Elite 75 Prep was on the road for another consecutive weekend evaluating and watching talented young basketball players in the North Carolina areas. This weekend we checked into the basketball historical area of Gastonia, North Carolina, home of James Worthy and Sleepy Flyod, and also the home of the longest running youth basketball tournament in the state of North Carolina, the famous "Gastonia Sundrop Tournament". This youth basketball tournament has been running strong for 23 years and this year Elite 75 prep had a chance to checkout part one of the tournament that hosted ages 10u-13u and we will also be on hand to cover part two in a couple of weeks that will host the older teams in ages 14u-16u. This prestigious event has been hosted every year by Gastonia's Youth basketball guru and the founder of Gastonia's youth basketball Travel Team the Cougars, Mike Stuart. During the busy tournament we were able to catch the USSSA director of the area, who will host as many as 15 tournaments during the course of the summer in Gastonia along for a couple of questions. Check out the interview with the master mind behind the "Gastonia Sundrop Tournament" Mike Stuart.
Interview with tournament director Mike Stuart:
E75p: How long has the tournament been running?
Mike Stuart: 23 years
E75p: What made you start the tournament?
Mike Stuart: The Gastonia YMCA started it, and my team played in it, and the YMCA asked me to take over the tournament and run it, and I have been running it ever since
E75p: How many teams attend each year in the tournament?
Mike Stuart: 30+ teams
E75p: What ages are in the tournament?
Mike Stuart: 9u-16u
E75p: Names of some college players that have attended the tournament?
Mike Stuart/E75p:
Jamal Pendegrass- Lees McCray College
Stephen Curry- Davidson College
Jerry Hollis- Johnson C.Smith University
Jeremy Goode- Mt. Saint Mary's
Doneal Mack- Memphis University
KC Rivers- Clemson University
Devon Seaford- Lipscomb University
Gabe Blair- East Carolina University
Julius Powell- Clemson University
Matt Salley- Bradley University
Demontez Stitt- Clemson University
Malik Cooke- Nevada University
Jamie Skeen- Wake Forest University
Kris Lang- University of Carolina at Chapel Hill
Ryan Lowery- Florida State University
Seth McClung- (Baseball) Tampa Bay Sting Ray
Mun Armstrong- App State University
Darius Floyd- Winston Salem State University
Reggie Hopkins- Virginia State University
Brad Correll- (Baseball) Cincinnati
Matt Stewart- East Carolina University
Robbie Waltrop- Winthrop College
Jabar Adams- Pembroke College
E75p: How long will you keep running the tournament?
Mike Stuart: Hope to pass on the tradition to my 21 year old son that played in it
E75p: What would you like to change about the tournament to make it better?
Mike Stuart: I would like to attract more nationally ranked and out of town teams to come and play
Elite 75 prep was in the gym to check out some of Semi- Final and Championship games on Sunday
Championship Sunday Recap:
Game Semi Final 12u - Hickory Hurricanes vs NC Gaters Red
This was a highly anticipated game for us. We had heard weeks back that the Hickory Hurricanes from the Hickory area were a pretty tough team to reckon with. The Gaters Red team was coached by Lane Abernathy and the Hickory Hurricanes were led by coach Randy Setzer. This was a very high scoring game. Right off the jump we realized that this Hickory Hurricanes team was ready and very disciplined. We also quickley recognized #32 Darius Malbon, the player that was highly noticed in the last couple of tournaments for his ability to grab rebounds and push the length of the floor. We also noticed #4 C. Byrd who had incredible shooting from the field leading all scorers with 25pt's. Ball handling and shooting for the Hurricanes was led by #4 C. Byrd, #10 CJ Wardrick, #13 T. Flowers, #3 C. Setzer, and #1 B. Falgout, #12 R. Hart, #11 J. Tate, and #20 C. Johnson. The inside presence was held down deeply by a tall slender #50 K. Pardon. Who truly shocked us with polished footwork and up and under moves. The Gaters attack was led by Gaters leading scorer #10 Stephen Chapman. Also helping with a balance attack in scoring was #2 Alex Whitsett, #20 Carter Stanley,#55 Timothy Wells,#21 Avery Cooper,#32 James Abernathy, #3 Nathan Stutts, #21 Avery Cooper, #44 Arrington Kellam, #50 Cameron Smith, #55 Timothy Wells,#22 Brandon Earnhardt, and #25 Gregory Coward Jr. It was very interesting watching both of these teams because they were both very balanced. The gaters played extremely physical in the middle and on the perimeter, but it was the outside shooting and uptempo play of the Hurricanes that helped them surpass the gaters in a 72-52 final score.
Game Semi Final 13u- NC Gaters Blue 12u vs United Stars 12u
(AAU State 3rd vs 4th 2006 Rematch/ both teams played up in the 13u Div.)
