Championship Sunday at the Boys "Best of the Best"

June 1, 2009 New England Hoop News Staff

New England Hoop News had courtside seats all of Sunday to take in the Championships of Basketbull's "Best of the Best." This select tournament had great games all through pool and bracket play, so there was no surprises when games came down to one player stepping up, last second free-throws and even a game winner!

Also, check out Basketball Spotlight's site for their analysis of the event.

10u - CT Rough Riders over Bay State Magic, 49-37
The youngest age group got things started championship Sunday as two New England teams went head to head in the Connecticut Rough Riders and the Bay State Magic. Each team got off to a slow start as the bright lights of the Basketball Hall of Fame might have gotten to the youngsters. However, once they caught their nerves, each team’s stars came out.

The MVP, JC Martin (14 1st half points) was the difference in the first 16 minutes as his Rough Riders held an 18-13 advantage at the break. The Magic decided to use the “LeBron” defense where they doubled the Rough Rider point guard anytime he had the ball over half-court. And just like King James, Martin used his floor vision to consistently find open teammates.

The recipient of this was most often Endel Sanchez, who after being held scoreless in the first half, went off for 15 points in the second stanza alone. Keeping the Magic in the game was point-forward Azar Swain; the “big-little man” scored a game-high 31 points getting into the lane almost at will. Yet, it was not enough as the Rough Riders took the title 49-37.

11u - F.A.C.E.S. over MABC, 50-47
A team effort by a deep F.A.C.E.S. (NJ) outlasted and finally wore down the newly crowned Massachusetts State Champions, MABC. A back and forth game that changed leads numerous times throughout, was fittingly tied after the first 16 minutes. A late charged in the second half allowed F.A.C.E.S. to build enough of a lead to escape with a 50-47 win.

Jamal Allen was the catalyst of the MABC attack and the lanky lefty was able to get into the lane at will scoring 26 points from all over the floor. However, a balanced F.A.C.E.S. attack, led by the timely shooting of MVP Robert Cole (18 points) proved to be the difference. Cole was deadly from deep with five 3’s, two of which were the biggest as they helped his team build an 8 point lead that proved to be too much for MABC.

12u - Team Takeover over The City, 71-62
In arguably the strongest pool of the tournament, it was anyone’s guess who would play in the championship game at the Hall of Fame. The two teams that did advance, Team Takeover (MD) and The City (NY), were more than deserving as both squads survived a difficult field.

Takeover went right at The City from the jump with their full-court press that forced turnover after turnover. Each one resulted in an easy basket for the visitors from our nation’s capital. The 36-28 halftime lead they held did not begin to tell how the first 16 minutes were played. When they lead swelled to as many as 19 midway through the second half thanks to Jeff Dowan’s excellent guard play (21 points – Game MVP), many thought the boys from The City would go away quietly.

Mike Williams’ 11 points in the last 16 minutes as well as Ryan Berstein’s timely three 3’s, helped shrink the lead to as little as four points with 2:15 left. Yet, Takeover were able to hit their free throws to close out the game on a 7-1 run to take a 71-62 win.

13u - BABC over DC Assault, 66-59
The backcourt duo of Jonathon Joseph (MVP – 20 points) and Jalen Adaris (16 points) put BABC on their back in the second half to help the Massachusetts squad past the visitors, DC Assault. The visitors from the South (who are a 12u team playing up an age level), battled tough throughout making plays early to stay within reach.

Credit has to be given to the players and coaches from DC who were beaten pretty badly by the same BABC team 24 hours earlier. Assault started off the game running carefully scripted plays to get the ball in their best players’ hands. This allowed them to be down less than one possession at halftime, 32-31.

However, a 12-1 run to start the second half broke things open for BABC; the spurt was highlighted by two fast-break dunks from Tyree Robinson. The Assault team showed a lot of resolve chipping away thanks to Isaiah Buck-Lowman’s 16 points in the paint. In the end four points was as close as they would get, as the game ended after a few free throws 66-59.

14u - Boston Saintz over CBC, 51-50
A hotly contested game finished up Championship Sunday at the Hall as the Boston Saintz took on the Connecticut State Champs, CBC. The Saintz were forced to forfeit their two pool play games on Saturday due to not enough players being able to make it. This led to the most difficult route through bracket play just to make it to the championship.

After the referees had to stop the game on more than one occurrence due to the physical play, the Saintz found themselves down 9 with 5 minutes left. However, MVP Ramon Gibbons decided to take things into his own hands. The strong 6’2 wing bullied his way through CBC’s zone for 28 points (10-12 ft’s).

However, Gibbons saved his best for last when, trailing 50-49, he took the inbounds pass with under 7 seconds remaining. He drove left of the lane and darted in quickly towards the rim, putting up a runner off the backboard just as time expired lifting his team to a 51-50 win. Kahlil Dukes paced CBC in the scoring department with 19 points, but ultimately was not enough as they were unable to get a stop to finish the game.

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