Memorial Day GASO: Saturday Game Recaps
A rundown of Saturday pool play game summaries from the Memorial Day Great American Shootout.
YGC 36 16-Gold 57 Lone Star Elite 17-U 53
YGC 16-Gold came away with some late game heroics to defeat Lone Star Elite 57-53. Al Hall (Mansfield Summit 2020) of Lone Star Elite was up to the challenge bringing his team back from 11 points down. Hall’s ability to continually get to the basket created easy opportunities for his teammates. At the 3:18 mark of the second half, Lone Star pulled within two points at 52-50. Mason Gibson (Allen 2021) came off the YGC bench an immediately made his presence felt forcing two turnovers. Gibson also took on the challenge of trying to contain Hall. With Gibson and Gavin Perryman (Dallas Jesuit 2021) handling the backcourt duties, YGC was able to pull away over the last two minutes. Coach Sean Phillips of YGC had high praise for both Gibson and Perryman after the big win. “Gibson is the energizer bunny, he loves to play the defensive, and Perryman is a winner with a high basketball IQ,” Phillips explained.
With his team on the ropes, Devon Hancock of Lone Star hit a big three with less than 20 seconds remaining. Hancock’s bucket pulled Lone Star within two points at 55-53. Lone Star went with full-court pressure and fouled put Cooper Sisco (Frisco Wakeland 2021) on the line for two critical foul shots. The youngster from Frisco knocked down both foul shots ending any hopes Lone Star might have had.
When asked about his ability to come in and make things happen, Gibson replied, “at Allen I came off the bench and my job was to bring energy and I love to play defense, that’s my game.”
Coach Phillips said execution on the defensive end and hitting critical foul shots late was the difference in the game. Mekai Pope (DeSoto 2020) took high point honors for Lone Star with 19, while Perryman hit four treys in the first half to lead YGC in scoring with 12 points.
THP Elite 17-U 71 RL 9 17-U BJ 45
THP Elite, out of the Austin area, had little trouble with RL 9 71-45. RL pressed through out the contest causing few problems for THP Elite. “We didn’t have much trouble with the press,” point guard Riley McIntyre (Austin Bowie 2020) said following the game. McIntyre’s ball-handling and passing skills got a number of easy baskets off the press. Eain Mowat (Austin Westlake 2021) took advantage of some nice looks hitting three treys and finished with 15 points for THP Elite. McIntyre came away with two threes himself and finished with nine points. Nick Statz (Dripping Springs 2019) had a nice two handed flush late along with a nice block.
Texas Legion 17-U 80 3D Empire 17-U 65
In a contest marred by two technicals and numerous fouls, Texas Legion watched a 22-point lead evaporate down the stretch to just ten points. The mid-cities team regrouped behind Jaylin Posey’s (Grand Prairie 2020) 24 points and hung on to win 80-65 over 3D Empire. Legion coach, Norris Neal, singled out Posey, Joey Madimba (Mansfield Lakeridge 2020) and Kylil Anderson (Universal Academy Irving) as having outstanding games. Madimba finished with 18 points and Anderson came away with five points. Texas Legions shots 39 foul shots over the course of the game hitting 26 in the foul fest. Texas Legioncoach Neal said he felt the referees did a good job keeping the game under control. Both technical fouls in the game were called against 3D Empire.
Team Buddy Buckets 17-U 67 Next Level Raiders Elite 62
Buddy Buckets made two defensive stops late to preserve a 67-62 victory of Next Level Raiders Elite of San Antonio. Gavino Ramos (Antonian 2021) carried Next Level knocking down 11 of 12 foul shots and finishing with 24 points. Ramos came up empty on the last two possessions with a charging call and a game ending turnover. Buddy Bucket’s Jordon Thompson (Southmoore 2020) stole the ball from Ramos on the last possession as the clock was running down. Thompson completed the three-point play giving the Oklahoma crew the win. Team Buddy Buckets scoring was balanced with Traejon Davis leading the way with 13 points.
BMM 17-U Rise 80 Oklahoma Impact 79
Oklahoma Impact and BMM played a heart stopper whichfeatured two tremendous individual efforts. Impact’s Jackie Johnson (Wichita Southeast 2021) hit a tournament high of 40 points including 4 treys. Johnson had ice in his veins, as he hit a three pointer with the clock running down to tie the score at 79 apiece. BMM came right back down court with their last possession and took a ten footer that was off. In a battle for the rebound, BMM’s Deng Allier (LD Bell) came away with the ball and was fouled on the put back. Allier went to the line shooting two shots with three seconds remaining. Reed missed the first and hit the second, giving his team the 80-79 win. Amaechi Chukwu (Denton Guyer 2020) carried the scoring load for BMM with 24 points and Preston Lawrence connected on five long range bombs to finish with 15 points.
Oklahoma Swarm Team Kanter 66 Dallas Showtyme 16-U 54
Oklahoma Swarm took a 66-54 lead over Dallas Showtyme with less than five minutes remaining and they proceeded to spread the court. Showtyme gave a good effort, but came up short losing 66 to 54. The Oklahoma Swarm hit 15 of 27 foul shots, while Showtyme managed to hit 12 of 24. Isaiah Milvo (Norman 2020) paced the Swarm with 15 points and Myles Marlborough was good for 14 points to lead Showtyme
Texas Impact 68 PB Nation YIIS 16-U 50
Texas Impact had little trouble against PB Nation leading the entire game by a cushion of 10 to 20 points. Texas Impact ended up winning 68-50. Texas Impact had two players in double figures with Preston Aymond (Mesquite Horn 2020) with 12 points and Cameron Kahn (Sulphur Springs 2020) putting up 15 points. Akhwari Smith (Cibolo Steele 2021) led PB Nation with 12 points
Dallas Showtyme Elite 17-U 74 Houston F.A.M. Elite 2020 67
Showtyme Elite went to the spread offense late and came away with a hard-fought win over Houston F.A.M. Elite 74-67. Showtyme coach Erving Davis said he felt he could take advantage of some of the mis-matches. “We weren’t delaying,we just wanted to isolate some of the favorable match-ups,” Davis said. Davis was also very pleased with his team’s ability to share the ball. Houston F.A.M. would not quit as they came back from 15 points down to cut the lead to only six late. Grayson Buehler (S.B. Memorial 2020) spearheaded the Houston effort with 21 points and four treys. Dylen Scales (Summer Creek 2020) showed some very nice handles in a losing effort for Houston. Showtyme had a number of bright spots. Julien Smith (Northwest 2020) put up 14 points in a winning effort and was joined by Sadaidriene Hall (Sulphur Springs 2020) in double figures. Coach Davis mentioned Smith, Hall, and Jalen Williams (Dallas Carter 2020) as having outstanding games. Showtyme lost their morning game against the Toros Elite by two points.