USAD, Stamford Peace win Championships at Buzzer Beater

by John Kibbe | Wednesday, July 29th, 2015

The state of Connecticut was well represented this past weekend at the Buzzer Beater Classic as the United Sons and Daughters and Stamford Peace won their respective brackets. Both teams used balanced scoring and some excellent guard play en route to to the championship. In doing so, they went 3-0 and knocked off a number of teams from around the Northeast region.
     
USAD, despite playing shorthanded, had three convincing victories over the HC Elite out of New Jersey and the PA Slam and JB Hoops out of Pennsylvania. They were led all weekend on the perimeter by guards E.J. Crawford, Collin Sawyer, and C.J. Seaforth. They also received a strong weekend from combo forward Roy Kane. Seaforth, who is just a rising junior, was named MVP of the Parkway Bracket after having a strong all-around championship game.
     
Stamford Peace’s road to the title included 3 wins over the East Coast Cyclones, a tough Wayne PAL team out of New Jersey, and an athletic PA Rens team. Offensively, they were led by combo guards Charles Fisher and Rich Kelly. Malik Petteway also had a strong tournament  scoring and rebounding on both ends of the floor. Fisher continued a strong Live Period and was named the MVP of the Boardwalk Bracket.

Standouts:

Malik Petteway (Stamford Peace) - Petteway was strong all weekend long using his athleti-cism to rebound and finish around the basket. Although he has garnered interest from some new schools during the Live Period, he is leaning towards attending South Kent next year as a post-graduate.

EJ Crawford (USAD) - Crawford was his usual self this past weekend, scoring from all-three levels and showing his smooth perimeter game. His best performance was in the championship game where a talented JB Hoops team had no answer for him from the out-set.

Colin Sawyer (USAD) - Sawyer impressed from long range and continued to show he is one of the best shooters in New England. He drew the admiration of the crowd in a semi-final win    versus the PA Slam as he got into a rhythm in the second half and buried four 3-pointers in the second half.

Charles Fisher (Stamford Peace) - The combo guard ran point for Stamford Peace and had an excellent weekend scoring and distributing the ball.

Roy Kane (2015) - Kane was impressive using his athleticism to attack the basket and also     rebounded very well on both ends of the floor. With USAD being shorthanded, he stepped up on the offensive end and continued to show versatility on the defensive end.

Issac Grant (Beacon Elite) - The Beacon Elite big man had an impressive showing in a very competitive opening round matchup versus the New Jersey Shoreshots. Despite a tough loss, he led his team in scoring and rebounding.

KeAndre Fair (CBC) - Fair continued a strong Live Period and did a nice job running point for CBC. He was impressive scoring and distributing the ball in a tough semi-final loss versus Wayne PAL.

Mike McGuirl and Mark Carbone (CBC) - The CBC guards had strong games in an opening round win versus the Radiant Suns on Saturday. McGuirl and Carbone both showed off smooth perimeter games. McGuirl, who is just a rising junior, also showed some great athleticism attacking the basket in transition.

Marlon Taylor (Northeast Basketball Club) - Taylor was far and away the best athlete in the tournament, as his above the rim antics were on full display on Saturday.

Matt Latka (Wayne PAL Wolfpack) - Latka had a couple of strong offensive performances this past weekend. The strong-bodied wing is a good shooter and athletic enough to finish around the basket.

Keith Brown and Josh Bradenese (NE Storm - Brown) - The Storm duo was impressive in an opening round win versus the Diamond State Titans. Both players showed their versatil-ity on the offenseive end.

Jack Mcguire (NJ Shoreshots - Rice) - Mcguire was one of the most versatile players in the tournament and at 6-7 is a good athlete attacking the basket in transition.