Allonzo Trier of Athletes First celebrates his game-winner Saturday night in EYBL play against the New York Lightning.
Photo by Todd Shurtleff
The breakout player of the first session in Nike's Elite Youth Basketball League may have provided the weekend's signature moment late Saturday night.
Trailing the New York Lightning 57-55 with less than 20 seconds to go, Oklahoma-based Athletes First didn't have to get too creative in scheming up a potential game-winner.
Get the ball to
Allonzo Trier.
"I'm totally comfortable in that situation," Trier said. "I've been in it plenty of times and I came through again, I guess."
Allonzo Trier
Photo by Todd Shurtleff
The 6-foot-4 shooting guard, who plays his high school ball at
Montrose Christian (Rockville, Md.), calmly drilled a 3-pointer at the top of the key as the final seconds ticked away. The dramatic victory helped an unheralded Athletes First squad improve to 3-0 this weekend at the Jackson Sports Academy.
"We are the youngest team in the EYBL," Trier said. "Six of our nine guys are sophomores. We don't have a lot of experience but we've got guys that play hard, battle and are coachable. We aren't afraid of anything so we will play to the end."
While Trier showed his media savvy by deflecting praise to his teammates, the "'Zo Show" has been the story this weekend.
Trier opened EYBL play Friday night with 35 points against Northwest XPress, a program he has ties to from his youth days in Seattle. He followed with 29 against the Jackson Tigers and finished with 23 Saturday against the Lightning.
In a league that can be humbling for many high school stars, Trier is thriving. His 29 points per game scoring average leads the EYBL through three outings. He's efficient, too, connecting on 55 percent of his field goal attempts and 28 of 30 attempts from the free throw line.
That type of production is nothing new for Trier, who averaged over 25 points per game at Montrose Christian this season and earned a spot on the
MaxPreps Junior All-American Team.
"To see him develop into what he has become is unbelievable," Athletes First head coach Terry Long said. "All of it is possible because of the way he works. He believes."
Trier's exploits should lead to plenty of new believers in the coming weeks and months. He's currently pegged as the No. 66 overall prospect in the 2015 class according to the
247Sports Composite.
"If he is 66, I'd like to see the other 65," Long joked.
Trier is keeping things mum on the recruiting front. He hopes to narrow his list of suitors in the coming months and take visits in the fall.
