Down South Heat

Playaz, Defenders go perfect in B-more; Team Final bounces back in VA as season heats up

The weekend down in Baltimore and Hampton was an exciting one, full of upsets and disappointments, most notably, a Team Takeover no-show in Maryland. 

Nike Baltimore Elite Invitational

• The big news out of Baltimore this weekend was that Five-Star 17U No. 1 Team Takeover backed out of the event, ending any chance of a matchup with No. 2 Houston Defenders. According to Takeover 17U coach Keith Stevens, his team stayed home to tend to a bunch of "nagging injuries."
• The Defenders, however, made the trip East and steamrolled through their competition, demolishing pool play opponents Players Teaching Players and Riverside Hawks, and handling No. 8 New England Playaz, 48-41, in the semis before they had to jump on a flight back to Texas.
• Twin brothers and Five-Star rated backcourt mates Aaron and Andrew Harrison were stellar, but it was high-flying PF Derrick Griffin who had the breakout performance of the weekend, impressing with a number of incredible alley-oop dunks and blocked shots throughout the weekend. 
• Defender coach Aaron Harrison, Sr. calls Griffin, who's also a star football player, "a once in a lifetime athlete" and said "he's better in football than any of my other players are in basketball." That's pretty high praise from somebody who coaches three Five-Star rated players. The 6-7 Griffin, who plays wide receiver at Rosenberg Terry HS, runs a 4.48 40-yard dash and already holds two-sport offers from Oklahoma and USC.
• Griffin stepped in to fill the shoes of the Defenders' third Five-Star rated player, C Shaquille Cleare (who had to attend a mandatory HS to Wyoming), holding New England Playaz C Kaleb Tarczewski scoreless in the second half of the Defenders' win. 
• No. 12 New Jersey Playaz also left Charm City without a blemish to its record, going a perfect 4-0 before the anticlimactic conclusion of the 17U bracket. The Playaz beat FBGC Disciples White, Threat 220, Team Philly in the quarters and East Coast Elite in the semis.   
• Five-Star rated Kyle Anderson, Savon Goodman, Darrick Wood, Myles Davis and company all played well this weekend in what assistant coach Daquan Santos called a "very consistent" team effort. 
• In the 16U bracket, it was No. 13 New Heights winning their second event in as many weeks, edging No. 6 Team Takeover, 64-61, in overtime in the championship game.
• 6-8 F Jordan Washington led the way for the Heights with a monster 30-point, 17-rebound performance in the finals. Shamiek Sheppard chipped in with 12 points, while SG Josh Hart led Takeover with 19. 

Southern Jam Fest - Hampton, Va.

• The Garner Road Bulldogs entered the weekend ranked No. 1 in Five-Star's 16U top 25 but will most likely not live to see another week in the top spot after falling to Connecticut Select in the quarters. 
• The Connecticut team pulled the upset without Five-Star rated Kuran Iverson, who played the weekend up with the 17U squad. 
• Garner Road was without SG Anton Gill.
• After getting beat up down in Dallas a week ago playing up with the 17Us in EYBL, No. 4 Team Final bounced back strong to win the 16U field at Southern, blowing up Maryland's Finest in the final. Five-Star rated F Austin Colbert was named tourney MVP. 
• Team Final beat No. 15 Boo Williams in the semifinals. 
• The 17U field was filled with a ton of surprises, which lead to East Coast Fusion and Team Russia meeting in the championship, with East Coast Fusion of southern Virginia winning, 58-57.
• The 17U field featured two Five-Star top 25 teams that both got ousted in the quarters: No. 11 Boo Williams fell to Team Takeover Hoop Magic, while No. 19 Team Loaded fell to the Fairfax Stars.