Kentucky’s 11th grade AAU team “The Ville” took the National Title game last week in Louisville, KY at Freedom Hall over the Albany (N.Y.) City Rocks, 46-40. Clinton County was well represented on The Ville as Bulldog point guard Keifer Dalton was a member of the team and has been since before middle school.

“I’ve been playing with them since I was in fourth grade,” Dalton said. “They asked me to play with them then and I’ve played ever since. We’ve traveled all over the United States. I think seven of the original guys are still on the team.” This year marked the first time the team has won a national championship, but Dalton said they have won several state championships. This year also marked the first time the tournament has been held in Louisville, which made the win even better for the elite squad.

The Ville went undefeated in the tournament to secure the National Championship. The tournament itself consisted of nearly 100 teams in the field.

“It’s helped me a lot because there is a lot of talent on the team. They are all Division 1 players and are highly recruited,” Dalton said. “With playing together all these years, we really know each others’ game and how it works. It’s really hard to beat us because we’ve been together so long.”

Dalton said his summer season begins in April and lasts through July.

This year his team has traveled to Illinois and South Carolina, as well as other places, in order to end up in Louisville to play for the National Championship.

Dalton said he has spent most of his summer playing basketball, practicing in Louisville during the week and playing on the weekends.

“During July we had four straight tournaments,” Dalton said.

Other than learning more about the game he loves, Dalton said he has made a lot of new friends and met a lot of different people during his years on the AAU team.

“I’ve been exposed to a lot of college coaches, and got my name out there a little more,” Dalton said. “Since I’m from a small town it’s a little harder to get out there and get known. It’s helped me out a lot going out and playing for a big team like that.”

This season is the final year Dalton will be able to compete in the AAU program.

“I’m going to miss it,” Dalton said.

With the summer program coming to a close, Dalton will now put his focus on this year’s season in which he will be a senior.

“School starts next week and we will hit the weights in our gross motor class,” Dalton said. “We will lift everyday of the week until the first game. We go at it pretty hard.”

With just months before the official start of basketball season in Clinton County, Dalton said he is excited about his final year at Clinton County.

“Ending this year will be worse than ending the AAU,” Dalton said. “It will just go by so quick. This will be my sixth year on varsity … it seems like it went by so fast. Hopefully we can get a run started for the state tournament this year. I think this is our year to do it. We have everything we need to do it. Coach (Todd) Messer has it all figured out.”

Dalton said working to make himself better for high school basketball was the goal during his AAU seasons.

“It’s made me better for high school ball and hopefully at college as well,” Dalton said. “While I’m out here traveling, I know there are a bunch of kids in the gym everyday lifting and they are really working hard.”

Dalton said he really doesn’t get to take much of a break, but he wouldn’t have it any other way.

“I was telling someone the other day that I’ve slept in my bed twice during the month of July,” Dalton said. “It’s good to be home.”

“I am really proud of Keifer and the big part he played in such a great team accomplishment,” Head Coach Todd Messer said. “I have always believed he was the best all around point guard in this state and he really doesn’t get the exposure he deserves.”

Currently Dalton is third in all time scoring with 1,637 points, second in steals with 282, second in assists with 452, first in games played with 135 and second in charges taken with 51.

“It takes a tremendous amount of dedication, desire, and a tireless work-ethic to continuously play virtually year round when combining his requirements for our team as well as adding AAU events through the months of April, May, and July,” Messer said. “But through these efforts he has definitely evolved as a player. What we need him to do for us to be successful is different than the team needs at the AAU level, so understanding what he needs to do for each team to be successful has made him a more complete player. In addition, at times in our games, he can just out quick and out athlete his defender, but in his level of AAU, the caliber of athlete he goes against each game is equal to him, so he has to play more fundamentally solid and trust all the hours of practice and repetition to be successful against quicker and bigger opponents.”

Dalton is the son of Keith and Charlotte Dalton.

Above, Dalton stood with the National AAU 17-under trophy last week as his team, The Ville, won over Albany (N.Y.) City Rocks, 46-40. Below, Dalton, first row, second from the left, posed with his team after winning the championship game.