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| West Coast All-Stars-6th Grade champions |
It took 3 days, but we finally got some very competitive
games on the final day of the Gym Rats President’s Day Tournament in Portland.
First up on Monday morning, the much anticipated showdown between the Oakland
Soldiers and the San Diego Rebels; 2 of the best teams on the west coast. Both
teams arrived in Portland with quality guard play and elite frontcourts. From
the tip, the Soldiers drew first blood on a Fred Burton layup, but the Rebels
responded with an old fashioned three point play by Jack Pugh to take a 3-2 lead. A 4-2 mini run put the Rebels up 7-4
at the 8:43 mark. Midway through the first half the game was tight, as both
teams traded buckets. By the 6:15 mark, the Rebels had built a 15-10 lead. The
Soldiers responded with a 4-0 run to trim the lead to 1 point (15-14) with 3:40
left in the half. Poor rebounding by the Soldiers allowed second chance
opportunities for the Rebels, which they used to take a 22-18 lead into the
half. Pugh led the Rebels with 7 halftime points while Shemar Morrow paced Oakland with 6 points.
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| Jack Pugh & Shemar Morrow |
San Diego opened the second half with a trey to push
their lead to 25-18. Later, a Morrow layup would draw Oakland to within 1 point
(25-24) at the 9:45 mark. A 5-0 run by the Soldiers gave them their first lead
(30-29) with 7:52 remaining in the game. The Rebels later
retook a 31-30 lead with 7 minutes left, and
from there, the lead would trade hands a couple of times before Oakland began
to pull away as
Shemar Morrow began
to impact the game both offensively and defensively. When the Rebels were able
to get off a highly contested shot without it getting rejected by Morrow, they
were limited to just one shot as Morrow dominated the boards. The closet the score
would get was 38-36 with 5:40 left.
A
key adjustment in game involved a double team of
Alex Wade which effectively kept the ball out of his hands. The adjustment
was crucial as Wade was having a lot of success penetrating and dishing.
Denying him the ball spelled the beginning of the end for the Rebels, as
Oakland would push the lead to 51-39 with only 3:31 remaining in the game, and later
go on to claim a 64-50 victory.
As
expected, this game was very intense and was played at a high level. As their
reward for the win, the Soldiers punched their ticket to the championship game,
where they would face the West Coast All-Stars.
Shemar Morrow was a monster defensively, while also finishing with
a game-high 16 points.
Jay Taylor stepped
up big as well and added 12 points, while
Fred
Burton finished with 9 points for the Soldiers. The Rebels were led in
scoring by
Jack Pugh who finished
with a team-high 14 points while
Obinna
Agbo added 11 points. Although Wade did not lead the team in scoring, his
quickness and understanding of the game was affecting the game early. In
conclusion, it was a great game that featured a lot of individual talent.
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| Willis McClendon & Paris Dawson Paced the All-Stars |
You just know a game is very important and is about to be
a grudge match when the head coaches can’t even agree on which basketball to
use before the game. Such was the case in the 6
th grade championship
game between the Oakland Soldiers and the West Coast All-stars. Both teams were
locked and loaded with elite talent; the Soldiers with #1 ranked
Shemar Morrow and West Coast with nationally
ranked
Jason Harris. Like most in
attendance, I was looking forward to the matchup between Morrow and Harris, 2
of the top players in the country. West Coast got on the boards first with a
Parris Dawson layup (2-0), but Oakland
came right back with a score. The game was nip and tuck early, and Oakland went
up 12-10 after a
Devin Hightower
jumper at the 4:46 mark. The game was still close with 1:30 left in the game,
but the All-stars held a 2 point lead (18-16). By halftime, West Coast was up
22-17.
Will McClendon was dialed in
from beyond the ark, having drained 3 treys for 9 points.
Devin Hightower was hot as well and finished the half with 7
points.
Parris Dawson
drove to the basket again to start the second half and to extend the lead to
24-17. The Soldiers mounted a run that would cut the deficit to 3 points
(23-26) at the 7:58 mark. With Dawson in attack mode, and McClendon still hot
from the perimeter, West Coast found themselves comfortably ahead 34-26 with
5:48 remaining in the game. However, multiple turnovers and empty possessions
by West Coast led to a 7-0 Oakland run that got them back in the game and
trimmed the lead to only 2 points (34-32) with only 2:10 left in the contest.
Despite their offensive woes late, West Coast was able to hold on and claim the
championship by a score of 35-32. Will
McClendon was the man for the all-Stars, finishing with a team-high 12
points, followed by Paris Dawson who
added 9 points. Harris was sluggish early and finished with only 6 points. Shemar Morrow led Oakland with 12
points, followed by Hightower with 10 points. In terms of the matchup, the edge clearly goes
to Morrow who was more productive offensively and successfully blocked many of
Harris’ shot attempts. Harris was more of a defensive factor late, but Morrow
owned the boards and protected the rim.
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| Celtic Family In Championship Game |
In the semi-finals of the 7
th grade bracket,
the I10 Celtics Green cruised by the Yellow Jackets 62-43 to advance to the
championship game against Hoop Salem. What was most impressive about that win
was the fact that
Keion Brooks and
Dexter Shouse did not arrive to the
game until the second half. By that time, the Celtics were up by 10 points
(24-14).
Makani Whiteside (5’11
SG/WF LA CA) had it going in the first half for the Celtics to the tune of 12
points. In the 7
th grade championship game, The
Celtics had little trouble getting by a much smaller and less athletic Hoop
Salem team 67-57. Although the final margin of victory was only 10 points, the
score was not indicative of the game.
Dexter
Shouse paced the Celtics with 11 points, followed by Whiteside who added 7
points.
The top guys for Hoop Salem were
Johan Downey (5’10 SG Silverton) and
RJ Veliz (5’111 WF Woodburn). Look
for the Celtics to take their show on the run this summer in the NYBL.
For the record, in the 8th grade championship
game, the I10 Celtics Black defeated the Celtics Green team 62-50. Kiiwon Bradford (6’4 SG Sacramento) led
the Black squad with 13 points. Although his team fell to the 7th grade Hoop Salem in the semi-finals, big Adam
Campos (6'3 C Hercules, CA) was the leading scorer for the Hayward Tar Heels, finishing with a game-high
17 points.
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| 5th Grade I10 Celtics Take Gold |
The 5
th grade championship game was a real
barn burner, as the I10 Celtics faced off against Seattle Future Black.
Although the Celtics got out of the gate
quickly with a 10-0 lead, Seattle found their bearings and came racing back to
tie the game at 10 by the 8:19 point. The rest of the game these 2 scrappy
competitors traded buckets and leads before the Celtics eventually outlasted
Seattle 56-46 to claim the crown.
I was
really impressed in the talent level in this came.
Those little guys could ball! Also, a shout
out to ARC for winning the 4
th grade championship game with a win
over the Seattle Stars.
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| ARC 4th Grade Champions |
It was a long weekend that started slow in terms of
competition, but by the time the horn sounded on Monday afternoon I had seen some
of the top 6
th and 7
th grade teams on the west coast as
well as some nationally ranked individual talent. It’s also always nice to see
players from other parts of the country. Finally, to my Midwest and east coast
followers, the “Left Coast” has some talent as well!
Final Day Photo Gallery
