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Written by Andre Whitehead
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Saturday, 27 May 2006 |
Mid-State dominates in frist day action
Balanced scoring was the order of the day as the Mid-State Ballerz Elite were the only 17 and under squad to claim victory on the first day of action at the Bob Gibbons Tournament of Champions.
The Ballerz got 15 points from Deveyon Hunter (Hamilton), 14 from Josh Sain(Liberty),13 from Ken Bingham (McNairy Central) and 12 from Jewon Long (Liberty) in swatting the Baltimore Stars 85-72. A close contest was broke wide open when Kevin Smith (Riverdale) went baseline and threw down a sic reverse dunk that changed momentum for the game. Smith scored 8 points, but was especially good on defense with energized effort and inspired play.
In other action the Nashville Celtics battled the entire game but ran out of gas and came up short 96-84 to a very talented Playaz squad. Josh Slater (Lipscomb) was virtually unstoppable hitting threes and gliding to the bucket. The wiry youngster finished with a stout 26 points. The Celts also got 16 from Gerald Robinson (MLK), 14 from Jeremy Anderson (Kentucky),11 from G.W. Boon (Alabama) and Scott Saunders (BGA) chipped in with 10.
A last second three from Maurice Miller (Raleigh-Egypt) failed to connect and the Memphis Magic fell to the Jackson Panthers 55-52. Leading the way for the Magic were Kelvin Lester (Wooddale) with 12, Derrick Grandberry (Raleigh-Egypt) dropped in 10. Miller only scored 8 but was instrumental in keeping the game within reach for the Magic.
The final contest was not a pretty venture for the Tennessee Mavericks, as they seemed unable to put the ball in the basket and fell to the Michigan Hurricanes 55-30. The Mavs were led by Keith Ramsey (Seigel) with 11 and Phillip Jurrick (East Ridge) with 8 in the losing effort.
Stay tuned for second day action and opening day action at the Nike Memorial Day Classic in Nashville |
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