King James Classic-Final Day

After reflecting on the weekend's event, I have to give props to Drew Joyce and his army of volunteers who made this tournament happen. Once again, the King James Classic attracted some of the top teams and individual talent in the country. With that said, I also have to give props to OBC's U-17 squad for being the last team standing in what turned out to be a very competitive Gold bracket. On their way to the championship, OBC (7-0) defeated the likes of the King James Shooting Stars, Hurricane Running Rebels, All-Ohio Force, CP3 All-Stars, Team Takeover, and The Family. In order to claim the championship of this tournament, OBC's needed solid guard play from PJ Boutte and Jehvon Clarke and superior post from Chane Behanan and unsigned senior Nick Harney, and that's exactly what they got. Harney and Behanan terrorized teams this weekend and should remain a force to be reckoned with all summer long. It should be noted, in their first two tournaments of the season, OBC has reached the championship game twice, and has established themselves as one of the top teams in the country. I also have to recognize OBC's U-16 squad for making a final four run. The U-16 squad was upended by CP3 in the semi-final, as they came up 7 points short. Although Westerville South's Isiah Rogers went for 25 points in the contest, it was not enough to get his team to the Chip. Columbus' own Hidden Gems made an impressive run in the U-17 Bronze division before being knocked out by Mac Ohio, another central Ohio-based team.

News and Notes:

Some of the top individual performances of championship Sunday included Michigan's Carlton Brundage who put his team on his back in the quarter-final game against All-Ohio Red, when he dropped a cool 37 points on Red to help his team advance to the semi-final game (70-64). Not to be out done, Trey Burke logged in his best performance of the young AAU season when he went for a game-high 39 points of his own. Burke was not only red hot from beyond the arc, but he consistently attacked the cup and finished. I'm not sure what his stats were, but King James' Jakarr Sampson looked awfully good in the semi-final game against The Family. His ability to handle the rock on the perimeter with his size makes him a very tough match-up. Sampson drove to the cup at will where he finished more times than not. In the CP3 vs OBC semi-final game, the North Carolina-based squad appeared to be without the services of some of their post players. I'm not sure what happened to Jacob Lawson on Sunday, but I did not see him in action or on the bench for the OBC game. Without their full complement of bigs, their chances of handling Behanan and Harney were not very good. For a more complete recap of the tournament from an Ohio perspective, visit Ohio High School Hoops and read Kurt Stubs' piece. Also, to see pictures of the event, visit the Buckeye Prep Facebook Fan Page. Finally, Ty Kish was in Akron doing his thing, so look for another hot video coming soon. The entire tournament results can be found by clicking on the hyper link.

King James Classic-Day Two

U-17 Division:

In the U-17 division the second day of the King James Classic started pretty much they way day-one ended in terms of competitive games. Some of the first round of games included match ups between Ohio's Friends 4 Life vs DC Assault, the New York Gauchos vs the Milwaukee Spartans and All-Ohio White vs Riverside Fastbreak from New York. DC Assault fought off an aggressive Friends 4 Life team to claim a 71-59 win, while the Gauchos beat the Spartans 76-56 and All-Ohio White was defeated by Riverside 49-42. Quinn Cook was the difference for DC Assault.

In their second game of the tournament All-Ohio Red enjoyed a hard fought 59-54 victory over the Rising Stars JG from Chicago. Stevie Taylor was hot early, and along with backcourt mate Trey Burke, paced All-Ohio Red. Teas Valley's Nate Anderson had his pick and pop game going while George Fant aggressively attacked the cup. After the Rising Stars rebounded in their third game of the tournament to upend the CP3 All-Stars, a three way tie left All-Ohio third in their pool. Once into single elimination bracket play, All-Ohio Red went to work, beating a feisty NEO Ballers 70-58. The next hurdle came in the form of the Milwaukee Spartans who had recently beaten All-Ohio Red by 1 point in the NY-2-LA Swish & Dish tourney a couple of weeks ago. Led by Stevie Taylor who was virtually unguardable, Red dominated the Spartans to the tune of 19 points. Elijah Macon played with more fire than I have seen in a while, George Fant got busy down low, and of course Trey Burke helped hold it down in the backcourt. Next up for All-Ohio were the West Virgina Wildcats who had shooters at virtually every position. After a 53-46 win in the night cap, All-Ohio Red was into the Elite Eight where they will face Michigan's The Family to get to the Final Four.

