Warriors Dominate Day One of MLK Tourney

Jordan Mitchell-6'4 WF Gahanna

As expected, Scott Bradley’s 6^th grade New Birth Warriors squad totally dominated the competition at the Dayton Airmen MLK tournament in Dayton yesterday. In their opening game against an over matched Centerville Hustle, the Warriors held their opponent scoreless until the 1:05 mark in the first half. Using a combination of full and half court traps, the Warrior feasted off turnovers and easy fast break buckets. New Birth entered the locker room with a 31-3 halftime lead.

The start of the second period mirrored the first half, as the Warriors continued to rack up transition points. By the time the horn sounded to end the game, New Birth had claimed an easy 66-16 victory.  The story of the game was the complete game logged in by Gahanna’s Jordan Mitchell.  There is a reason why many youth basketball fans rank Mitchell as one of the top players in his class; the kid can ball. Mitchell continues to impress this writer with his versatility and almost complete game. 

Yesterday, Mitchell demonstrated his ability to excel on both ends of the court, as he consistently stepped into passing lanes for easy layups, and blocked a boatload of shots near the bucket. Not only can he impact a game on defense alone, he can be a scoring machine as well. Mitchell scores at a high rate near the cup, but it’s clear that he continues to improve his perimeter shot. Not only can he get buckets of his own, Mitchell is an excellent passer who makes players around him better. By the end of most games, Mitchell’s stat line is nothing less than impressive.  With his length and skill set, Mitchell is real problem for most teams. Mitchell led all scorers with 25 points, followed by Jaidon Lipscomb with 20 and Jerome Francis II with 10.

I would like to report that their second game against the Dayton Airmen was more competitive, but that would not be accurate. Although the Warriors did not jump to as big a lead on the Airmen as they did with the Hustle, the half time score was still a lopsided 41-8. New Birth would go onto to collect a gaudy 69-23 win.  Much like the first game, turnovers and run outs were the story of the game. Jordan Mitchell again led all scorers with 23 points, followed by Jaidon Lipscomb with another 20 points and Jerome Francis II with 16 points. New Birth will back in action on Monday.

Jaidon Lipscomb-Averaged 20 pts Yesterday

Although Jordan Mitchell is clearly the man on the team, Jaidon Lipscomb is not far behind him.  Lipscome may not match Mitchell’s stats, but in terms of scoring, he is a force to be reckoned with as well.  In addition to his ability to shoot the cover off the ball, he just seems to have a nose for the ball and is always in the right position to score. When you add Francis’ size at the point and the team’s unselfish play and willingness to share the rock, it becomes painfully clear that this team will be unchallenged for the rest of the season.

A couple of other 6^th grade standouts included Kendall Moore (SG Dayton) and Willieon Yates (PG Springboro). Also, I watched a couple of 5^th grade games yesterday and the following kids caught my eye: Logan Moore (PG Dayton), Anthony Smith (PG Dayton), Keshan Hugely (PF Dayton), Keon’te Hugely (PF Dayton). 

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