With action going strong this past weekend in Atlanta and New Orleans, we now turn to the happenings at Boo Williams in Virginia and over in Cincinnati.
The Nike EYBL kicked off their 2015 campaign in Hampton, Virginia with the annual Boo Williams event.
Team Penny is the only true Tennessee representative yet several players from the Volunteer state find themselves on various EYBL squads. Lets see how everyone faired.
Team Penny finished Session #1 at 2-2 losing to Team CP3 (72-69) and the Oakland Soldiers (70-59) before garnering wins over Northwest Xpress (66-49) and Southern Stampede (64-62).
Darrell Brown (Germantown) was the top scorer for Team Penny averaging around 11.5 points per game with a high game of 21 markers. Dillon Mitchell (White Station) had a solid weekend the future Duck footballer put home around 11.0 per game as well.
Lucky Cheatham (Southwind) and Robert Washington (Memphis East) averaged 8.7 and 5.7 respectively for Team Penny.
Nick Hopkins (Fayetteville) put together a solid weekend for the Georgia Stars including a game high 12 in a win as the Stars finished the event 3-1. Abdul Ado (Hamilton Heights) didn't have a big weekend offensively but he was strong on the glass and on the defensive side of the floor.
The Kentucky Travelers struggled a bit out of the box with an 0-4 start. Colton Blevins (York Institute) had a good experience in his first major summer basketball competition averaging 7.8 points per contest with a high game of 12. Parker Stewart (Union City) chipped in with 6.2 points per game with a high contest of 9 markers.
The Tennessee Panthers ventured down to the Queen City where they toiled with some Midwest squad at the Bearcat Classic.
In 17u action the Panthers finished 3-1 winning their pool and finishing in the tournaments final four. Legends Elite was the first victim of the Panthers (62-47) behind 14 from Roderic Scott (Alabama). Joining Scott in the score books was Austin Douglas (Cheatham County) with 13.
Marquis Davis (LaVergne) dropped 15 points and Austin Kirby (Hendersonville) finished with 14 as the Panthers moved to 2-0 with a 63-56 win over Canada's East Toronto Basketball Club. Christian Bell (Mt. Juliet) added 12 in the win.
Bracket play commenced with an easy 62-51 trouncing of the Northern Kentucky Select. Douglas led the way with 18, Kyree Elder (Cane Ridge) added 16 and Davis finished up with 11.
In the semi-finals the Panthers ran into some adversity falling 74-62. Douglas and Elder finished with 14 each while Bell and Brandon Dansoh (Cane Ridge) added 10 points apiece.
Even more success for the Panthers in the 15 and under division as the youngsters finished 4-1 advancing to the title game before falling to the Ohio Elite 64-55. Malik Morgan (White House) led the scoring in the title game with 16 followed by Damion Baugh (Cane Ridge) with 14 and Demontez Coleman (Dickson County) with 11.
Pool play started strong with an 81-64 dulling of the West Virginia Shining Stars. Baugh led the charge with 20, Coleman added 13 while Morgan and Matt Mathiowdis (Station Camp) came up with 12 each.
Baugh leads the Panther march again with 14 in a hard fought 60-54 win over SMAC Nation. Coleman added 13 and Morgan finished with 11 in the win.
Moving to 3-0 and grabbing a first round bye in the Gold North Bracket, the Panthers made short work of the Dayton Rebels to the tune of 68-52. Baugh was huge dropping a tournament high 28. Chase Danko (Lebanon) had his best game of the event with 13 large.
In the semi-finals Coleman drained a pair of charity tosses late and the Panthers clung to a hard fought winto advance to the title contest. Mathiowdis led the scoring with 14, Baugh chipped in with 13 while Coleman and Morgan finished with 11.
Coaches made a point to highlight the outstanding rebounding and defensive work from Christopher Nix (Hillwood).
