CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – It’s named the Tournament of Champions for a reason.
Two teams with event crowns already under their belt midway through this club circuit season squared off and definitively established themselves as national powers with their play at the annual Memorial Day weekend showcase.
Led by championship game MVP Dion Waiters of Burlington, N.J., Life Center Academy and Mike Gilchrist of Elizabeth, N.J., St. Patrick, Team Final of Philadelphia/South New Jersey claimed its second title of the spring in Team Final has reached three major tournament finals since April.
Waiters and Gilchrist led Team Final to the championship game of the Boo Williams Invitational, the first big national tournament of the club season, where it fell to defending AAU national champion All Ohio-Red led by Jared Sullinger (Columbus, Ohio, Northland) and Adreian Payne (Dayton, Ohio, Jefferson). A week later, Team Final won the more regionalized Pittsburgh Jam Fest to cement itself as tops in the area.
Sunday at the Tournament of Champions, Team Final made a statement by reaching the final of another signature national event, and this time it took home the crown winning 72-64 behind Waiters’ 27 points and Gilchrist’s 22 (17 first half).
One of the country’s top guards played every bit the floor general and scorer in the first half to go with a perfect 12-of-12 from the free throw line in the second half. Defensively Waiters had a number of deflections and played possum atop the zone only to then jump out quick on the unsuspecting ballhandler and force a few of several turnovers that sparked a run. A big dunk off the right side in transition forced a timeout and lifted his team’s momentum. To close out the half with the lead and run the clock down for one shot, he had the ball in his hands against a reluctant defender who couldn’t contain his drive and ended up fouling him. It was another big-time showing against quality competition for the Syracuse commit.
Gilchrist put another early bullet on his resume to be one of the few in the conversation of being the best regardless of class. A pair of blocks from behind in the back of zone helped start fastbreaks for scores. In the halfcourt, he got to the rim on an isolation from the right side and scored with a runner. Another time down he went right-to-left with a crossover and ended up on the foul line after being fouled at the rim and hitting the floor like a ton of bricks. Walking it off with a smile, a few possessions later he was inside battling and getting clocked again on putback attempts. The relentless effort was another rise-to-the-occasion moment and that’s what’s putting the 2011 prospect ahead of the rest and into an elite group.
In a TOC runner-up finish, P.J. Hairston of Greensboro, N.C., Dudley and Dezmine Wells of Raleigh, N.C., Word of God scored 15 and 14 points for the CP3 All Stars of North Carolina – sponsored by pro star and former Winston-Salem, N.C., West Forsyth standout Chris Paul. CP3 was coming off a championship win at the Southern Invitational over the Virginia-based powerhouse Boo Williams team led by Kendall Marshall (Arlington, Va., Bishop O’Connell), Travis McKie (Richmond, VA Community) and Andre Dawkins (Chesapeake, VA Atlantic Shores Christian).
SEMIFINALS
Team Final d. Jackson Tigers of Mississippi
Waiters and Gilchrist led the way in a comeback win against a tough out in the Tigers. The team picked it up with the loss of big man Markus Kennedy (6-9 PF/Philadelphia, Pa., Living Faith) to an injury. For the Tigers, Edward Townsel (6-0 PG/Starksville, Miss.) had 25 points and Andre Stringer (5-10 PG/Jackson, Miss., Forest Hill) had 17.
CP3 All Stars d. Atlanta Celtics
Reggie Bullock (6-7 WF/Kinston, N.C.) scored 27 points and Jay Canty (6-4 SG/Greensboro, N.C., Ragsdale) scored 17 points to run away from Jordan McCrae (6-6 SG/Midway, Ga., Liberty County) scoring 28 points and 14 points from Ryan Harrow (6-0 PG/Alpharetta, Ga., Walton) in a run-n-shoot game that ended with the mercy rule (up 20 with under four minutes) and CP3 close to 100.
QUARTERFINALS
Team Final d. New Jersey Roadrunners
Waiters led all scorers in victory with 17 points. Gilchrist had 16 points in the win against high school teammate and one of the nation’s top guards Kyrie Irving (6-2 CG/Elizabeth, N.J., St. Patrick), who scored nine points in the loss.
CP3 All Stars d. New Heights of New York City
Jayvaughn Pinkston (6-6 CF/Brooklyn, N.Y., Bishop Loughlin) carried his team with a tournament playoff-high 32 points but it wasn’t enough as they played catch up against the loaded CP3 team with five players in double figures.
Jackson Tigers d. Grassroots Canada
Trency Jackson (6-2 SG/Forest, Miss.) scored 19 points, Tyler Adams (6-10 C 2011/Brandon, Miss.) scored 16 points, and Jalen Courtney (6-8 PF/Jackson, Miss., Provine) scored 10 points in a pull-away win down the stretch in the headliner and closest-matched game of the quarterfinals. Cory Joseph (6-3 PG/Henderson, Nev., Findlay Prep) scored 20 points, Tristan Thompson (6-9 CF/Henderson, Nev., Findlay Prep) scored 15 points and Myck Kabongo (6-2 PG/Newark, N.J., St. Benedict’s) scored 10 points in defeat.
Atlanta Celtics d. New York Panthers
Ryan Harrow scored 27 points and Trae Golden (6-1 PG/Powder Springs, Ga., McEachern) scored 24 points en route to a convincing victory after being down at the half while J.J. Moore (6-5 SF/Brentwood, N.Y.) scored 17 points in the loss.
OPENING ROUND
CP3 All Stars d. Nashville Celtics of Tennessee
New Heights d. Team Detroit
Atlanta Celtics d. DC Assault
New York Panthers d. New England Playaz
Grassroots Canada d. Michigan Mustangs
Jackson Tigers d. Playaz Basketball Club of New Jersey
New Jersey Roadrunners d. Team Florida
Team Final d. Juice All Stars of New York City
ADDITIONAL NOTES
Stacey Poole (6-5 SG/Jacksonville, Fla., Andrew Jackson) and Patric Young (6-9 C/Jacksonville, Fla., Paxon School) led the Jacksonville Lee Bulls to the consolation bracket championship…The tournament’s breakout player Chris Jones (6-1 PG/Memphis, Tenn., Melrose) of the Memphis Stallions went down with an injury in his team’s playoff game in the consolation bracket. He started the game with a 3-pointer but went down soon thereafter…One of the top perimeter prospects in the country Jelan Kendrick(6-6 PG/College Park, Ga., Westlake) had two big pool games for Hoop Planet of Georgia, averaging out at 39 points. His team forfeited their third game when they couldn’t arrive on time….One of the top wings in the country Roscoe Smith (6-5 SG/Baltimore, Md., Walbrook) hit for 40 points playing for the Baltimore Stars.