Other news and Notes: A Shane Larkin-led Florida Assault jumped all over Carolina Flight and finished with a 70-43 victory. Although the New York Gauchos got by the Wisconsin Hurricanes early in the day, they were tripped up in their last game of the night by an impressive CP3 All-Stars squad. Before notching a win against New York, CP3 avoided elimination with a win over a Quinn Cook-led DC Assault team in the second round. In that game, Jacob Lawson had one of the nasties dunks in the tournament! The Ohio Basketball Club (OBC) had too much size for All-Ohio Force as they cruised to a 53-46 win. Aaron White and Nick Harney were the culprits for OBC, while Austin Traylor did the damage for the Force. The standout performance of the day had to come from Aaron Thomas' ridicules performance in Queen City Prophets' loss to All-Michigan. Though Ozie Davis had his team ready from the opening tip, and actually took a 44-36 lead into the locker room; "the team from up north" came storming back to win it 77-78. It did not help the Prophets when Brandon Neal went down midway through the first half with a nasty cut to his forehead. Although no individual scores were tabulated (None were kept the entire weekend), Thomas may have gone for about 40 points, most of which were either deep treys or off dribble penetration. Columbus, Ohio's Running Rebels were at it again trying to be giant killers. This time they had an early lead on The Family before injuries set in and The Family went on the cruise to the victory. Ohio Basketball Club's U-16 squad finished first in their pool after defeating Team Detroit and have now advanced to Sunday on the strong play of Chillicothi's Malik London. All-Ohio Red's U-16 team lost by 1 point to the Carolina in the first round of bracket play. All-Ohio Pruple is out as is All-Ohio Red 15's after dropping a 1 point contest.

Middle School Action:

I had some time to run over to Kent to check out some 8th grade action. When I arrived, Syracuse Select was dominating Basketball Stars of America on their way to a 49-20 blowout win. Jamel Chambers led Cuse with 10 points. Gary Scott's Buckeye Prep team held on to defeat We Got Game 52-57. Buckeye Prep was lead in scoring by Ronnie Williams (13 points), Alex Stewart (12 points) and Darryl Long (10 points). It should be noted the Long was a rebounding machine as he notched double digit rebounds. Young (19 points) and Cox were the high men for We Got Next. To check out the pictures of the tournament visit the Buckeye Prep Facebook Fan Page.

King James Classic-Day One

The King James Classic tipped off tonight, and because of the 6 or 7 super pools in the U-17 division, lucky fans were treated to some very competitive, and final four-type action on day one. Right out of the box the Ohio Basketball Club (OBC) faced off against the home town King James Shooting Stars. Playing without studs Chane Behanan, Jordan Manuel and Ronald Ross, OBC held off King James to claim a tough 50-55 victory. In that game, 6'6 Nick Harney, an unsigned senior from Cleveland Benedictine, exploded for a game-high 21 points. Right behind Harney in scoring was Canton Timkin's Jehvon Clarke who contributed 18 points. ASVSM Junior Jakarr Sampson paced King James with 15 points, while Darius Carter added 15 points.

All-Ohio Red dropped a double over time thriller to North Carolina's CP3 All-Stars. All-Ohio Red had 2 chances to win it; one in regulation (2 turnovers), and one in the 1st over time (fouled a 3 point shooter at the buzzer), before letting it slip away. Bishop Daniels, PJ Hairston and Desmine Wells and 2013 Rodney Purvis were standouts for CP3, while All-Ohio's dynamic backcourt of Trey Burke and Stevie Taylor were their team's leading scorers (no individual scores were kept). Next up for All-Ohio is Rising Stars JG out of Chicago. Although George Fant got to the game at half time, he contributed solid play after he warmed up, and 2013 Elijah Macon played big in the second over time period.

