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| Tyree Chambers-Brooklyn, NY |
Because
I did not get out to see much basketball on Friday (I was busy coaching my 7th
grade team) I did not develop a day five report. However, I will tell you that my 7th
graders took their first loss of the tournament to the Inland Force in the
third round. Also, Murphy AC lost to Team United 71-70 in the second round consolation
bracket. The Ohio Hoopsters defeated Tennessee United Bball 48-52 to advance in
the second round consolation bracket. The King James Shooting Stars went down
to Wisconsin Playground Warriors 65-67. Excel defeated the Memphis Tiger 60-33
to stay alive in the Classic bracket. In D-II, Dayton Metro advanced to the
Elite 8 with a 49-45 win over St. Louis Gateway, and the Shining Stars joined
Metro in the Elite 8 with a 65-46 victory over PR Stars Blue. Truth Basketball
got another win the Classic bracket on Friday when they took down NE Blizzard
49-76.
Ok,
now to Saturday’s action. The Ohio Hoopsters exited the tournament after a
57-52 loss to Team Takeover in the second game of the second round loser’s
bracket. SMAC U suffered the same fate
in their first game of the third round consolation bracket, when they lost to
the Metro Sixers 78-62. Excel has made the best of a bad situation which found
them in the same pool as 2 top 10 teams. Despite their bad draw, they are still
rolling in the Classic bracket. Early Saturday
they smacked 916 Select 57-39 to advance to the Classic Final Four. Later on Saturday, they squeaked by the MA
Shooting Stars 50-49 in overtime to claim a spot in the Classic championship
game on Sunday. According the Coach Greg Allocco, “Dane Goodwin has led the way
with this run we’ve had. Isaiah Spellman has been a consistent scorer inside.
Braden Norris has stepped up with key perimeter shooting and little Matt
Allocco has played very very well.”
In
D-II action, the Shining Stars defeated Inland Force 47-37 in game one of the
day, but was not as fortunate in game two when Michigan’s Judge’s Court got
them 49-45 to spoil their chances at a D-II national championship. The Stars
will play the NC Swarm on Sunday for 3rd or 4th place.
Dayton Metro lost their first game of the day against the Slam & Jam Hoyas
45-51, but bounced back in game two with a 49-45 win over the Indiana Blizzard.
Metro will face Eastsiders Hoops on Sunday in the 5th/6th
place game. Buckeye Prep got 2 more wins on Saturday. In the morning game,
Buckeye Prep took down PR Stars Blue 71-57, and in the afternoon game, Prep got
by Team Texas 62-53. Cameron Carlisle was the leading scorer in game one with
22 points, and Seth Goodson was the high man in the second game with a
team-high 13 points. Buckeye Prep will
match-up against St. Louis Gateway in the 9th/11th place
game on Sunday. In D-II, at least 3 Ohio teams will place.
Late
on Saturday night I got the chance to catch the second half of the first D-I
semi final game between Team Izod and We All Can Go (WACG). At the half, the score was 31-22 in favor of
Team Izod. It should be noted the WACG
was playing without their best player, Marvin Bagley who was sidelined with a
broken hand. Team Izod maintained a comfort lead for most of the 3rd
quarter but WACG made a run late in the third to cut the lead to 7 points
(31-37). Team Izod answered with a run to extend the lead 33-46, and went into
the 4th quarter up 46-35. WACG struggled to score early in the 4th,
but their fortunes changed later when the 3-ball started falling. WACG got as
close as 49-51 with 1:59 left in the game as WACG got a little momentum. However, Team Zzod was able to hold on the
get the win as well as a spot in the national championship game on Sunday. Izod’s
Tryee Chambers was the leading scorer with a team-high 15 points.
The
second D-I semi-final was nowhere close to be as competitive as the first game,
as Georgia United jumped all over the NC Running Rebels from the opening tip.
Georgia’s pressure totally took the Rebels out of their game as they feasted
off of turnovers and layups. By the end of the first quarter United was up 21-10,
and by the time I left at half time the game was already out of hand at 37-18.
Georgia United would punch their ticket to the championship game with their
67-46 win. Georgia was led in scoring by James Lewis’ 14 points, followed by
Myles Belyeu’s 13 and Corderius Hastings’ 13 points.
