Riding the roads of Indianapolis it seems that every place the GPS tells you to go takes 30 minutes. The road to the start of the summer season rides directly thru Circle City and with two major events going on the streets are flush with college coaches and prospects in every age group.
On Wednesday my travels started with the adidas Invitational tournament hosted at North Central High School.
Teams from the Volunteer state were slim as in the 17 and under division the Nashville Celtics and the Memphis Magic were the lone representatives in the Super Pool division.
The Magic ran into two tough customer's right from the jump with the Double Pump Elite and the Houston Hoopstars in their pool play action.
Cameron Golden (Ridgeway) provided some scoring and played well at times, while Kadarrio Fleming (Ridgeway) was good on the offensive end, he was generally undersized for the large post players from the opposing squads. Ethan Moffett (Fayette Academy), Adam Weary (Ridgeway) and Chris Jones (Briarcrest Christian) provided some solid moments for the Magic.
Demarc Richardson (Briarcrest Christian) provided some solid scoring effort as the Nashville Celtics fell to a very strong Houston Defenders Select squad with a trio of the nation's top players on board.
Back in the car and over to the Hoosier Shootout to catch some late night action as the Mid-State Ballerz East 17's moved to 1-1 in pool play with a win. The Ballerz overcame a 37-36 halftime deficit and ran away with the decision 82-63. Balanced scoring was the name of the game as a host of Ballerz lit up the scoreboard including Caleb Chowbay (Mt. Juliet), Matt Shown (Alcoa), Aaron Wheeler (Morristown East), Cedarius Taylor (Dyer County), John Ross Glover (USJ) and Rafeal Tyler (Lake County).
On the adjacent court the Tennessee Travelers 16 and under squad busted out of the gate with an 11-4 lead behind some shooting antics from Blake Rowan (Stone Memorial). In the end the Travelers fell by one despite some solid performances from Asa Duvall (Brentwood), Chance Bouldin (FRA), Kenny Dean (Alcoa) and Rowan.
In other opening day happenings at the Hoosier Shootout, the Tennessee Travelers 17 and under squad got off to a 2-0 start with two close wins. In their 73-70 victory in the opener observers sited Carson Brooks (Knoxville West), Montrae Williams (Spring Hill), Jalen Lindsey (CPA) and Darryl Hicks (Kentucky) as some who played well.
Trevon Fields (Science Hill) scored 25 points as the 15 and under Tennessee Travelers got off to a 2-0 start in their pool play games.
Jervon Johnson (Ooltewah) scored at a 20 point per game pace and the Tennessee Chosen Few went 1-2 in pool play at the Hoosier Shootout. Zach Howard (Science Hill) played well averaging around 14 point per game after three games.