Other News & Notes:

The West Virginia Wildcats, playing without Perry Henry who is still recovering from a compartmentalized contusion he suffered last week in Pittsburgh, outlasted Team Takeover. Chase Fischer logged in a standout performance, as he had his outside shot clicking. The New York Gauchos held on to defeat the KC Keys, and the Michigan Mustangs hit two late-game free throws to edge CBIZ. Alex Molone played well down the stretch for CBIZ. Columbus, Ohio's Hidden Gems lost a close one (66-59) to Michigan's Reach Legends, and HC Columbus Force came away with a win of their own over Crons Coleman from PA. Although D-I college coaches were prohibited from attending the event by the NCAA, there were a number of D-II and D-III college coaches in the house looking to complete rosters. I know there is still a lot of talent in this tournament, but the fact that there are no games being played on the campus of the University of Akron is a big let down, and the tournament definitely has a different feel! Most of the top scouting services returned this year including ESPN, Rivals, Scout, Slam Magazine, Ohio High School Hoops and the highlight video guys. To see pictures of the tournament visit the Buckeye prep facebook Fan Page.

Pittsburgh Jam Fest-News & Notes

Many of the top teams in the country made their way to Pittsburgh this weekend for Hoop Group's Pittsburgh Jam Fest. In Saturday action, All-Ohio Red's U-17 team rolled into town with only six players, as Treavon Jackson was side-lined with an ankle injury and Elijah Macon could not make the trip. In the first game, the shorten bench did not hinder All-Ohio as they began the day with a 69-43 win over New York's Abyssinina Church. In the win, Trey Burke finished with a game-high 17 points, follwed by Stevie Taylor, George Fant and Nate Anderson, all with 14 points. The leading scorers for Abyssinian Church were Geerell Martin (16 points) and Geoff Tolentino (14 points).

Ken Taylor's Ohio Basketball Team got of to a nice start with a 71-60 victory over East Coast Fusion. In that contest, University of Detroit pledge PJ Boutte dropped a team-high 17 points, followed by Jordan Manual (13 points), Chane Behanan (10 points), Ronald Ross (10 points) and Kristien Taylor (9 points). For the first time this season, OBC unvailed a revised roster, which included several of Indiana's top talent in Boutte, Manual and Ross. The leading scorer for East Coast Fusion was Andre Roberts who finished with a game-high 21 points. With the late Saturday night results, OBC would appear to be the favorite to win it all.

Day two of the Jam Fest put a scare into the tournament's top seed, as Columbus, Ohio's own Running Rebels went toe-to-toe with Team Final, before dropping a highly contested (and a bit controversial) game Team Final. For the sake of full disclosure, Team Final was without the number one player (2011) in the country in Michael Gilchrest, and elite prospect Rakeem Christmas; however, the fact that the Running Rebels were leading most of the 1st half, and was tied 24-24 going into the second half, is a great story. If not for 3 technical fouls late in a four point game, the Rebels might have pulled off the shocker of the tournament.

The New Jersey Playez Gold got off to a good start with a 81-47 victory over YAAACE, before being upset in the second round of the tournament by 2012 Team Philly. In the YAAACE game, the leading scorers were Myles Davis (19 points), Miles Mack (14 points), Vaughn Gray (10 points) and Kyle Andersion (10 points).

In their second game of the day, All-Ohio Red defeated a very scrappy and hot shooting Basketball Stars of America (BSA) by a score of 68-58. The leading scorers for Red were Trey Burke (25 points), Stevie Taylor (20 points) and George Fant (14 points). The first round of bracket ended in a 60-46 win over the Staten Island Stingrays. Leading scores were Trey Burke (20 points), and Stevie Taylor and George Fant both with 15 points. All-Ohio Red's run in the tournament was interrupted in the second round as they were soundly defeated by a more athletic and motivated Westchester Hawks, who they had beaten four times last summer. Before going down with an ankle injury, Jabarie Hinds was spectacular and virtually unguardable.

OBC advanced to the second round with a 59-47 win over East Coast Elite. After knocking off New York's New Height's, OBC moved into the quarter-finals. On Friday night, All-Ohio Purple notched a 76-57 win over the PG Bulls. Adlophus Washington led all scorers with 24 points, followed my Willie Moore's 15 points and Orlando Berry Jr's 8 points. The U-17 All-Ohio Force defeated NJABC 63-59, and All-Ohio's U-16 squad romped over the Buffalo Dragons 71-51. Kyle Molock's 19 points were a game-high, followed by Deontae Hawkins' 16 points and Drake Kretzer's 10 points. All-Ohio Purple's bid for a championship ended with a 2 point loss to CP3 on Sunday. Aldolphus Washigington's 35 points, while impressive, was not enough to combat CP3's guard play. All-Ohio Red's 16 squad lost by 2 points to Eric Gordan All-Stars last night in second round play, and the U-15 Red team lost on a buzzer beater to Eric Gordan All-Stars. In the U-17 final four, OBC will face the Westchester Hawks and Team Loaded will match up with Jersey Shore Lighting. To see the pictures I took at the event, visit the Buckeye Prep Facebook Fan Page. Check out Ty Kish's highlight video.

