Hamlet Nalbandyan
GLENDALE -- Nik Turley was one of the key players for the Glendale
Police Little League major baseball team that almost won the Tri-Cities
Championships this summer, but the 10 year-old also has other hobbies.
The La Canada Flintridge resident is also a big-time water polo and
basketball player, and it was his skills on the hardwood that almost put
him on a national championship team for the second straight year.
Playing for the American Roundball Corp. Bearcats, a 10-and-under
travel ball boys' basketball team based out of North Hollywood, Turley
was a big contributor on the squad that finished fourth in Amateur
Athletic Union National Championships at Disney's Wide World of Sports
Complex in Orlando, Fla.
The tournament, which started Aug. 7 and ended Saturday, featured nine
teams from all over the nation. Last year, Turley was part of the ARC
team that won it all.
Turley, a 5-foot guard and forward, was fifth on the team in scoring
with 49 points in nine games, good for a 5.4 average. He also pulled down
37 rebounds (4.1 a game) which put him third on the team.
The fifth grader also averaged 1.4 steals a game and shot 33.3% from
three-point range (nine of 27).
The Bearcats started slowly in pool play, losing their first game to a
team from Indiana, 47-38. But ARC took off from there, winning six
straight, including victories my such margins as 73-18, 68-25 and 71-39.
Turley had his biggest game in the 73-18 victory over North Carolina,
scoring 13 points and grabbing six rebounds. He also hit two of three
from three-point range.
The Bearcats rolled until they ran up against the Maryland Rising
Stars, falling 55-49 in the semifinals of the tournament. The Rising
Stars went on to win the national championship.
Turley played a big game against Maryland, scoring 12 points and
grabbing eight rebounds. He also hit four three-pointers, three coming in
the final two minutes that helped keep his team close.
ARC couldn't rebound fast enough in time for the third-place game and
well to the Central Jersey Hawks, 59-51. As a baseball player for the
Police, he helped lead the Crescenta Valley Little League-based squad to
the league title by hitting .359 with six doubles. He also played for the
CV 9-10 All-Star team and for the Harvard-Westlake Foundation
10-and-under water polo team.
As the youngest of five children, Turley gets his athletic talents
from his two older brothers, Dutch and Kurt. Dutch graduated from La
Canada High in 1999 and was a two-time All-CIF water polo player. Kurt is
a senior this year for the Spartans and will be on the varsity basketball
and baseball teams.
