Rivals win Adidas Creator’s Cup
The Adidas Summer Champinships began with the thee stripes brand pulling eight of their top teams out of the normal bracket to play in their own single elimination tournament, which would then flow into the greater field.
The Mass Rivals came away with that first championship knocking off Compton Magic and Game Elite in dominant style before scoring a tough win over D1 Minnesota in the final.
Wednesday night's match-up against Compton Magic was supposed to be a battle of the two best point guards in the Gauntlet circuit, Makai Ashton-Langford and UCLA commit Jaylen Hands, but a third point guard ended up crashing the party as Wabissa Bede went off for 26 points on 10-17 shooting from the floor to steal the show. Ashton-Langford still proved his point against Hands as well finishing with 19 points on 5-11 shooting, handing out 5 assists and only committing 1 turnover while limiting Hands to 4-16 shooting from the floor.
Here are some highlights of Bede's performance care of The Rivals Network via YouTube:
The next morning, the Rivals ran away from Game Elite 71-36 while shutting down another five-star prospect in Zion Williamson, who managed only 9 points. Azar Swain and A.J. Reeves led a balanced offensive effort with 12 and 11 points respectively while Bede and David Duke had 10 and 8.
Bede and Ashton-Langford both scored 15 points in a 67-61 win over D1 Minnesota in the championship game but the real story of the game was on the glass as the Rivals finished the game with 19 offensive rebounds to 18 defensive rebounds for Minnesota. Tamenang Choh and Greg Kuakumensah led those efforts and combined for 20 rebounds in the win.
The point guard duo spoke with Three Stripe Hoops following the championships.
Coming off championships at the Adidas Gauntlet Finale and the Peach State Classic, the Rivals are undefeated in the month of July and have a chance to finish the season on national T.V. if they can advance to the finals of the Adidas Summer Championships, which air live on ESPNU on Sunday afternoon.