Boo Williams Invitational-Final Day

Let me just say this, there was no let down on day three of the Boo Williams Invitational, or the Elite Youth Basketball League (EYBL) for the U-17 division. While I'm at it, I think the general consensus regarding Nike's new EYBL is that innovative league concept is a keeper. If you were not sold on the new concept when you arrived in Hampton, after the spirited play on Sunday, you are probably going through some basketball withdrawal this morning, and can't wait for the second leg of the event in Houston in May.

The biggest game of the day featured a match-up between Each 1 Teach 1 and the St. Louis Eagles, and the highly anticipated match-up between Austin Rivers and Bradley Beal. Although St. Louis enjoyed a significant lead for most of the game, Each 1 Teach 1 stayed in the fight and cut the lead to a few points with a little more than a minute left in the game. The Eagles clinched the win after two late-game technical fouls, one by a player and the second against the coach who was ejected from the contest. The primary storyline in the game was the spectacular performance of Bradley Beal who dropped a game-high 37 points. Not to be out done, Austin Rivers kept his team in the hunt with a team-high 34 points. From this evaluator's perspective, St. Louis plays with more of a team concept and has more contributing players than does River's team, who seem to count too much on their star player's for point production.

St. Louis began the day with an easy 85-61 win over All-Ohio Red, who had beaten the Eagles the previous weekend in Milwaukee. This time around, St. Louis was more motivated and energized, as All-Ohio could not hit shots and appeared fatigued. In the game, Bradley Beal finished with a team-high 19 points, followed by Ben McLemore with 13 points, Roosevelt Jones with 12 points and Shaqualle Boga with 9 points. All-Ohio Red was led in scoring by Stevie Taylor who got hot late and finished with a game-high 23 points. Backcourt partner Trey Burke went for 14 points and Treavon Jackson added 8 points.

One of the best games of the weekend was one of the last games of the weekend, as the Drew Gooden Soldiers squared off against All-Ohio Red. Without the services of Treavon Jackson, a starter and high-major recruit (ankle injury), All-Ohio shocked the crowd who had already given the nod to the Soldiers, who boasted at least five high-major recruits in the starting lineup. With names like Josiah Turner, Jabari Brown, Nick Johnson, Kyle Wiltjer and You Tube sensation Kiwi Gardner, you really can't blame fans for expecting a blowout. However; shaking off a disappointing loss earlier in the day, All-Ohio shot out of the gate and jumped to a lead which they never relinquished. This game was won in the backcourt, as All-Ohio's less heralded guards went to work. Stevie Taylor's breakout performance was the catalyst for the upset win, as he had everything clicking in this game. Not only was Taylor's three ball falling (6 treys), he consistently got into the paint where he either pulled up for a jumper, went with a floater, or found open teammates. At the end of the game, all of Taylor's 37 points were needed, as All-Ohio Red held on to a 1 point lead to claim the 75-74 win. Also in the game, Bowling Green's Geroge Fant logged in his best game of the tournament with an impressive 16 point output. Also, Fant's high-flying act and momentum changing plays were a big part of the win. Penn State commit Trey Burke continued his stellar play with backcourt support, solid defense and 11 points. I have to mention the play of Elijah Macon (2012) who had a couple of highlight plays of his own, and Cheatum Norrils who filled in for Jackson and added solid guard play. For the weekend, All-Ohio went 4-1. On a side note, All-Ohio's U-15 Squad won the silver division of the tournament.

