Round 3 Started At AAU Nationals
(tournament coverage, photo, and video highlights here)
The tip-off is out of the way, and play has commenced this morning at the AAU 17U Boys Basketball National Tournament in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. The Milkhouse, part of Disney’s Wide World of Sports complex, is hosting 16 morning and afternoon games that will produce the tournament’s Sweet Sixteen. The final 16 then will be pared down to eight in evening games to set the field for Tuesday’s quarterfinals.
Among the Georgia teams to survive Sunday’s 44 game slate was the Georgia Stars, who are now battling the Tampa Fastbreak. The winner moves on to play at 4 p.m. against the Spiece Select-Cincinnati Royals-Black winner, and tonight’s winner moves to Tuesday’s 9 a.m. quarterfinal.
The Georgia Blazers take the floor at 11:30 a.m. against the Martin Bros. Select 16U squad. The winner moves on to play at 5:30 p.m. against the winner of the Florida Team STAT-Baltimore Stars game.
August Metro faces the Ambassadors at 1 p.m. On an adjacent court, Inner Strength-Black faces the Rising Stars JG Gold 16U team, which reached the round of 32 via a buzzer-beating basket by Marcus Jordan, the Loyola Academy sophomore whose father is NBA legend Michael Jordan. If Inner Strength survives their afternoon, they’ll play again at 7 p.m.
The tournament’s games were much tighter on Sunday, when four of the 32 third-round contests went into overtime. One that didn’t was a matchup of last year’s champs, the D-1 Greyhounds, and last year’s runner-up team, the Boo Williams Summer League 17U squad. The Greyhounds pulled off the win when Boo Williams missed a last-second shot.
For full video and photo coverage, go to LocalReplay.com’s AAU tournament site.
