It's survive and advance time at the Live Period GASO, with Day 3 bringing upsets, close games, and plenty of buckets. GASO Beat Writer Lyndon Cook breaks down the bracket play in preparation for Championship Sunday.
YGC36 2017 Elite 65 Texas Elite-Witmer 63
Grant Sherfield (Mansfield Summit 2019) brought it again as his YGC36 Elite squad withstood a tough challenge from Texas Elite-Witmer. Sherfield exploded for 16 of his 20 points in the second half in what was a very back and forth game. The majority of the second half consisted of Sherfield trading buckets with Alex Vilarino (Mount Zion 2017), who finished the game with 31 points. But in the end, YGC36 made enough plays do the stretch to squeak out a win and eliminate Texas Elite-Witmer in the process. YGC36 Elite were aided by the play of Kyler Edwards (Arlington Bowie 2018), who added 15 of his own in the win.
SABO Gold 68 Texas Champions 2018 57
SABO Gold shook off a rough start to the Live Period GASO to knock off Texas Champions 2018 in their opening game of bracket play. Jeff Fesperman (Churchill 2017) hit 4 threes on the way to scoring 19 for SABO while UTEP commit Kobe Magee (Brandeis 2017) came up with 13 in the win. Texas Champions cut the SABO lead to 4 with just over 3 minutes remaining, but couldn't get any closer for the rest of the game. Michael Bradley (Cornerstone Christian 2018) and Sayvon Frye (Marshall 2019) had 9 each for Champions, with teammate Rashard Smith (East Central 2018) putting up 8.
Dallas Mustangs 74 Team Stackz Elite 67
Dallas Mustangs moved on from the first round of their GASO bracket following a close 7 point defeat of Team Stackz Elite. Kortrijk Miles (Lincoln 2017) kept up an impressive run during the tournament, scoring 22 points while teammate Umoja Gibson (Waco University 2017) added 15 for Mustangs. Team Stacks trailed by 6 at the break, and just weren't able to get over the hump in the second half. Jamal Antoine (Aldine Davis 2017) was the standout for Team Stackz, scoring 17 as his team were eliminated.
HD Toros Elite 68 YGC36 2017 Elite 57
HD Toros Elite put an end to YGC36 Elite's GASO run on the back of an all around performance from Johnathan Reyes (Clark 2017), who scored 17 as his team moved on to the quarterfinals. The big man duo of Josh Pitts (Memorial 2017) and Luke McGhee (Clark 2017) did their work on the block and tallied 7 points a piece for their efforts. YGC36 only trailed by 1 at the break, but were taken out of the game with a run that saw the Toros' lead swell to as many as 15. Grant Sherfield (Mansfield Summit 2019) and Kyler Edwards (Arlington Bowie 2018) ended their run in the GASO by scoring 16 each.
Texas Impact 4:13 71 Texas Bluechips 17U 66
Xavier Bryant (Greenhill 2018) poured in 22 for Texas Impact 4:13 as they held off a late charge from Texas Bluechips to move to the next round. Harrison Martin (Blue Ridge 2017) made 2 free throws that iced the game as part of a 17 point night for Texas Impact. Bluechips were led by Antoine Davis (Homeschool 2018), who canned 4 treys en route to scoring 18 for the game.
Basketball University-AG 91 CenTex Attack 17U 65
Quentin Grimes (Woodlands College Park) kept his hot hand from earlier GASO action and turned in a 25 point performance as part of a comfortable win for Basketball University-AG over CenTex Elite. Grimes was aided by teammates Trajan Wesley (Cy Falls 2018) and Miller Kopp (Houston Christian 2018), who chipped in with 16 and 14 respectively. CenTex Attack was paced by a sharpshooting display from Chase Pinter (Cedar Ridge 2017), who nailed 6 threes as part of a 20 point game as his team was eliminated.
