Buckeye Prep Wins AAU Super Regional

On Sunday, Gary Scott's 8th grade Buckeye Prep squad went undefeated on their way to the championship of the Columbus AAU Super Regional tournament. With the first place finish, Buckeye Prep claimed a bid to the U-14 AAU Nationals in Orlando in July. In addition, the West Virginia Wildcats punched their ticket to the nationals with their 69-61 win over XBA-Team One. Wake Forest-bound Chase Fischer dropped a team-high 21 points in the championship game.

Columbus, Ohio AAU Super Regional: Saturday Action

With the ultimate goal of qualifying for the AAU Nationals, about a dozen 8th-11th grade travel teams made their way to north central Ohio to participate in the Columbus AAU Super Regional tournament. The 2-day event was held at Olentangy Orange High School and featured a handful of quality teams.

The top team in the tournament was easily the U-17 West Virgina Wildcats who were led by Wake Forrest pledge Chase Fischer. Judging by the 4-team 11th grade division, the Wildcats should have little problem punching their ticket to the AAU Nationals in Orlando in late July. The one game I watched them play against COBA Knights was a total mismatch, as at halftime the wildcats were already ahead 42-22, and surly continued the the dunkfest that ended the 2nd quarter. When I left, Fischer had already notched 14 points in two quarters of action and seemed well on his way to another big game. Also playing well for West Virginia were Pittsburgh's Chris Hester and Sugarcreek, Ohio's Paul Honigford. Hester is receiving D-I interest from several low to mid-major programs including Bucknell, while Honigford is fielding interest from several MAC programs. Also of interest was the fact that the Wildcats were playing with out their newest acquisition, Westerville South's Treavon Jackson, who recently decided to leave All-Ohio Red and join the Wildcats.

In the 8th grade division, the top team appears to be the Gary Scott's Buckeye Prep squad. In their opening game against the Cincinnati Royals, Buckeye Prep held off a late charge to claim the 62-55 win. Leading scorers in the contest were Darryl Long who finished with 16 points, followed by Ronnie Williams with 14 points and Alex Stewart who contributed 10 points. The high man for the Royals was Cody Nieson who scored a team-high 16 points followed by Grant Benzinger who added 11 points. Scott's squad was playing with two new additions to the team with Youngstown's Craig Randell and Gahanna's Jimmer Ryan. Because two teams in their pool were no shows, Buckeye Prep needed only one win to finish as the top seed heading into Sunday.

The game of the day on the 10th grade division featured the Cincy Bulls versus the Cincinnati Royals. Despite jumping out to a double digit lead, the Bulls struggled with Cincinnati's pressure package, but held on to to win 69-64. The top guys for the Bulls were Fred Candy (16 points) and Brian Porter (13 points). To see the pictures I took at the event, visit the Buckeye Prep Facebook Fan Page.

Ohio Sports Plus 7th Annual May Classic

On the weekend of May 7-9th, Ohio Sports Plus will me hosting their 7th Annual May Classic at Dennison University in Granville, Ohio. The grade/age divisions include: boys grades 5th-11th and girls U-10 thru U-16. The cost is $215 per team and for more information, visit their website at http://www.ohiosportsplus.com/

Bill Hensley Spiece Run-n-Slam: Final Day

Before I start talking basketball, allow me to reflect on the last several years. Although I was more than ready to head home after a marathon of a tournament, I have to admit, I stayed a at Spiece a little longer than I had expected (my all-Ohio Red team lost Saturday night) just to stay in the moment and enjoy, maybe for the last time, the spectacle that is Spiece basketball. I have been traveling to Fort Wayne, Indiana since my sons were in the 4th grade, so the prospect that this might be my last trip caused me to try and enjoy the experience a little more. As I have said before, there is no better place to attend a basketball tournament then Spiece Fieldhouse.

