and in a third place game that came down to a tiebreaker.
East Brunswick B:
Led by David Ovetsky's 60 PPG, East Brunswick B went 5-1 in a tough morning bracket, reaching playoffs despite a tough loss to Hunter A. They stumbled in playoffs in a tough bracket, with losses to Tenafly, Wilmington Charter and Robert Harp, but performed admirably in a blowout victory over and impressive Hunter B team.
Robert Harp A:
Robert Harp took third on a comeback victory against East Brunswick A, with their only loss on the day coming in a 25-point defeat to Hunter B. Led by Carolyn Meng's 65 PPG and literature/myth specialist Rosa Xia's 45 PPG, they put up impressive victories over Tenafly, East Brunswick B, and Wilmington Charter.
Varian Fry:
Top scorer Aum Mundhe put up an impressive 18 PPB playing solo, finishing with 103 PPG and 34 powers. Though he faltered in playoffs against extremely tough competition, Mundhe put up impressive performances of 6/8/0 and 7/10/0 against West Essex and Hunter en route to multiple 400 point wins -- over full teams.
Other highlights: Other teams of note include Holmdel, led by Alan Wu's 46 PPG, Mountain Lakes A, who went 4-2 in preliminary rounds, and Pingry A who went 3-3, with losses against top teams Hunter A and East Brunswick B.
Millburn Invitational featured some of New Jersey's best going head-to-head, with New Jersey teams taking four of the top six spots at the tournament. We'd like to thank Dean Ah Now of Millburn for hosting the this tournament, and the writers and editors of RAFT for providing an amazing set. Thank you all for attending, and we look forward to seeing you around!
By Carolyn Meng, Livingston