Other News and Notes: I caught some of the New York Gaucho vs Mac Irvin Fire game. NYC got the 83-70 win. The high man for the Gauchos was Omar Calhoun who finished with a game-high 18 points, followed by Dustin Hogue (16 points) and Derrick Wilson (13 points). George Marshall, a Wisconsin pledge, and Wayne Blackshear both scored 16 points, followed by Mike Shaw with 8 points. Houston Hoops, with several top 2012 players (LJ Rose & Rasheed Sulaimon), were leading the Arizona Stars when I left. I noted the fact that Rose has a smooth shot as he hit multiple treys during the game. Also, J.Michael Reese was on the bench in street clothes during the contest. The King James Shooting Stars dropped 2 more games on Sunday to finish the weekend with a 0-5 record. I'm not quite sure what the problem is for this team, as the roster has a number of high-major guys. To close; an impressive collection of teams and players graced the courts at the Boo Williams Sportsplex in Hampton, Va., and the next chapter of the EYBL is highly anticipated. To see more pictures of the tournament visit the Buckeye Prep Facebook Fan Page. Check out ESPN.com's story about the event. Also, check out the video highlights of the event, including Ty Kish's higlight video.

Boo Williams Invitational-Day Two

The day began the same way it finished last night, with competitive team play and standout individual performances. For All-Ohio Red's 17s, the day started with a 57-51 win over Memphis YOMCA. All-Ohio survived a sluggish 14-0 start to get the win. Trey Burke's 27 point outburst was the catalyst for the comeback and ultimately the win. Stevie Taylor heated up in the second half and finished with 14 points. Both Treavon Jackson and George Fant contributed 4 points and Elijah Macon added 2 points. The top gun for YOMCA was Telvin Wilkerson who finished with a team-high 15 points. In the second game of the day, All-Ohio fought off a pesky Wisconsin Playground Warriors squad to claim a 52-15 victory. As was the case in the first game, All-Ohio got off to a slow start. Trey Burke's 16 points paced Red, followed by Stevie Taylor's 9 points, Geroge Fant's 8 points and Cheatum Norrils' 6 points.

Unfortunately for the All-Ohio U-16 team, the day began with another loss, this time at the hands of the Jackson Tigers. Although they finished the day on a positive note with a win over the Long Island Lighting, a 1-2 pool record was not good enough to advance to Sunday. All-Ohio's U-15 squad picked up three more wins on Saturdays, as the defeated the Carolina Hoyas in the morning before thumping Team Swag by over 30 points in the afternoon and finishing with a win over Team Mello. According to Coach Q, a "team effort" has them sitting at 3-1. All-Ohio Purple finished 3-0 in pool play after a 81-60 victory over The Family. However, in the 1st game of bracket play, Purple ran into a Chris Bolden-led Georgia Stars team that pulled off the 67-57 shocker against the defending national champions. The Stars' Chris Bolden logged in the individual performance of the tournament with a 42 point scoring exhibition. Bolden did most of his damage from the perimeter, but he also got to the cup at will, and even punched on as he drove down the middle of the lane. I first saw Bolden last year at the True Hoopers basketball camp in Atlanta, and I knew then the kid could be special!.

News & Notes: In other action, the Drew Gooden Soldiers held on to defeat the Charlotte Stars 68-62. 6'9 Kyle Wiltjer was seen knocking down treys while Jabari Brown was still putting in work to the tune of 19 points. Josiah Turner finished with a game-high 20 points. Charlotte's Marcus Burton was the main man with 19 points, followed by Griffin Pitman with 13 points.

The Southern Kings dropped their second game of the tournament with a 15-19 point loss to Athletes in Action. The King James Shooting Stars (Pictured) dropped a game to the Tennessee Travelers. When I left at half time, the score was 36-27. From what I could tell, ASVSM's Jakarr Sampson is the engine that makes that team go. Also, 6'10 James Price, a Louisville commit, is still more of a defensive weapon than an offensive threat at this point. Marcus Crider comes off the bench, and although they have good length in the front court, guard play could be an issue for King James. By the end of the night, King James had finished 0-3. Lets just say, it's been a tough couple of days for King James.

The St. Louis Eagles had a big win in the morning as they smashed D-One Sports. Oh yea, Bradley Beal was NICE! Also, I got a chance to watch the Seattle Rotary vs Team Final game which featured a match-up between Michael Gilchrest and Tony Wroten. Partly because this weekend's games were the firsts for Wroten since his return from a knee injury, and partly because Gilchrest had the better numbers, I have to give the match-up edge to Gilchrest who had a solid performance. The Southern Kings are 0-3 heading into Sunday. The New jersey Playerz are 3-0, as are Howard Pulley. Spiece Indy Heat is 2-1 on the strength of Marguis Teague's standout performances. The Jackson Tigers are 1-2. Look for another competitive day of basketball on day three!