Local Teams Show Well in Indy
The second week of the NCAA recruiting period resumed on Friday night and continued through the day on Sunday. For teams competing in the Nike EYBL and Under Armour UAA, that meant a trip to Indianapolis as the two circuits went head-to-head again.
On EYBL Nike side, BABC and Expressions Elite both went .500 overall on the weekend. For BABC, they notched two pivotal wins against the NY Rens in a tight low scoring affair (48-47) and a tight higher scoring affair against CIA Bounce (78-75). Guard Brycen Goodine (EYBL season leader in steals), led the team in scoring in their win over the Rens, totaling 17 points on 7-15 shooting from the floor with three 3-pointers. Mitch Doherty chipped in with 11 points and four assists while the BABC defense held Jalen Lecque to just 10 points on 33% shooting.
In the team’s win against CIA Bounce in Saturday’s action, Doherty led the way with an efficient 24 points on 8-11 shooting from the field and 8-12 from the line. His frontcourt running mate, Darion Jordan-Thomas, had a big impact on the game as well with a 16 point, 11 rebound double-double. Goodine and Matt Cross both scored in double figures as well with 14 and 11 respectively. In total for the weekend, Goodine averaged 11.7 points per game while Doherty led the team in scoring, averaging 14.7 on 50% shooting.
For Expressions Elite, the inside-out tandem of Noah Fernandes and Joe Pridgen led the way in their impressive win over PSA Cardinals and perennial star point guard Cole Anthony. Fernendes led in the scoring column for Expressions with 21 points, going 9-10 from the free throw line. Pridgen added 16 points going a very efficient 6-7 from the field (1-2 from three). Tre Mitchell added 15 points on the game shooting 4-6 from the floor and 7-9 from the foul line. Rivaldo Sores also chipped in with 11 points as well. In the team’s other win on the weekend over Team Final, Fernendes shined again with 16 points off the bench including four three-pointers. Tre Mitchell also added 14 points off the bench as well for the team. Daniel Buie led the starters in scoring, going 3-5 from the field, 1-1 from three and 3-4 from the free throw line for a total of 10 points. On the weekend, Fernendes led the team in scoring with 14.7 points per game, followed by Mitchell (12.5 ppg) and Pridgen (10.2 ppg).
In the UAA, NE6’s 17u squad went 2-2 in Indy highlighted by wins over C2K Elite and Team Charlotte. The dynamic duo of Jaiden Delaire and Ryan Greer led the squad in the win over C2K Elite with 44 combined points (24 Delaire, 20 Greer). Both had 8 field goals apiece in the contest and shot efficiently from the floor as well. In the team’s second win over Team Charlotte, Joey Reilly led the team in scoring with 19 points for the game (7-10 FGs, 2-3 3PT). Greer had another solid display tallying 16 points for NE6 on 6-9 shooting from the floor. Delaire got in on the balanced scoring effort totaling 12 points on the game, and teammate Mekhi Warren added 15 points of his own on 6-8 shooting. Delaire led the team in scoring on the weekend with 15.2 ppg, followed by Greer (12.5 ppg), Reilly (11.2 ppg) and Mitchell (9.2 ppg).
The NE6 16u team went 1-3 on the weekend but were competitive in every game with a very tough weekend schedule. Their lone win came against 1 Nation on Saturday morning. The squad was led by Corey McKeithan who had 13 points for the game on 60% shooting. McKeithan was accompanied by teammates Bennett Pitcher and Josh Menard who had 11 points each. McKeithan paced the team all weekend. He had a team-high 28 points in 24 minutes of action against New Heights NYC in what ended up being a tough loss for the team. He also added 17 points in the team’s game against Team Thad. McKeithan led the team in scoring on the weekend, averaging 16.5 points per game.
Notable reported scholarship offers over the weekend:
Corey McKeithan (NE6 16u) offer from Niagara
Tre Mitchell (Expressions Elite EYBL) offer from Notre Dame
Jaiden Delaire (NE6 17u) offer from Georgetown
Franck Kepnang (2021 MacDuffie (MA)) offer from Fordham
Ismael Massoud (2019 MacDuffie (MA)) offers from Illinois and Harvard
James Bouknight (2019 MacDuffie (MA)) offer from VCU
Corey McKeithan
Joey Reilly
Matt Cross
Ismael Massoud
Josh Menard
Jaiden Delaire
Boo Buie
Mitch Doherty
Tre Mitchell
Darion Jordan-Thomas
James Bouknight
Noah Fernandes
Ryan Greer
Brycen Goodine
Bennett Pitcher
Joe Pridgen
Mekhi Warren