Updates from Saturday at the Adidas Invitational
Updates from Saturday at the Adidas Invitational:
>>So we'll have two Indiana teams in the semifinals of the 17U platinum bracket on Sunday (more on those matchups in below item). Meanwhile, in the 16U bracket, it will be the battle of Canada as CIA Bounce takes on Canada Elite at 9:15 a.m., in the North Central auxiliary gym. In the other semifinal, Ohio Basketball Club will face Team Work 16U at 9:15 on North Central's main court. The 16U championship will be played at 11:45 p.m. on North Central's main gym.
In the 15U bracket, Grind Indy Hoosiers (Paul Scruggs, Zach Gunn, Kris Wilkes, etc.) will play TNBA Love (Texas) at 8 a.m. at North Central's main gym in a quarterfinal game. Team Work 15U (Ohio) will play Indiana Elite 2017 (Isaiah Coleman, Tra Landers) at 8 a.m. The EG10 2017 team (Kobe Webster, Michael Ertel, Erick Shepherd, Jaren Jackson Jr.) will also play at 8 a.m. in the North Central auxiliary gym and the Iowa Barnstormers will play OBC at 9:15 a.m. in the final quarterfinal. The semifinals will be played at 11:45 a.m. in the North Central back gym and the championship is set for 2:15 p.m. on the North Central main court.
>>Raymond Spalding and The Ville advanced to the semifinals of the 17U bracket with a 59-52 win over Team Lockdown. The Ville will play Indiana Elite on Saturday at 10:30 a.m. in a semifinal game. Indiana Elite defeated DB Hoops Baum 84-66 as Ryan Cline scored 30 points. The other semifinal, also at 10:30, will match the Eric Gordon Central Stars against Brookwood Elite. The 17U championship will be played at 1 p.m. on North Central's main floor.
>>Tech's C.J. Walker is playing with his Spiece Indy Heat team in Chicago this weekend. Butler and Purdue coaches have watched him there and Creighton, Kansas State and Iowa are new schools showing interest.
>>Indiana coach Tom Crean is back in the gym at North Central to see Raymond Spalding and The Ville in a quarterfinal 17U game vs. Team Lockdown.
>>UA Grind Shepherd defeated UA Grind Crist 82-68 in a round of 16 game in the 16U platinum bracket. Djimon Henson (Warren Central) scored 25 points on six 3-pointers and 6-10 Joey Brunk (Southport) added 16. Hunter Crist (Hamilton Heights) led his team with 16 points. The 6-2 Crist is getting heavy interest from a number of schools, most notably Mercer and Lipscomb.
The quarterfinal games of the 17U bracket are underway now. Eric Gordon All-Stars Green (Justin Thomas, Mekhi Biffle) is facing Brookwood Elite out of Canada (losing big early) and the Eric Gordon Central Stars are playing King James Running Rebels in the back gym at North Central.
>>Southport 6-10 center Joey Brunk is playing with his UA Grind Shepherd team against UA Grind Crist right now in a 16U round of 16 game. Butler, Purdue and Xavier are among the schools watching.
>>Purdue recruit Ryan Cline (Carmel) had 28 points on eight 3-pointers as Indiana Elite 2015 routed OBC, 84-57. Indiana Elite 2015 moves into a quarterfinal of the 17U platinum bracket at 5 p.m. today in the North Central auxiliary gym.
>>Ryan Cline has 16 points at halftime and Chandler White has 13 as Indiana Elite 2015 leads OBC, 46-35. Coaches from Purdue, Butler, Indiana State, IUPUI and more checking on that game. DB Hoops Baum out of Ohio defeated Team Progeny 79-68 in a round of 16 game.
>>Two round of 16 games in the 17U platinum bracket are going on now. Team Progeny (Harris Brown, Gary Bonds, T.J. Henderson) losing to DB Hoops Baum out of Ohio, 24-18, in the first half. Indiana Elite 2015 is playing Ohio Basketball Club in the back gym.
>>Caught up for a couple minutes with Evan Hall, a 6-6 forward who plays on The Ville with Raymond Spalding. Hall has an offer from IUPUI, in addition to Western Kentucky, Eastern Kentucky, Lipscomb, Wofford, College of Charleston, Marshall, Troy and Colgate. Hall said he had interest from Butler at one time but hasn't had any communication since Brad Stevens took the Boston Celtics job last summer.
Hall said he could see himself playing for Gardner, who has been asking him to visit. Ohio and Wright State are other schools that have been in contact.
"(Gardner) has been talking to me for a while," Hall said. "He said he loves the way I play and he'd love to get me to campus. He's a guy I could see myself playing for someday. He said I'm a winner and loves the way I hustle."
>>Raymond Spalding scored 21 points as The Ville held on for a 61-59 win over the Louisville Magic in a 17U platinum bracket round of 16 game. Spalding, watched by Indiana and Xavier this afternoon, will play again at 5 p.m. on the North Central main court.
>>In a 17U platinum bracket round of 16 game, it's the battle of Louisville as the Louisville Magic are playing The Ville. Raymond Spalding, a 6-9 forward, has coaches from Indiana (Tim Buckley), and Xavier (Travis Steele) in the gym. Evan Hall, a 6-6 forward, is also worth watching. Butler assistant Terry Johnson and Purdue coach Brandon Brantley are here, as are Evansville coach Marty Simmons and IUPUI coach Jason Gardner. Belmont, Toledo, Northern Kentucky and Cal Poly among others here now.
>>Talked to Ben Davis forward Brennan Gillis, who was just offered by Northern Kentucky. The 6-7 Gillis has a previous offer from Illinois State, but has visited Northern Kentucky and will likely taken an official there after the July period. Gillis also had interest as a football prospect, but said he'll stick with basketball in college. Will have more on Gillis later.
>>The Eric Gordon Central Stars survived for a 67-64 win over MBA Select Francouer, another team of in-state players. Nick Rogers scored all 17 of his points in the second half and Brennan Gillis added 16. Martavious Richmond (South Bend Clay) had 16 for MBA Select and Penn's Billy Doslak (13 points) and Ryan Lutz (four 3-pointers) were also impressive. The Eric Gordon Central Stars will play in a quarterfinal at 3:45 p.m. at North Central.
>>Tough loss this morning for Pocket City Basketball 17s, a group from the Evansville area. Pocket City lost 62-56 to Brookwood Elite from Canada. Keep an eye on Jaelan Sanford, a 6-3 guard from Evansville Reitz. Sanford picked up an offer from Northern Kentucky on Thursday and other mid-major schools are also getting involved. Sanford is a point guard who can really shoot it.
>>The Eric Gordon Central Stars are playing MBA Select-Francouer right now on the main court at North Central. Tahjai Teague of Pike has the eye of several coaches in the gym. Purdue (Brandon Brantley), Indiana (Tim Buckley), Butler (Terry Johnson) and Michigan (Jeff Meyer) are here, along with head coaches from Indiana State, Ball State and Evansville, among others. Tennessee, Northern Kentucky, IUPUI, Toledo, Colgate and Belmont as well. Nick Rogers, Ryan Welage, Brennan Gillis, Michael Benkert (Belmont commit) among those also on the EG team.
MBA Select-Francouer, in a surprise, leads the Eric Gordon All-Stars at halftime, 31-26.
Raymond Spalding and The Ville play in the following this one.
>>The Eric Gordon All-Stars Green (Justin Thomas, Mekhi Biffle) advanced to the quarterfinals of the 17U platinum bracket with a 58-55 win over Gateway. EG Green plays again at 3:45 p.m.