Weekend Wrap-Up

New England Recruiting Report | Sunday, May 2nd, 2010

BABC 15’s Win Again

A week after taking the championship at the Providence Jam Fest the BABC fifteen-and-under team won another big title, taking the first ever King of New York Classic. 

King of New York, run by the New York Gauchos, featured a variety of top programs from around the northeast including the Gauchos, New Heights, Albany City Rocks, and Team Philly. 

BABC knocked off the New Jersey Panthers in the quarterfinals 52-36, Team Philly in the semi’s 62-50, and then defeated the City Rocks in the championship game 69-48. 

Rising freshman Makhai Mason, who will suit up for Hotchkiss next year, took MVP honors while the three-headed monster of Wayne Selden, Goodluck Okonoboh, and Rene Castro continued to do the majority of the damage for the squad. 

BABC 16’s Take Massachusetts State Title

While the 15’s where battling in the Bronx, BABC’s loaded sixteen-and-under squad was running away with the Massachusetts’ state championship.  BABC knocked off the Boston Warriors in the quarterfinals 72-25, then handled Dunbar 81-53, before blasting New England Storm in the final 85-26. 

Incredibly, this is BABC’s 77th gold medal in AAU competition since 1980.  Even more astounding is the fact that BABC has won every sixteen-and-under Massachusetts state championship that they have entered during that 30 year period and have a perfect undefeated record in those tournaments. 

While the normal core of this team continues to be Nerlens Noel, Domonique Bull, Egi Gjikondi, and Kamali Bey, a number of other players stepped up this weekend as well.  Shaquille Jones is emerging as an impressive talent while Jaylen Brantley’s three-point shooting continues to be crucial for the team.  Jake Layman is also showing some star qualities while Andrew Chrabascz, Jared Johnson, and Steve Wynn all played well off the bench. 

CBC Dominates Connecticut State Tournament

Unlike Massachusetts, Connecticut AAU crowns all of their state champions on the same weekend and this weekend titles were determined in u11-u17.  Connecticut Basketball Club dominated the tournament, sweeping every age group in which they had teams with gold medals in u11, u13, u14, u15, and u17. 

CBC defeated Drive 4 Stardum in the u17 final behind their typical line-up of Andre Drummond, Brandon Sherrod, Tavon Allen, Freddie Wilson, Phil Gaetano, and Dennis Levene.  But youngsters like Egerton Anderson, Garey Allen, Brandyn Benson, Mike Mallory, and Kris Dunn logged the majority of the minutes early in the weekend to keep the veterans fresh. 

The 16’s belonged to Connecticut Elite as they squeeked by East Coast Elite by 4 in the final.  Elite had an average margin of victory of 42 points heading into the championship game and then got 18 points and 15 rebounds from Timajh Parker-Rivera to take the chip.  Tom Bajda and Arkel Miles scored 14 and 12 points respectively to help Elite claim the championship. 

CBA/CBC defeated United Sons and Daughters in the u15 final.  Bernard Brantley and Austin Woods continued to be the dynamic one-two punch to pace this team throughout the tournament while Jeff Racy also stepped up to help drive the team to the state title.

New Hampshire State Championships Decided

The Rockingham Athletic Club was the site of the New Hampshire AAU state championships this weekend and the Granite State Jayhawks and New Hampshire Rivals came out as the big winners to no one's surprise. 

The Jayhawks captured the u17 state title by defeating Bishop Elite in the final 61-45.  Joe Bramanti led the way for the Jayhawks with 25 points while Connor Green and Steven Spirou also played well throughout the weekend.  Bishop Elite was led by David Madol who they picked up for the weekend. 

Bishop Elite also made it to the u16 final before being stopped by the Rivals.  Showly Nicholson was tremendously effective running the show for the Rivals this weekend while Javon Williams and Noah Vonleh continued to be the team's dominant players offensively. 

The Rivals captured another championship in the u15 division, defeating the Seacoast Spartans in the final.  Ryan Grant and Mike Auger formed an inside-out spark for the Rivals as Grant scored the ball going to the rim all weekend and Auger impressed with a versatile game, dunking the ball inside and knocking down a few three-pointers.

Playaz Reach Quarters of Jayhawk Invitational

The New England Playaz were back on the road again this weekend, traveling to the University of Kansas for the prestigious Jayhawk Invitational Tournament.  It was another succesful weekend as the Playaz advanced all the way to the semi-finals, playing in the legendary Phog Allen Fieldhouse, the home of the Kansas Jayhawks. 

Naadir Tharpe, Alex Murphy, and Kaleb Tarczewski all played to rave reviews with Tarczewski earned recognition from Scout.com in their Day One Recap. 

After having previously traveled to Real Deal on the Rock in Arkansas, next up for the Playaz is a trip to the Bob Gibbons Tournament of Champions, held every year at Duke, North Carolina Chapel Hill, and North Carolina State.