Ok, enough of the melancholy, Indiana Elite 1 claimed the U-17 championship of the 2010 Bill Hensley Run-n-Slam tournament after first defeating Chicago's Mean Streets 76-56 in the first of two semi-final games. Although the game was close early, Elite's superior post play eventually exerted itself and by the time the horn sounded Indiana had secured yet another blowout victory. Leading scorers in the game were Kevin Ferrell (16 points), Austin Etherington (14 points), Spencer Turner (12 points) and Ge'lawn Guyn (10 points). For Mean Streets, despite limited play, Xavier pledge Dee Davis finished with 10 points. In the second U-17 semi-final game, the St. Louis Gameface took a Tony Wroten-led Seattle Rotary squad into double overtime before claiming a 81-75 victory. St. Louis benefited from the spectacular play of BJ Young to punch their ticket to the championship game. Young's big time performance (42 points), served notice to the many scouts in attendance that he needs to be ranked nationally! I have been watching this kid for years and his performance in the semi-finals confirmed my belief that he is a big time baller.

Before loosing to Martin Brothers in the championship game, the U-16 Ohio Basketball Club notched some impressive wins. In their quarter-final game against a loaded Indiana Elite, OBC dug out a hard fought 63-60 win. In that game, Westerville South's Isiah Rogers seized control of the game with clutch shots, great point guard play, including the game-winning trey to seal the victory. After the game, several scouts were overheard asking about Rogers while marveling over his standout performance. Needless to say, Roger's stock just got a gigantic boost! In their semi-final match up with Wisconsin Playground, OBC cruised to a 62-52 win. It should be noted that Playground was without the services of their top gun, JP Tokoto who only played a few minutes in the first quarter. OBC would fall short in the championship game 65-68. Isiah "Zeek" Rogers led OBC in scoring with 14 points, while Lorenzo Cugini added 11 markers and Shaheed Davis contributed 10 points. There were several other Ohio-based teams who made a little noise in Fort Wayne. Nobody wants to struggle in pool play and end up in the silver bracket; however, if you trip and fall in pool play, you have to get up and make the best of things. That's exactly what King James Shooting Stars did, as they finished strong and claimed the u-17 Silver division championship with a convincing win over the Eric Gordan All-Stars. A Tony Lavender-coached All-Ohio Black (u-16) squad beat CBIZ in the quarter-finals 83-71, before giving up a 35-30 halftime lead to the Martin Brothers and dropping a 61-56 semi-final game. Quintin Rogers is at it again, winning championships that is, as his All-Ohio Red group defeated Spiece Select to claim the U-15 title. All-Ohio White, AKA Ohio Varsity, represented Columbus, Ohio this weekend with a great run to the semi-final game where they allowed Spiece Select to slip by with a 3 point win. On their way to the final four, All-Ohio knocked off some pretty impressive teams, including the MAC Irvin Fire, Eric Gordon All-Stars, R.E.A.C.H. Legends and the Rising Suns out of Chicago. With players like, Jack Gibbs III, Ronnie Stokes Jr., Arron Jackson, Randall Clarkson, Jr, and Adam McCall, it's no wonder why they made a deep run in the tournament. Congrats to Todd Hensley and the entire Gym Rats family for putting together another great event. To see more pictures of the event, visit the Buckeye Prep Facebook Fan Page.

Bill Hensley Spiece Run-n-Slam:Day Two

Day two of the Bill Hensley Spiece Run-n-Slam Tourney began bright and early Saturday morning and quickly gave us our first real upset of the tournament. The honor goes to The Family, who, despite Carlton Brundage's game-high 26 points, went down at the hands of Team Nashville 60-71. All-Ohio Red's 17s picked up where they left off last night with a convincing 67-47 win over instate rival CBIZ. Although smoking hot last night, Blake Justice could not duplicate that success, as he finished with a team-high 10 points. Trey Burke led All-Ohio Red with 21 points, followed by Stevie Taylor and Dominique McDonald, both with 13 points. All-Ohio Force hooked up with Seattle Rotary this morning and ended up on the wrong end of a 65-45 loss. Anrio Adams was big man on campus for Rotary with a game-high 30 points, followed closely by Salim Gloyd (22 points) and Gary Bell, Jr. (16 points). The Mac Irvin Fire began the day with a 65-54 win over MBA Select. Wayne Blackshear led all scorers with 18 points while Mychal Henry added 17 points. Indiana Elite 1 has to be one of the deepest U-17 teams in Fort Wayne, as they can come off the bench with quality players. Before I left the gym, Indiana was up on St. Louis Gateway and appeared to be in control of the contest. The big guns for Elite 1 are Jeremiah Davis, Vinnie Zollo, Kevin Ferrel, Cody Zeller, Marshall Plumlee and Austin Etherington. Coming off the bench are Gelawn Gwen