SwagHouse 69 Texas PRO 2017 67
As the final seconds of the game ticked away, Myles Garrett (Skyline 2017) dished to Daveaun Brookins (McNeil 2017) who threw in a fall away floater as time expired to lift SwagHouse over Texas PRO 2017 and into the quarterfinals. Garrett led SwagHouse with 16, while Trae Jones (WF Hirschi 2017) came out the gate on fire, scoring all 14 of his points in the opening frame. Texas PRO 2017 was led by the dynamic duo of Kendric Davis (Sam Houston 2018) and Jase Febres (Westfield 2017) with 21 and 20 respectively in the loss.
210 D1 Premier 54 THP Elite 17U 49
The Isiah Saenz-Tristan Clark connection continued to impress as 210 D1 Premier powered past THP Elite to move into the quarterfinals. Saenz (St. Anthony's 2017) totalled 14 while partner in crime Clark (Wagner 2017) finished with 13. THP Elite was paced by Tim Holland (Cedar Ridge 2017) with 15 in the loss.
SABO Gold 80 Sanni Hoops 53
Jeff Fesperman (Churchill 2017) caught fire at exactly the right time, coming out of the halftime break with his team only leading by 6 and putting in 12 of the first 15 points scored in the period, including an emphatic two-handed jam to start the half. Fesperman would finish with 18, while River Reed (Reagan 2017) poured in all of his 14 points in the first half. Lamont Simmons (Reagan 2017) added 17 to SABO's effort. Ajare Sanni (Clear Lake 2018) was unable to replicate his 49 point performance from his previous game, and finished with 16 points as Sanni Hoops were eliminated.
SwagHouse 63 Urban-ASAK 17U 53
SwagHouse's Marcus Garrett (Skyline 2017) orchestrated an offensive pace-and-space clinic to defeat Urban-ASAK and move into the semifinals of the Live Period GASO. Garrett only finished with 9 points for the game, but the most impressive part of his performance was his distribution and ability to find open shooters. Chief among the beneficiaries of such distribution was Daveaun Brookins (McNeil 2017) who came up with 16 on the night. Donovan Burks (Red Oak 2017) hit from deep 3 times on the way to a 10 point outing. Urban-ASAK was led by the ever-impressive Brock Cunningham (Westlake 2018), who totalled 16 in the contest.
Texas Impact 4:13 64 Basketball University-AG 60
Texas Impact 4:13 held on to beat a Quentin Grimes-less Basketball University squad and move on to Day 4 of the Live Period GASO. Xavier Bryant (Greenhill 2018) came up with the goods for Texas Impact, dropping 17 while teammate Zane McFarland (North Forney 2017) finished with 10. Miller Kopp (Houston Christian 2018) capped off an impressive tournament by leading all scorers with 18. Greg Bowie (Athlos Leadership 2017) added 17 for Basketball U as they were bounced from the tournament.
D1 Premier 16U 63 Urban DFW 16U 58 F/OT
D1 Premier 16U tied the game at 57 with 20 seconds to go following a strip and score from Tyrese Maxey (South Garland 2019), and outscored Urban DFW 6-1 in OT following a missed opportunity for DFW to win it in regulation. De'Vion Harmon (Denton Guyer 2019) paced D1 Premier with an impressive 22 point game, while Maxey added 16. Urban DFW held a 4 point lead with under a minute to play, but eventually succumbed to D1 Premier ramping up the pressure. Waxahachie 2018 duo Montre Gipson and Larry Wise had 12 a piece for Urban DFW in the loss.
Houston Hoopstars 17U 62 TJ Ford Blue 59
The last game to end on Day 3 of the GASO was a tightly contested affair that saw Houston Hoopstars hold off a furious rally from TJ Ford Blue to move on to Sunday. Big man Efe Odigie (Victory Prep 2018) was a force to be reckoned with in the low post, scoring the majority of his 18 points down low. Jordan Gilliam (homeschool 2017) chipped in with 16 in the win. TJ Ford Blue was led by Terrance Minor (Bush 2018) who led all scorers with 21 on the night.
