Orlando Update

NewEnglandRecruitingReport.com | Friday, July 25th, 2008

Metro Boston lost a hard fought 2 point overtime decision to Reach Legends from Detroit.  The loss pushed them to a second place finish in their pool.  Shabazz Napier, Ike Azutam, and Chris Flores all scored at least 18 points in the contest. 

Metro ran into a familiar opponent in their next game, as they faced the Mass Raiders in the sweet 16 of the bronze bracket.  Napier put on a show from behind the arc, connecting on ten three-pointers in the game to lead Metro to a dominant victory. 

South Kent’s Dion Waiters is playing well with his Team Final crew.  Typically much more of a scorer than distributor, Waiters showed his all-around game scoring 18 points and handing out 8 assists to lead Team Final to a 77-70 victory over the Arkansas Wings to win their pool.  But after advancing to the gold bracket, Team Final was knocked out in the first round, 68-60, by the Howard Pulley Panthers. 

BABC is the only New England team to reach the gold bracket, and if things go well, Saturday could be a very long day.  After sneaking by Louisiana Select on Friday night, 67-63, they will play Athletes first in Saturday morning’s quarterfinal.  If they advance, the semi-finals are currently scheduled for 2:30.  Then at 5:30 they will face off against Boo Williams in a re-match of last week’s Peach Jam finals.  The game is scheduled to be televised by the ESPN network on ESPNU. 

16 and under nationals began on Friday, and the Connecticut Basketball Club earned a 15 point win in their first pool play game as the knocked off Team Nashville.  Danny Lawhorn and Philip Gaetano led the way in the backcourt as Gaetano controlled the tempo of the game at the point guard position, while Lawhorn rattled the opposing ball-handlers with his full court pressure defense.  Meanwhile, the interior belonged to Will Tye, as the newly reclassified big man controlled the glass and finished everything inside as usual. 

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