Afternoon & Evening Action:

As they did last week, All-Ohio Red 17s finished in a three way tie in pool play, after dropping a hart breaker in the 3rd pool play game to Playground Elite by 1 point. Red had to overcome a double digit deficit to get back in the game and actually went up by 3 points with less than 3 minutes. Leading by 1 point with about 15 seconds left, Playground scored on a baseline drive to take a 1 point lead. The ball was outletted to Stevie Taylor who drove the length of the court and got a clean look at a floater off the glass, however, the shot came off hard and All-Ohio would finish 2nd in their pool. In the 1st game out of pool play, All-Ohio Red matched up with a scrappy TP Elite out of Chicago. This back and forth game ended with All-Ohio up 75-63. The leading scorers for Red were Stevie Taylor (24 points), Anton Grady (14 points) and Trey Burke (12 points). Grady's 14 points were his high for the tournament and could not have come at a better time. Red also received solid contributions from Brandon Neal who hit a couple of timely treys. All-Ohio will now face Indiana Elite 1, with their stable of high-major D-I talent.

All-Ohio White finished pool play 2-1 to advance to bracket play and All-Ohio Force had to be satisfied with the silver bracket after a 1-2 finish in pool play. The U-16 All-Ohio Purple stumbled out of pool play with a 1-2 record. MAC Irvin won a close one this afternoon against the Michigan Hurricanes (58-54). Leading scorers for the Fire were Wayne Blackshear (17 points) and Mychael Henry (13 points). Cleveland state commit Charles Lee scored a game-high 20 points in a loosing effort. I have to say, the Hurricanes looked a lot like the Wisconsin Running Rebels, but heck, what do I know. Winston Grays U-16 OBC team finished first in their pool at 3-0. On tap later tonight is a backyard brawl between Mac Irvin Fire and Mean Streets. Because many of these players have played with and against each for years in the playgrounds in Chicago, this game promises to be a monster!

In the second round, OBC's U-17 squad took Seattle Rotary to two extra periods before dropping a close 89-82 decision. Of course it did not help that Cleveland was without the services of PJ Boutte, Chane Behanan, Jordan Manual and Ronald Ross. OBC's U-16 team fared better as they defeated Team NLP 69-62 in overtime. The leading scorers for Cleveland were Lorenzo Cugini (17), Isiah Rogers (14 points), Shaheed Davis (13 points) and Curtis Oakley (11 points). The game featured a great point guard match up between Rogers and NPL's Jamerous Smith. I really liked Smith's game as he aggressively attacked the cup on the way to a game-high 18 points. I plan to keep an eye on OBC's Shaheed Davis and Desmond Riddennor as both players could be long-term prospects.

In the second round of bracket play, All-Ohio Red jumped out to a surprising 1st half lead over Indiana Elite 1, but playing with a short bench the entire tournament, Red could not hold off a hot shooting Indiana squad. Elite was led by Jeremiah Davis (13 points) and Austin Etherington and Spencer Turner (both with 11 points). All-Ohio was led by Stevie Taylor (17 points), Trey Burke (15 points), Brandon Neal (14 points) and Anton Grady (7 points). Taylor and Burke went to work on the Indiana guards, mostly using a high screen to get to the cup or create. All-Ohio's U-15 team edged past the Rising Stars JG in overtime 71-67. All-Ohio was led by Jakeil Cornley who finished with a game-high 23 points. Indiana Elite's 15s took it to the Illinois Wolves (70-55) on the strength of D'Vauntes Smith Rivera's 31-point explosion. That team is absolutely loaded with guys like Chris Harrison-Docks (Michigan), Kenny Kaminski (Ohio), Cameron Harvey (Illinois) and Hanaa Perea. I caught the tail end of the Michigan Mustangs vs Wisconsin Playground Elite as Wisconsin pulled out a 78-71 victory. Standout out JP Tokoto finished with an impressive 29 points. Tokoto is a great looking prospect who may warrant a top 10 national ranking in the class of 2013. Keep an eye on this kid, he has special written all over him. To see more event pictures, visit the Buckeye Prep Facebook Fan Page.

