June 8, 2008
Antonio Curro - NY2LA Sports
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The 2008 NY2LA Sports Invitational is in the books and a host of teams and players put down some excellent performances last weekend in the 3rd annual event that saw close to 150 teams from Minnesota, Indiana, Missouri, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, Nebraska, and Texas put it down. In the end it was the Playground Elite who captured the 17U championship, the Wisconsin Swing took home the 16U championship, and St. Louis Primetime rocked the 15U championship in their first appearance at the event.
Playground Elite outlasted a tough Team NLP squad in the championship game to grab the 17U tournament championship. Strong play from PG Johnnie Lacy (Bay View) and SF Jamil Wilson (Racine Horlick) all weekend long were the key factors, but big time play from Eric Williams (Wauwatosa East) also contributed to a strong performance all weekend long. While Lacy and Wilson are already firmly established as top 09' prospects nationally, 6'3" G Eric Williams and 6'3" G Jimmy Sherburne (Whitefish Bay) continue to improve every time they take the floor and both have seen their stock continue to soar this spring after strong performances.
As for NLP, can't say enough about the play of Lenzelle Smith or Colin Nickerson as both were sensational all weekend long. 6'2" G Colin Nickerson (Waukegan) and 6'4" F Lenzelle Smith (Zion-Benton) were active on both ends but it the toughness and tenacity of Smith as well as the solid decision making and floor game of Nickerson were catalysts throughout the weekend. Combined with 6'7" Markus Yarbrough (Zion-Benton) and G Brandon Paul (Warren), Team NLP continued to put down strong performance after strong performance at every tournament they attend.
The Wisconsin Swing outlasted a strong 16U field to capture the tournament championship by defeating Randolph Boys Club in the championship game. 6'5" F Chip Rank (Cedarburg) was sensational all weekend long as was 6'3" PG Josh Gasser (Port Washington) and 6'2" SG Brett Meinecke (Sussex Hamilton). Equally solid was 6'9" F Kyle Kelm (Randolph) who recently picked up an offer from Marquette to add to his collection. Rank pretty much does it all and he brings big time toughness and effort on both ends of the floor. While Gasser and Meinecke are known from stroking it from the perimeter, Rank really is the nuts and bolts that makes everything go. Excellent team effort last weekend.
As for Randolph, 6'1" G Austin Armga (Waupun), 6'0" G Cory Nickel (Waupun), and 6'5" F Dante Kuehl (Watertown) were solid all weekend long. Armga and Nickel were excellent in their shooting and decision making in the backcourt while Kuehl showed lots of toughness and the ability to make things happen in the paint. Randolph is always a tough out and last weekend proved no different as they really played well as a team before running into a loaded Swing squad in the championship.
St. Louis Primetime headed to Milwaukee for the first time and when the dust settled, they rocked the 15U division and captured the tournament championship with a 58-29 victory over the Queen City Prophets in the championship game. The single biggest story of the weekend at the 15U level was the dominance of 6'4" F Brandon Hannah (Chaminade) who was absolutely sensational throughout the weekend. Hannah is a tough interior prospect with excellent toughness, rebounding instincts, and the ability to score around the basket in bunches. He was a monster all weekend and pretty much unstoppable whenever he took the floor. Excellent breakout performance for Hannah!
Note: Antonio Curro is the National Editor of NY2LASports.com, the Midwest Editor for the HoopScoop and national consultant for the HoopScoop.