AAU 17U Nationals Live Blog Coverage
July 30th, 2007 Posted in AAU Basketball(tournament coverage, photo, and video highlights here)
Ballgame. Inner Strength moves on with an 80-71 win. Ward scored 26 points. Ware had 22 points. Yaw finished with 16 points. Jordan and Richmond each finished with 17 points.
The Rising Stars score to make it 76-69 with 43.6 seconds to play. This is about it.
Ware hit two free throws to stretch the lead to 74-67.
Apparently, the Augusta game is over. There’s no word yet on whether Augusta won.
Ward just hit a free throw. The 6-6 Marrietta High post missed the second, but Yaw got the rebound. It’s now 72-67 with 1:06 to play.
Ward just pounded inside and scored. Inner Strength leads 71-67 with 1:20 to play.
Ward just blocked a shot, and Yaw made up for his weak dunk by going end to end. He muscled through the lane on the break and went up for a layup that gave Inner Strength a 66-63 lead with 2:59 to play. That triggered a quick timeout from the Rising Stars coach, Corey Knigge.
A modest, almost dainty, dunk by Yaw gives Inner Strength a 64-63 lead.
One official called a push off on Inner Strength guard Spencer Dixon, but the other official reversed the call. Now the Inner Strength are down 63-61 after a pair of free throws.
Inner Strength’s Dustin Ware, a 6-1 guard from North Cobb Christian just hit a three-pointer to tie it at 60s, but the Rising Stars answered.
Over on Court 1, the August Metro are locked in a tight battle with the Ambassadors. It’s 58-56 with 2:25 to play. Within the next 15 minutes, there could be two Georgia teams celebrating Sweet Sixteen berths. There also could be two Georgia teams walking off the court and into the loser’s bracket.
Ward is having a nice game. He has 21 points, and the entire fourth period remains. At the buzzer, Jordan sank a high floater from the right side to tie it at 57s heading into the final eight minutes.
With 1:13 to play in the third period, we’re tied at 55s.
The Rising Stars, by the way, are wearing black Nike athletic shoes featuring the famous Air Jordan logo. That’s no surprise, but it must be weird to have your father’s silhouette on your shoes.
J.C. Ward just converted a three-point play to make it 54-48.
No timeout, but the Stars just mounted their own run, scoring eight straight points. The last basket was another putback by Richmond that tied it 48-48.
Richmond just got a big rejection at one end and a putback at the other end. If he keeps his commitment to Illinois, he could become one of the school’s top interior scorers.
An 8-1 run has given Inner Strength a 48-40 lead. I sense a timeout coming from the Rising Stars.
With the winner drawing another game at 7 p.m., both coaches have started the second half with a few non-starters on the floor.
With a half to play, Yaw Gyawu has 12 points. Gyawu is a 6-6 post player and a rising senior at Parkview High. Jordan and Richmond each scored 10 points in the first half. Jordan’s scoring includes a pair of three-pointers.
At the half, the Rising Stars are clinging to a 41-40 lead. They launched the ball three-quarters of the court, but it banged off the backboard at the buzzer.
Word from another coach is that Richmond already has a verbal commitment to play for Coach Weber at Illinois.
Jordan converted a three-point play from the foul line to stretch the lead. Inner Strength has answered and now trails 39-36 with 1:20 to play in the first half.
A Georgia coach just walked over to the table and asked for the name of No. 23 on the Rising Stars. Apparently, Richmond has grabbed his attention. Richmond just sank a basket to give the Rising Stars a 34-31 lead.
The Rising Stars captured the lead, but Jeremy Flagg hit from beyond the arc to cut the lead to 30-29.
The first period buzzer just sounded, and Inner Strength now leads 20-16.
The game’s just past the midway point of the first period, and Inner Strength-Black trails 14-9. Jordan, who’s wearing a yellow head band and glasses from the Spike Lee School of Optometry, wears No. 5. The No. 23 jersey is reserved for 6-7 forward Jereme Richmond, a rising sophomore at North Shore Country Day.
Marcus Jordan is thought to be the more talented of the two Jordan boys. His brother, James, is a walk-on at the University of Illinois. Marcus is only 6-3, but he’s also just a rising junior at Loyola Academy, where both Jordan boys were sent for their prep education.
Georgia’s Inner Strength-Black just took the floor in the 32-team, third round of the AAU 17U Boys National Tournament. Inner Strength is facing the Rising Stars B team from Chicago. The Rising Stars are compromised completely of 16U players and features lefty shooter Marcus Jordan, who just hit a three-pointer to put his team ahead 6-3. Oh, by the way, Marcus is the son of some guy named Michael Jordan. Word at the scorer’s table is that daddy might have played basketball, too.
