One week before the real season begins; teams from the Southeast converged on Knoxville for the 3rd annual Knox Vegas Heat event.
In the 16 and under division, Select Basketball from Nashville made believers of their pool opponents sweeping to a 3-0 record and winning their opening playoff game before falling in a tough game to Team Impact 77-71 in the semi-finals.
Select dominated in pool action winning 61-35 over the Alabama Terriers and closing out the day with a tough but hard fought playoff win over the Covington Cavaliers. Jake Allsmiller (CPA) led the scoring with 23 points followed closely by Braxton Bonds (CPA) with 20 markers. Andrew Cowie (BGA) added 14 in the win.
In the semi-final loss the Select found themselves down big before a 10-0 run to close the half brought them to within striking distance. Allsmiller and Andy Schumpert (Brentwood) kept things close with some timely outside shooting, while Bonds controlled tempo from the perimeter.
Schumpert led the scoring with 22 points while Allsmiller added 18 and Bonds finished with 10. Parker Howell (CPA) also added 10 points in his only game with the 16 and under group.
The Select received fine all around effort from Duncan Smith (MBA), Nathan Moran (BGA) and Thomas Richard (CPA).
In the 17 and under age group the Chattanooga Raging Storm made their first effort as a program a successful one finishing 2-1 in pool play and advancing to the playoff round.
The Storm outlasted the South Carolina Elite 60-59 in their opener behind some outstanding play from Jorden Williams (McCallie), Levi Woods (Meigs County), Fred Matthews (Red Bank) and Jahmal Johnson (Cleveland).
The Storm fell in their second pool game to the Florida Assault despite 15 markers from Johnson, who also added 10 boards and 13 points from Williams.
Back to their winning ways, the Storm dominated their final pool opponent TNP to the tune of 71-56. Williams led the charge with 20 points while Johnson chipped in with 10 points and 9 caroms.
A second place pool finish came to a close against a very good Team United. Williams continued his solid play with 22 points. Woods added 19 and Antonio Jackson (Ooltewah) finished with 14 points and 10 dimes.
The Tennessee Chosen Few showed some promise despite their 1-2 pool record. Xavier Howard (Harriman) was a bright spot leading the team with 13 points per game off the bench. Howard was the leading scorer with 15 in the opening pool game loss to the South Carolina Elite. Brandon Walters (Howard) added 14 in the tough loss and Devin Schmidt (Sevier County) finished with 12.
Walters had a nice weekend averaging around 11 points per game while Schmidt led the squad in rebounds and averaged 10 markers per contest.
