CBC, BABC Show Well at 16u Super Showcase

New England Recruiting Report | Saturday, July 25th, 2009

Connecticut Basketball Club and the Boston Amateur Basketball Club both earned a trip to the gold bracket by sweeping all three of their pool play games at the sixteen-and-under Super Showcase. 

CBC opened with a 78-70 win over the Runnin Rebels and then blew out both Hoop Dreams and the Charlotte Nets.  Meanwhile BABC didn’t have a result closer than 17 points in pool play as they blasted the Louisiana Razorbacks, Garner Road, and Team Florida. 

CBC was granted a bye in the opening round of the gold bracket while BABC faced a tough first round opponent in Nike Team Florida.  In a hard fought battle, BABC would score a 55-53 win to move on to the round of 16 where Long Island Lightning Dingle was waiting for them.  In a game that was very similar to the last one, this time BABC would come up just a tad short, suffering a 56-53 defeat. 

CBC locked up with another familiar foe in their round of 16 contest, New Jersey ABC.  In a game that had several lead changes CBC would pull away in the final minutes to win 70-63 and advance to the quarterfinals.  But that would be as far as their run would take them as they faced a very talented Alabama Challenge team that would defeat them by a mark of 76-60. 

Expressions Elite was also in action at the Super Regional.  They took on Showtime Ballers in their final pool play game with both teams having won their first two contests. Expressions suffered a 73-60 loss to fall to second in the pool and a consequent trip to the silver bracket.  They suffered another disappointing loss in the opening round of bracket play as they were knocked off 67-65 by the Georgia Blazers. 

The other two local New England teams in action were MB Nation and the Boston Warriors.  Both teams went 1-2 in pool play and were consequently sent to the bronze bracket.  The Warriors fell in their first game but MB Nation managed to pick up two more wins and advance to the bronze quarterfinals before running into the Greenville Tarheels. 

Notable Performers

Andre Drummond – Drummond not only led his CBC team to the best finish of any New England team in the field, but he also made the national news as the title of ESPN’s coverage of the tournament was entitled, “Drummond Dominates in Orlando”.  ESPN’s Director of College Basketball Recruiting Paul Biancardi went on to write, “There were many terrific performances at the 2009 AAU 16 Super Showcase, but 2012 power forward/center Andre Drummond, 6-11, of the Connecticut Basketball Club was the cream of the crop. Drummond displayed the ability to finish above the rim in traffic and rebound with authority on both ends of the floor." 

Egi Gjikondi – While ESPN gave Drummond their highest praise, BABC’s Egi Gjikondi came in second on their all encompassing radar as he was called “The Surprise Performer of the Day” after scoring 22 points and grabbing 10 rebounds in a win over the Razorbacks.  Gjikondi is clearly getting acclimated to the national stage after traveling to the Peach Jam last week and is now beginning to show his best stuff.  ESPN noted his efficiency scoring the ball on the inside as well as his productivity on the offensive glass. 

Freddie Wilson – He had a pedestrian start to the tournament by his standards.  It was more of the same for the first two and a half quarters of the quarterfinal game against the Alabama Challenge, but for a stretch of the third quarter Wilson put on as good of a performance as anyone had all week long when he went on an individual 13-0 run, rattling off bucket after bucket. 

Mike Carter-Williams – With most of BABC’s normal u16 line-up playing down with the 15’s, Carter-Williams handled the ball-handling and playmaking responsibilities and did so effectively, proving that he is becoming more of a point guard all the time. 

Ricardo Ledo – The 6’4” 2-guard had a good buzz going amongst the college coaches that we spoke with this week.  Ledo really impressed with his scoring ability during the tournament as he not only made athletic plays off the dribble but also made shots from behind the three-point line. 

Andrew Shaw – Shaw seems to have saved his best for last scoring 23 points against the Heat Wave and Tar Heels.  In truth it appears as if different people stepped up at different times for the Nation, including Chris Braley’s 17-point 5-three-pointer performance in the pool play opener and Keegan Pieri’s 19 points against Garner Rd.