By Will Bryan
MaxPreps.com
The annual Bojangles Shootout basketball tournament in Waxhaws – just south of Charlotte – always gathers some of the nation’s elite high school players from top programs in the region and around the country. Past stars come out to watch the stars of tomorrow as tournament hosts Dell Curry, Steve Smith and Jay Bilas always invite an impressive list of college and pro basketball and football stars.
Last year, Ohio State’s Terrelle Pryor, Louisville’s Samardo Samuels and Liberty’s Seth Curry participated along with current top-ranked senior Derrick Favors from South Atlanta.
This year, the tournament has not disappointed in providing games that have matched some big name recruits with scouts and coaches constantly checking stat lines at every timeout.
With the No. 2-ranked point guard in North Carolina in Brandyn Curry participating along with talented players like David Chadwick (committed to Washington State), Jarrell Eddie (committed to Virginia Tech) and Kendall Marshall (committed to North Carolina), it would be easy for a skinny 6-foot-3 shooting guard from Burlington (N.C.) Cummings to slip through the cracks.
So far, J.T. Terrell is having none of it.
Terrell, a junior already committed to nearby Wake Forest, scored 52 points in his team’s first game on Monday, leading Cummings to a 103-88 win over Concord, and simultaneously capturing the attention of all the tournament’s observers.
The game marked the third time in as many games that Terrell had gone over 40 points as he knocked down 7-of-12 3-pointers while going 18-of-25 from the field.
With that performance plastered all over the local papers, Terrell took the court in front of a packed house on Tuesday night as his team faced Charlotte’s Myers Park. The running tally of Terrell’s points seemed to be the only thing on most fans’ minds throughout the game.
Although Myers Park never trailed by much, Terrell seemed to keep Cummings just a step ahead for most of the game.
Except this time, intense defense by Myers Park forced Terrell into bad decisions and Cummings lost control of the game. Myers Park outscored Cummings 33-16 in the fourth quarter en route to an 80-69 victory.
The entire weight of rallying his team seemed to fall squarely on the shoulders of Terrell in the second. His body language and his shot selection belied that frustration as Myers Park continued to make stop after stop and score in transition.
Terrell finished the game with 34 points, his lowest output in four games, as he hit just 32 percent of his shots. His 34 shot attempts totaled nearly half of his team’s shots from the field. While there were times where he certainly forced the issue by shooting several feet beyond the three-point land while being double-teamed, Terrell could not be faulted for lack of effort.
He always seemed to be flying around in scrums and getting out in front of people on fast breaks. His impressive hesitate-and-jam in transition late in the game sparked the crowd and rekindled some remaining hope for Cummings.
Less than a minute later, Terrell found himself alone guarding the ballhandler and his team needing a foul to stop the clock. Although he already had four fouls, Terrell didn’t wait for a teammate, but rather committed his final foul to stop the clock and try to preserve some hope.
Armed with an intense passion for every aspect of the game and an ability to create any shot off the dribble, Terrell will be a valuable addition to the Demon Deacons in two years. In the meantime though, he is just intensely focused on one thing. Winning the next time he steps on a court.
