S.C. Represents at Gibbons


 

Metro Atlanta has a larger population than the entire state of South

Carolina.  North Carolina has double the population of South Carolina.

 Some people may see these statistics and immediately say that the Palmetto

State is just too small to produce basketball talent.

 

Don't tell that to the local players and teams in this state however.  They

let their talk speak for itself on the court.  This weekend was a prime

example of how the in-state talent is more than capable of hanging with the

so-called big boys.

 

AAU organizations from across the Southeast turned out at the prestigious

Bob Gibbons Tournament of Champions this past weekend at Suwanee Sports

Academy.  Teams were matched up according to expectations and by the amount

of top ranked players they have.  Florida Elite, Atlantic Celtics, Team

Charlotte, Nashville Celtics, and Atlanta Xpress were just a few teams that

figured to be in the running to take home the title.

 

By the latter half of the weekend, two South Carolina based teams, Upward

Stars and SC Raptors Elite, both were in contention to make a run at the

trophy and both turned the heads of college coaches all along the East

Coast.

 

Upward started the event 2 and 0 with a blowout win over the Florida

Celtics and an eight point win over Team Impact before losing a Saturday

afternoon game to the Atlanta Celtics.  Upward featured a balanced attack

all weekend long.  Junior forward *Javis Howard* (Irmo HS) constantly

seemed to be on the receiving end of several highlight reel passes from

point guards *PJ Dozier* (Spring Valley HS), *Dantez Bennamon* (Goose Creek

HS), and *Keith Pinckney* (Miller Grove HS, GA).  The Stars also had solid

weekend performances from* Demetre Rivers* (Stratford HS) and *Wesley

Johnson* (Eastside HS).

 

As strong as the Upward Stars started, it was the South Carolina Raptors

Elite team that ended up being one of the more pleasant surprises of the

entire tournament.  The Raptors were coming off a tournament championship

at the King James Showcase event in Augusta just one week ago, but not many

expected them to have a repeat performance at Gibbons.

 

The Raptors began the Gibbons tournament with two fairly convincing wins

before having to edge it out against a tough Florida Gold Coast squad and

another nail-bitter against the Smyrna Stars.  That put the Raptors at 4

and 0; setting up a semifinal matchup against powerhouse Florida Elite.

 The Raptors looked tired and over matched in the first half.  They trailed

throughout the half by double digits before guard *Alex Mills* (Kennedy

Charter) caught fire from three. After clawing and fighting its way back

into the game, sophomore guard *Gage Ellis *(Legacy Charter) knocked down a

jumper with under ten seconds left in the game to give the Raptors the

upset win.  The Raptors ended up losing in the championship game to Team

Charlotte but by that point the respect had already been earned.  Mills and

Ellis, along with sophomore phenom point guard *Jawun Evans *(Legacy

Charter) let others know that South Carolina basketball is here to make a

statement.