The Cary Cougars' 16U team is set to start play Wednesday as the top-seeded team in the USBA National Championship in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. For their age group in the USBA, the Cougars are ranked No. 5 overall in the country and ranked No. 1 in the division.

The Cougars, which have a 19-11 record so far, are ranked No. 13 in the Atlantic Coast Region by USSSA, No. 4 in the state of North Carolina and No. 12 nationally.

"We're going to go in there to win the tournament," head coach Rob Orton said. "The kids are going to have fun down there, but they're focused, in addition to the games we have gym time, practice and we're taking it very seriously."

The Cougars feel confident going into the tournament, despite only having played one team in the USBA National Championship field — the Virginia Magic.

The Magic defeated Cary back on April 17 in Raleigh. The Cougars labored to a 12-point first half, but came back to fall by the 45-43 score.

“We know we could’ve beat them,” guard Sunil Ram, a rising junior at Apex High, said.

Since May, the Cary Cougars are 11-3, winning the USBA National Qualifier in Fayetteville, knocking off the Fayetteville Bullets, 54-49 in the championship and going undefeated in AAU State Tournament pool play.

The team also earned a runner-up spot at the North Carolina AAU State Championship, losing to the Fayetteville Force 67-50 in Mt. Airy and making the quarterfinals of the USBA State Championship in Cary before losing to Wayne County Blazers 61-54.

“We’ve had a number of tournaments with varying success. You have to kind of look at the situations,” Orton said. “Sometimes kids get overconfident and they really aren’t focused or understanding of the level of competition they are going to face, and they’ve learned from that.”

Before losing to the Force on May 17, the Cougars had a nine-game winning streak.

“It’s like the lights went on for the kids. They realized that defense, in particular, is something that we could do really good and excel at,” Orton said.

The Cougars’ roster features three players from Cary High and two apiece from Panther Creek, Green Hope and Apex.

“You’ve got people who you’re playing with so now when I go play against them next year, I know what they’re going to do,” Ram said.

Individuals from Garner, Fayetteville Smith and Fayetteville Seventy-First round out the rest of the team.

Austin Brannen, a rising junior at Cary High, is the team’s second leading scorer, chipping in 10.8 points per game. Brannen also leads the team in blocks and steals and is third in rebounds and assists.

Tariq Forte, a transfer from Long Island, N.Y., set to play for Green Hope next year, has averaged seven rebounds per game.

At the guards, Kameron Bryant of Panther Creek leads the way with a team-high 11.4 points per game and 3.1 assists per game, another team-high. Ram, who helps out Bryant with the ball-handling duties, is second on the team in assists.

“We’ve got a good inside-out game,” Ram said. “We can throw it inside to our big men and they can finish strong, we’ve got good shooters on our team and we’ve got people who can penetrate real well so it opens up the court for everyone else.”

The Cougars play once on Tuesday and twice on Thursday against teams from New York, Virginia and Maryland. On Friday, bracket play begins and the championship game will be on Saturday.

“The challenge will be to keep the kids focused when they only have one game a day,” Orton said.

To ensure the best finish possible, the team has rented a gym for a few hours a day for extra practice time. The Cougars have competed in a number of tournaments such as this one, and are hoping to take home a prestigious title.

“We’ve grown a lot. We’ve came together a lot more,” Bryant said. “We know what each other can do and how we work best. We’ll just try to have a good showing.”