ZG Fall Brawl - Event Recap

by Christian Bradley | Monday, October 5th, 2015

ZG Fall Brawl - Event Recap

Zero Gravity took over the South Shore for the second weekend in a row, bringing many of New England’s top programs to The U, Mass Premier, MPlex and Kingston for their “Fall Brawl” – a highly anticipated tournament that lived up to its hype.

BABC took home championships in the hotly contested ninth and tenth grade divisions, while RCA Gold and Boston Bobcats each came away with titles in the varsity division. With more automatic bids punched to the ZG Finals after this weekend, here are some prospects who impressed at Fall Brawl:

Shandon Brown, BABC (Beaver Country Day) – Brown was exceptional all weekend, finishing explosive lay-ups at the rim and orchestrating the BABC offense. In terms of athleticism, he had as much upside as any player in the gym at Mass Premier on Sunday.

Dana Tate Jr., Expressions Elite (St. Sebastian’s) – The ultra-skilled Tate was the go-to man for Expressions’ ninth grade team on Sunday, helping carry them to the title game where they fell to BABC’s A-team.

Darion Jordan-Thomas, BABC (New Mission) – Jordan-Thomas had a particularly solid game versus rival Expressions, where he threw down a couple thunderous dunks and gave BABC a much needed presence on the offensive glass.

Chris Camille, Expressions Elite (Brookline) – For a freshman, Camille’s ceiling appears seemingly limitless. At 6-foot-5 he can shoot, pass, rebound, and handle the ball – with the speed of a guard and the size and aggressiveness of a forward.

Kyle Layman, BABC (King Philip) – Layman played his best game in the semifinal against BV Chaos, cementing his name among the team leaders in scoring thanks to his finishing ability and forcing several turnovers on defense.

Quest Harris, BABC (Lowell) – Harris was one of the best on-ball defenders in the gym this weekend, guarding opposing players of every position on the floor – doing so flawlessly. Showing his clutch factor, he hit a go-ahead lay-up for BABC late in the fourth quarter to take the lead – a lead they held for good.

Aireus Raspberry, Expressions Elite (Cranston East) – Raspberry is one of several talented guys in X’s stable of guards. With quick feet and a tight handle, he’s extremely tough to guard when going to the rim off the dribble.

Cairo McRory, Expressions Elite (Northwest Catholic) – A long wing player with bouncy athleticism, the Northwest Catholic product was one of the best pure scorers in the gym on championship Sunday – beating defenders with both his jumper and ball handling skills.

Terrell Williams, Boston Bobcats (Bridgewater-Raynham) – Williams was huge when the Bobcats came back from 14 down to score a victory on Sunday morning, scoring off the dribble at an automatic rate and hitting several long-range jumpers.

Tommy ONeil, Expressions Elite (St. John’s Prep) – The skilled lefty played a point forward role for much of the weekend, taking on ball-handling duties when necessary and creating shots for others with his underrated passing ability.

EJ Dambreville, Boston Bobcats (Taunton) – Dambreville had his full offensive skillset on display on championship Sunday, nailing three second half treys in a comeback quarterfinal win and powering Boston Bobcats in one of the most impressive performances of the weekend.

George Torres, Mig’s Team (Springfield Central) – An above the rim athlete with great upper body strength, Torres plays a great transition game for a big man and is a skilled finisher inside. He brought the house down on several occasions with some vicious dunks.

Kyle Murphy, BABC (Hillside) – Murphy played perhaps his best game of the weekend when BABC needed him most, helping knock off Expressions in a nail-biter of a ninth grade championship game. An aggressive scorer and skilled finisher, he was one of the breakout players of the Fall Brawl.

Alex Bradley, Shooting Stars (St. John’s-Shrewsbury) – Bradley was automatic from behind the three-point arc and made the Shooting Stars’ offense go, getting into the paint with off the dribble with ease.


Others who impressed:

Cole Swider, BABC (St. Andrew’s) – Not many players possess Swider’s talent: at 6-foot-6 he has a beautiful outside jumper but can also score off the dribble or in the post.

Elizier Vazquez, Mig’s Team (Holyoke) – Much like his teammate Torres, Vazquez’ strength and athleticism should be boldly noted. He’s an electric finisher with strong footwork and post moves.

Jack DiConza, Shooting Stars (Framingham) – The 6’2 guard showed a wide array of offensive skills, getting to the rim on the dribble drive while scoring from mid-range and behind the arc.

Griffin Perry, Boston Bobcats (Bridgewater-Raynham) – Perry can shoot the three pointer consistently and play above the rim, as shown with his high scoring clip on championship Sunday.

Deven Palmer, Beantown Bulls (New Mission) – Skilled forward who can hit shots from seemingly anywhere on the floor, while also rebounding at a consistent rate.

Cole Stairs, Shooting Stars (St. John’s-Shrewsbury) – He can rebound, finish in the paint, and has impressive moves with his back to the basket.

Ziv Baisden, RCA – The combo guard led RCA to a championship in the varsity division, showing off his scoring ability and willingness to play tough on-ball defense.

John Adams, BV Chaos (Blackstone Valley Tech) – Adams is an intriguing prospect at 6’4, he has solid post moves but can also step out and make the three-pointer on a regular basis.

Liam Regan, Boston Bobcats (Medway) – Regan was the youngest player on the floor in pretty much every game he played, but he didn’t seem fazed as he had several nice finishes around the rim.

Sam Dion, BV Chaos (Wachusett) – Dion was already known as an outside shooter, but really displayed his ability to play in transition this weekend – running the fast break and finishing at the rim.