Bill Hensley Spiece Run-n-Slam:Day One

The annual Spiece Run-n-Slam Tournament has all ways been one of my favorite tournaments of the summer. Not because the tournament all ways seems to attract some of the top teams in the Midwest, but because the games are played in the state of the art Spiece Fieldhouse, my choice as the top basketball facility in the country. With 8 beautifully courts under one roof, and experience holding major tournaments, it's always a pleasure traveling to Fort Wayne, Indiana to watch basketball games.

Friday night kicked off with a slate of games featuring several elite teams. In the U-17 division, All-Ohio Red got out of the gate quickly as they totally dismantled Spiece All-Indiana 84-69. Leading the charge for All-Ohio was Trey Burke who finished with a game-high 30 points, followed by Nate Spears' 12 points, Stevie Taylor's 11 points Anton Grady's 6 points. With several players unable to make the trip (George Fant, Elijah Macon, Cheatum Norrils and Treavon Jackson), All-Ohio was forced to pick up some players for the weekend to fill out their rosters. Joining Red this weekend are Anton Grady, Brandon Neal, Nate Spears and Dominque McDonald. Next up for All-Ohio Red is Team CBIZ at 8:00am and Playground Elite at 12:30.

Speaking of Team CBIZ, despite a heroic effort by Akron commit Blake Justice, who hit 9 treys on the way to a team-high 31 points, CBIZ went down in defeat to the Playground Warriors 88-82. For the Warriors, Simon Bowers was the high man with 19 points, followed by Kevin Mays and Nimrod Hilliard, both of whom added 17 points. I was really impressed with the play of Hilliard, as he controlled the game from the point and consistently beat his guy to score or distribute.

All-Ohio Force was in the game early against the Mac Irvin Fire, but the Fire's talent level of eventually caught up to the Force, as Mac Irvin got the 88-61 win. The Fire was paced by Wayne Blackshear, Mychael Henry and Andre Henley who all finished with 17 points. Mike Shaw added 10 points. Jake Forrest led All-Ohio with 15 points, while Ryan Burrell contributed 13 points, Austin Traylor went for 12 points and Marcus Copeland kicked in 9 points. Not sure where George Marshall and Sam Thompson were on day one.

The Family continued to roll as they smashed CMA Elite 71-37. Carlton Brundage was the man for The Family with 15 points, while Patrick Onwenu added 12 points. It's hard to tell Seattle's Tony Wroten is still working his way back from a knee injury, as he looked as good as ever while dropping dimes, hitting threes and finishing at the rim. Seattle Rotary easily got by MBA Select 77-57. In the contest, Wroten dropped a game-high 21 points, followed by Gonzaga pledge Gary Bell with 9 points.

Other News and Notes:

Team Philly was dominating Mac Ohio at halftime 46-27. Chris Lewis, Juanya Green and Ameen Tanksley appeared to be inflicting the most damage when I left. Trent Waybright seemed to be the guy trying to stop the bleeding for Mac Ohio. All-Ohio Purple got on the board tonight in the U-16 division with a 30+ point win over the Macomb County Cougars. Both the U-17 and U-16 OBC teams won tonight. The U-17 squad defeated Illinois Old School by about 5 points while the U-16 bunch won by about 14 points. Eric Troug and Isiah Rogers were the high men for the 16s. Many of the top scouting services are in Fort Wayne looking for standout players. I saw Dave Telep, Clark Francis, Van Coleman, Evan Daniels, Rodger Bohn and Brian Snow just to name a few. There are a lot of big names players MIA this weekend. I wonder how many proms trumped basketball this weekend? To see day one pictures, visit the Buckeye Prep Facebook Fan Page.