What can we say about this game. This was probably the best youth game we have seen so far this year. We knew before jump ball that this was going to be a chess match and a physical game between these two clubs, and actually this was a 2006 AAU state rematch of the 3rd/4th place game. With well known Gater coach, Ren Stewart sidelined due to illness, the gaters came out under the direction of an assistant coach who did a great job filling in. The United Stars were coached by Vernon Harris, Ronard Dixon and this years new addition Rob Lemay, who is highly known in the Winston Salem area. The game started off with an intense 1-3-1 defense by the Stars and a high post pinch 2-3 defense by the Gator's. Gator's also mixed in a full court press later in the 1st quarter. Guard play and post play was intense on both ends. Gaters guard play was led by #2 Michael Chambers, #5 Jeroid Purvis, #24 Rashaad Roberts, we also caught #23 Travis Dean knocking 3 pointers from the corner. A strong presence in the paint came from #33 Cody Hylton and #44 Ali Lamont. Contributing to major plays and defensive stops were #24 Rashaad Roberts who had a pair of huge free throws, #3 Kevin Parrish, and #20 Jordan Putnam. Cody Hylton led all gaters in scoring with 14pt's. The Stars quick teanicous guard play was led by #23 Juan Johnson, #10 D. Lawerence, #3 M. Johnson, and # A. Harris. Wing presence and press breaking was held down by #1 Gregory McClinton, #8 D. Reaves. The Stars gained big in the middle with solid play from # 42 "Big E" Fimbo, and huge rebounding from J. Rodgers and #25 D.Dodd. Solid help has also contributed by #20 D. Copeland and #22 Malachi. #23 Juan Johnson led all Stars in scoring with 13pt's. Again this was a very powerful game. The stars 1-3-1 defense was ran very well, with exception of the gaters gaining a couple of three's from the corner. Gater on defense ran a tough 2-3 defense to make to stars shoot from the outside, but it was the second chance rebounds and put backs that help take the stars past the gaters in scoring. Final score was 53-31 Stars. We predict both of these teams to make noise in the NCAAU finals in April and with the the amount of time between now and then to practice, both teams will make a run for the state.
Game - 11u Championship Game United Stars- Mobley vs Lexington Wildcats
This was the first championship game of the day. The United Stars-Mobley matched up against a scrappy and determined Lexington Wildcats team from South Carolina. The Stars team was coached by Reggie Mobley and Malcolm Sanders, and the Wildcats were under the direction of Murray Kinard. The Stars came out solid with tremendous ball handling led by K. Rivers and dominant post play by Devon Oliver,both leading scoring with 10 pt's. Also helping the Stars to a championship finish were #20 D. Bell,#5 D. Boykins, #22 R. Ross, #23 D. Mobley, #3 J. Sanders, #1 K. Singh, #24 B. Reed, #32 J. Lancaster, and #30 O. Gambrell. Leading the scrappy defense and offense of the Wildcats was #22 Carr, leading scoring with 5pt's, and helping in scoring were #4 Harris, #3 Hunter, #20 Davis, #32 Spence, #23 Brown, #15 Hoppe, #34 Stokes, #12 Kinard, and #5 Coplanns. 46-15 was the final score and the 11u title goes to the United Stars. I believe much needs to be said for the coaching staff and players of the Lexington team, even though they were playing a much quicker and bigger team in the Stars, they still played hard and kept their heads up until the end. I can see why they were in the championship game. As far as the Stars, with the good guard and post play from which they displayed, they easily should can be a contender no matter were they play this year.
Game - 12u Championship Game Hickory Hurricanes vs Charlotte Royals Blue
After seeing the Hickory Hurricanes in the semi-finals, we got a second chance to see them in the 12u Championship game against the Charlotte Royals Blue. This was the first time for us to see the Royals Blue in action this year, so we were ready to see what they had in store for us. With the Royals being short handed, with a couple of their weapons sidelined due to injury, they quickly made their move on the Hurricanes right away. The Royals surprised us with pushing the ball up court and using versatile players with height to handle the ball. The Royals made some quick basket in the paint, but Hickory Hurricanes quickly adjusted to start a run and score a couple of baskets of their own. The Royals did a good job trying to contain the Hurricane team, but it was hard at times stopping the runs created by Darius Malbon and C. Byrd. The Hurricanes did allow the Royals to make runs at times in the second half, with the Royals launching from the arch. But again it would be the Hurricanes to hold on to victory with a score of 56-35. The Royals played a good game and should be back strong after their injuries heal and are fully loaded (Names were not in the book to be mentioned). C. Byrd for the Hurricanes topped all scorers with 24pt's. Again #50 K. Pardon controlled the middle, #32 D. Malbon causing matchup issues, with #10 CJ Wardrick, #13 T. Flowers, #3 C. Setzer, and #1 B. Falgout, #12 R. Hart, #11 J. Tate, and #20 C. Johnson helping take part in the Championship win.
Game - 13u Championship Game United Stars 12u vs Burnsville Cougars 13u
(A Rematch of Saturdays Pool Play game)
The United Stars stuck with the same game plan we saw in the semi final game. If it works, stick with it attitude, looked like the key. Again the Stars started off with that intense 1-3-1 defense. The Stars may have learned from their Saturday mistakes, by losing to the tough Burnsville Cougar team during pool play. Burnsville was a very strong team that liked to play defense and shoot from the perimeter and open spots on the floor. The Stars immediately tried to saturate their scoring. In the end, it looked like the Burnsville Cougars could not reenact the previous day's victory and failed short to the United Stars in the Championship bout. The Burnsville team showed much talent and poise throughout the game, but huge plays again were made by the entire United Stars team which made them hard to stop.
Placements:
11u Division
1st Place - United Stars-Mobley (Charlotte, North Carolina)
2nd Place- Lexington Wildcats (Lexington, South Carolina)
12u Division
1st Place- Hickory Hurricanes (Hickory, North Carolina)
2nd Place- Charlotte Royals Blue (Charlotte, North Carolina)
13u Division
1st Place - United Stars 12u (Charlotte, North Carolina)
2nd Place- Burnsville Cougars (Burnsville, North Carolina)
We first like to start our thanks to Mike Stuart for the hospitality he showed to the Elite 75 staff. Also thanks to all the coaches, parents and fans for answering any questions we might have asked you during the course of the day, the feedback has highly appreciated. We would also like to thank Coach Marty of Ashbrook High School, it's always a delight to chat with him, and we also got some valuable information on some of his high school players.
Scouting Notations and Reports
C.Canty- Elite 75 Prep Senior Staff
J. Davis- Elite 75 Prep Senior Staff
