On Saturday,
we had an opportunity to take in the action at the JBA Power League in Detroit, MI, and as we expected, there were a
number of quality teams and players.
Eighty teams are participating in the first year, 10-week league, which
will culminate in playoffs and a championship the weekend of March 26th. On the slate were several key match-ups
featuring some of the top middle school travel teams in Michigan and Ohio.
One such match-up
pitted possibly the top two 6th grade teams in Ohio, in All-Ohio Red
versus the Toledo Wildcats. As you know, we’ve been following the Wildcats the
last few weeks and were excited to finally see them in action. Unfortunately, the Wildcats were without star
player Emoni Bates, who was sidelined with a wrist injury. Also, John Mobley’s All-Ohio Red squad was
without the services of key players including Paul McMillian IV and Sean Jones
(yes he is retuning to the team), arguably 2 of the top 3 players in Ohio.
Even with the
absence of a lot of star power, the game was still intriguing. The game was
close well into the 1st half (18-18 with 1:58 left in the 1st
half); however, the Wildcats would lead 25-19 by the half, then go on to extend
the lead midway through the second period. Toledo would eventually get the 50-36
win. Key to Toledo’s victory were the
standout performance logged in by Nate
Houston (5’9’/WF/2022/Toledo), Jordan
Kynard (5’0”/SG/2022/Toledo) and Demarko
Craig (5’9”/WF/2022/Toledo). Also
impressive was All-Ohio’s dynamic backcourt featuring Khalil Luster (4’5”/PG/2022/Lima) and Derrick James (4’8”/PG/2022/Columbus).
On the day,
the 6th grade Toledo Wildcats finished 2-0, with wins over the 7th
grade Flint Comrades (37-24) and All-Ohio Red. With the win, when we release our
preseason power rankings in a few weeks the Wildcats could get the nod as the
#1 team in the state in the class of 2022. For the record, the 5th grade
Wildcats went 1-1, with their lone 31-23 victory over Them Boys and a loss to
All-Ohio Red.
 |
| Rodgers, Houston, Menifield, Millender, Smith, Armstrong, Eaton,Luster & Kynard |
Later in the
day, Mobley’s All-Ohio team would hook up with a very talented Oakland Elite
team. Initially, the game was nip and tuck, including multiple ties and lead
changes. However, by about the 9:20
mark, Oakland had carved out a 13-8 lead.
A few minutes later, Oakland had inflated the lead to 17-9, and by the
break, the lead 15-26. An All-Ohio run
to start the second half trimmed the lead to only 4 points (27-31); however,
Oakland responded with a mini run that ran their lead back to 10 points. From there, Oakland simply out executed
All-Ohio and went on to claim a 30-45 victory.
We were super impressed with the play of Ty Rodgers (5’11”/W/PF/2022/MI) who we featured on this website
yesterday. We also really liked Kylen Millender (5’3”/PG/2022/Detroit),
Julian Scott (5’2”/SG/2022/Rochester)
and Darious Richman
(5’3”/SG/2022/MI).
All-Ohio’s 3rd
game of the day was a good one, as they came face to face with The Family, one
of Michigan’s most storied programs.
All-Ohio raced out to a 14-8 lead before The Family responded, cutting
the lead to 11-15 at the 1:30 mark.
Early in the 2nd half All-Ohio was clinging to a 25-26 lead
with 13:27 left in the game. However, by
the 4:44 mark, The Family had taken their first lead at 36-35. Down the stretch, both teams took turns
knocking down big shots. The outcome of the game would remain in doubt until
the final seconds of the game. In fact,
down 41-40 with only 40 tics left on the clock, The Family would attempt to run
some clock, forcing All-Ohio to foul.
After converting 2 free throws late, The Family would take a 41-44 lead
with 3 seconds remaining. An All-Ohio full-court
heave missed the mark, giving The Family the early season win. Standouts for The Family were Jamarion Wilson
(4’11”/P/SG/2022/Pontiac) and Joshua
Roper (4’6”/WF/2022/MI).
 |
| Frazier, Mobley, Tolbert, Bowens, Craig, Combs, Walker, Shields & Emercian |
Finally, we
have to give a shootout to Coach Jason and his 2025 FA Heat. This very talented squad has several studs that
are nationally ranked, and the team is playing up and getting wins over older
teams. All in all, it was a great day of
competitive basketball. Congratulations
to Romulo Roldan and Eric Watson for putting on such a competitive and well-run
event. Finally, below is a complete list
of the standout performers we saw on Saturday.
Taevion
Rushing (5’8”/SG/WF/2020/Flint)
Keyon
Menifield (5’2”/PG/2021/Flint)
Trevor Smith
(5’9”/PG/2021/Rochester)
Keyshawn
Devlin (5’6”/SG/2021/Allen Park)
Ethan
Emercian (5’5”/PG/2021/MI)
Terrian Armstrong
(5’10”/PF/2021/Flint)
Brice Shields
(PG/2021/Detroit)
Rylan Bowens
(5’10”/C/2022/West Bloomfield)
Julian Scott
(5’2”/SG/2022/Rochester)
Dariuos
Richman (5’3”/SG/2022/MI)
Jordan Kynard
(5’0”/SG/2022/Toledo)
Demarko Craig
(5’9”/WF/2022/Toledo)
Dale Calloway
(6’1”/C/2022/Flint)
Ty Rodgers
(5’11”/W/PF/2022/Saginaw)
Kylen Millender
(5’3”/PG/2022/Detroit)
Khalil Luster
(5’3”/PG/2022/Lima)
Derrick James
(5’3”/PG/2022/Columbus)
Nate Houston
III (5’9”/PG/2022/Toledo)
Joshua Roper
(4’6”/WF/2022/Centerline)
Jamarion
Wilson (4’11”/P/SG/2022/Pontiac)
Marquez Frazier
(4’4”/PG/2023/Toledo)
Brice Eaton
(4’11”/PG/2023/Detroit)
Jordan Combs
(5’2”/W/PF/2023/Toledo)
Tony Tolbert
(4’8”/PG/2023/Detroit)
Case Walker
(5’8”/C/2023/Columbus)
Ryan Nutter
(5’1/WF/Dublin)
Bede Lorio
(SG/2023/Caldwell)
John Mobley
Jr. (4’9”/PG/2024/Columbus)
Daveon Hall
(SG/WF/2025/Pontiac)
Joseph Boddie
(PG/2024/Gahanna)
Corey Pittman
Jr. (WF/2025/Pontiac)
Robert Smith
(P/SG/2025/Detroit)
Warren Henson
(PG/2024/Finton)
Jason Harris
(2025)
John McKenny
(2025)
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