With the first session of the July period coming to a close tomorrow, I took a day off from the Nike Peach Jam to drive over to Aiken for the Peach State Showcase and the start of their bracket action.
In the 17 and under division the Nashville Celtics and the Mid-State Ballerz East represented in bracket play and faired well as you will see.
The Nashville Celtics finished 2nd in their pool and opened bracket play with a come from behind win over the Southern Kings 54-51.
David Howard (MBA) tipped in a missed shot to give the Celtics their first lead of the game and Daijon Williams (Clarksville) converted two foul shots lifting the Celtics to the win.
Williams was big in the game finishing with 15 points and teamed with Jaylen Beckham (Kentucky) to make some key plays down the stretch and secure the tough victory.
The Ballerz captured their pool with a win over the SW Warriors in the pool finale 82-49. A balanced attack with five players in double digits contributed to the win. Matt Shown (Alcoa) led the way with 13 points followed by Dee Oldham (Wilson Central) with 12, Jeff Long (Henderosnville) with 11 and Chris Willingham (East Literature) and Cham Quao (Webb School) with 10 points apiece.
The Ballerz got past Gold Coast in opening round bracket action before falling to Team Georgia Elite in the second round.
Oldham, Shown, Tahj Abdul-Kadim (Siegel) and Aaron "Wet Buckets" Wheeler (Morristown East) played outstanding in the bracket action.
