Nike Grassroots Tournament-Day One Report

Buckeye Prep vs Murphy AC B

On Friday, I spent some time at Reynoldsburg High School watching the action at the Nike Grassroots Tournament, one of the first big AAU events of the season. Since I started with the 7^th grade division, of course I had to check out my 7^th grade Buckeye Prep team as they faced off against Murphy AC’s B team. Although the game was close for most of the first half (28-22 at halftime), Buckeye Prep’s pressure eventually wore down a very scrappy Murphy AC team, and Prep went on to collect an easy 34-52 opening night victory. Buckeye Prep was led in scoring by Gahanna’s Seth Goodson who effectively attacked the cup the entire game on his way to a game-high 17 points.  In the paint, Garret Tipton displayed several advanced post moves and finished with 13 points. Cameron Carlisle added 6 points as well.  I plan to keep an eye on Big Walnuts’ Kalob Phillips, a 6’4 center with good upside.

Seth Goodson & Garret Tipton Led Buckeye Prep

I also caught some of the All-Ohio Red versus Dayton Metro game. From what I could tell, All-Ohio’s pressure gave Metro a lot of problems right out of the gate.  Although Metro was playing without their top player, they battled with Red before going down 49-42.  Pickerington’s Jimmy Weirick and Mansfield’s Elijah Cobb led Red with 12 points apiece, while Toledo’s Houston King added 11 points.  Dayton’s Drew Ashurst scored a team-high 11 points. Keep an eye on Logan Jones, a 6’4 center from Mansfield and 5’10 Jamil Goliday from Reynoldsburg; both of whom showed flashes during the game.

Tyler Golphin, Dwayne Cohill Jr. & Coryon Rice paced Murphy

Before leaving the gym on Friday, I watched the first half of the Excel vs Cincinnati Friars game, and right from the tip it was apparent that the Friars were grossly over matched.  In fact, by halftime, the score was already lopsided at 49-8. A review of the score sheet revealed that Isaiah Speelman and Dane Goodwin were already putting in work with 12 points apiece, followed by Matt Alloco  and Braden Norris with 9 and 7 points, respectively. Finally, Kevin Jackson’s 7^th grade Murphy AC team enjoyed an opening day blowout victory against the Mansfield Cavs, crushing Mansfield by 53 points (69-16). Murphy AC was paced by Coryon Rice’s 12 points, followed by Tyler Golphin with 10 points and Dwayne Cohill Jr. who added 8 points. I plan to head back over to the tournament to see more of the action.

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