17 and under action at the adidas Invitational in Indianapolis had a flavoring of Tennessee in the various precious metal named bracket classifications. Lets see how everyone finished in the Brickyard.
PLATINUM DIVISION
John Fulkerson (North Carolina). The Kingsport native was the talk of the town this past weekend for the Tennessee Bobcats. The 6'9 Fulkerson garnered several offers including ETSU and MTSU and is beginning to catch the eye of the high majors as well.
The Bobcats completed pool play at 3-0 behind Fulkerson and the long range shooting of Makale Foreman (Dobyns-Bennett), who became the beneficiary of the attention planted on Fulkerson leaving him open for deep threes.
In bracket action the Bobcats dispatched of the Indiana Legends to the tune of 87-78 then blasted the Pocket City Basketball squad 81-75 before falling to a very good Indy Hoosiers squad.
Seth Battle-Lenard (Georgia) played a big part in the success for the Bobcats this weekend fighting, despite being severely undersized, inside with the big boys. His hustle and determination helped the Bobcats finish the event at 5-1 without a doubt.
The Bobcats also received solid efforts from a pair of Bluegrass contributors in Trey Blevins (Kentucky) and Corey Stearns (Kentucky).
The Tennessee Tigers came out on fire blasting their pool play opposition and finishing 3-0 before moving to bracket action. In the bracket game the Tigers fell to a very solid Grassroots Indiana squad 80-64. Kenny Bunton (Walker Valley) played well throughout the event but was especially big in the bracket contest keeping the Tigers in the mix until late in the second half. Ross Cummings (Creek Wood) had a solid event before leaving the bracket game with a slight leg tweak in the second half. He appears to be ok for next week. Jarrell Reeves (Blackman) had his moments as he recovers from an ankle injury the previous week, the jumping jack forward is making progress for the upcoming weeks of the scene.
One of the biggest surprises of the Indy weekend had to be the success of the Tennessee Jets. The Jets made up of kids from the Brentwood area won their pool and fundamentally found a way to take a bracket game 67-56 over the Indy Extreme before falling to the Indiana Elite Central squad 79-60. Leading the way for the Jets a balanced scoring foursome led by Parker Suedekum (Brentwood Academy), Toe Bautista (Brentwood), Connor Barrett (Summit) and Linden Hardee (Brentwood).
The only squad from the Volunteer state in one of he Super pool the M33M boys finished 1-2 in pool action before falling in their opening bracket contest 63-37 to GTA Bounce.
Isaiah Stokes (Lausanne), Chase Hayden (St. George's) and Will Hrubes (Briarcrest) were sighted for their play for the M33M squad.
GOLD DIVISION
The NYBA Playmakers from the Mid-State area had themselves a fine showing in Indy finishing pool play at 2-1 before falling in their bracket opener to the Tri-City Thunder 81-70. Nathan King (Obion County) had te hot hand for the Playmakers leading the squad in scoring throughout the weekend. King saved his best work for last dropping 28 in the final pool play contest a win over the Showtime Hoopers and then netted 25 in the bracket game loss.
Sawyer Taylor (Station Camp) had a fine event finishing as the Playmakers second leading scorer. Coaches lauded the efforts of a pair of lead guards in Donnie Malone (Antioch) and Kendall Johnson (McGavock). On the interior Jonta Acree (Kentucky) and Caleb Savage (Nashville Central Christian) were sighted for their efforts and contributions to the teams solid finish.
The Music City Heat continued their flame in the summer months with a solid showing here in Indy. The Nashville crew finished 2-1 and garnered a second place finish in pool play before falling in their bracket opener to MBA Select by the score of 62-51.
Standing out for the Heat were a trio of players including Alex Shaw (Hillwood), Trey Phifer (Big Sandy) and Tyler Faulkenberry (Mt. Juliet).
SILVER DIVISION
If you don't finish in your pool like you'd hoped then make up for it with a big run in your respective bracket play. The Memphis Bulls ended pool play in 3rd place at 1-2 but rebounded with four wins before falling in the Silver Bracket finals to Nova Village 73-66.
Bracket play started with an easy 64-38 drubbing of the Indiana Dreams Black squad. Garrett Sams (Westview) had a monster game in the second bracket clash dropping 28 points, 8 boards and 6 dimes as the Bulls squeezed by the Gym Rats 70-69 on a buzzer beating lay-in from Dee Montgomery (Mississippi).
Sams took his turn at the buzzer beating game winning shot as the Bulls slipped past the MBA Select 96-93. Isaiah Crawley (Ripley) finished with 20 points while Sams added 18 in the win. Incidentally Sams pulled an offer from Austin Peay for his heroics in Indy.
Game winners became the norm for the Bulls as Justin Benton (Houston) canned the game clincher in double overtime leading the Bulls to the title game with a 77-76 win over Club Elite South.
Coaches applauded the efforts of Tucker Campbell (Prep School) and Jimmy Jenkins (Houston).
