Friday night UAA showcase games were aptly titled

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THE WOODLANDS, TX – Day I – actually, Night I – of the Under Armour Association Invitational was highlighted by a bevy of showcase game in the 17-under division.

OK, so which players made the most of their opportunity to put their skills, effort and attitude – not necessarily in that pecking order, of course – on the figurative stage Friday in the Legends Complex in this suburb of Houston?

I’m glad you asked:

*Six-foot-five Rayjon Tucker (Class of 2015/Northside Christian Academy in Charlotte) scored a night’s best 32 points to help Team Charlotte topple the Team Superstar (based in Fresno, CA), 83-67.

I’d never heard of him before late Friday night. It provided a “shame on me”-moment.

*There were no statistics kept (or, at least, posted) in Milwaukee-based Young Legends’ victory over TJ Ford of Houston, which was subbing (and playing its second game of the night) for Sports U of New Jersey, which didn’t arrive in Houston until later than anticipated Friday night.

But Young Legends’ Diamond Stone (Dominican High in Whitefish Bay), who appears to be in the 6-9/6-10 range and seems to have shed some poundage, for the good, since I last saw him last summer, did close to anything he wanted in and around the lane when I caught glances of one of the final four games of the evening that were being played simultaneously in the building.

I’ll try to check it him a time or two more this weekend (the event wraps up Sunday afternoon when bracket title games in the three divisions), hopefully against opponents who offer a bit more of a challenge than he faced Friday night.

*The Houston Defenders – coached by Aaron Harrison Sr. and with his twin sons and soon-to-be University of Kentucky sophomores as spectators – looked deep, talented and determined while coasting past Team Thad (based in Memphis), 75-66.

He wasn’t among the three players to score in double figures for the Defenders, but 2016 point guard Joseph Caldwell (Cypress Wood in Houston), coming off the bench, was the performer I was most impressed by in the game.

He’s got the skill and know-how to be one of the best at the position, nationally, in the class.

*Gonzaga-bound 2015 point guard Jesse Wade (Davis High in Kaysville), with 21 points and six assists did a whole lot of nice things for the Utah Prospects but they still came out on the very short end of a 60-59 game with WE R1 (with players from Pennsylvania and Delaware).

*Mustapha Heron (Sacred Heart in West Haven, CT) showed everyone who watched why the 6-5 left hander – who is committed to the University of Pittsburgh – is one of the most versatile, and best, period, prospects from the Class of 2016 while helping New Heights of New York edge Kansas City Run GMC, 61-59, in maybe the best game of the evening.

Mike Nzei, a senior forward from Our Savior in Centerreach, NY who is expected to sign a scholarship agreement shortly with an NCAA Division I-affiliate, scored the winning bucket with 1-point-something on the clock.

*Madison Prep Academy (in Baton Rouge) wing from the 2015 class Brandon Sampson scored 17 points to help Louisiana Elite drop Team Felton of South Carolina, 54-47.

The 6-5ish Sampson has a lot of range on his jumper (he hit three of them from behind the arc when I was watching) and an awfully big and quick first step off the dribble.

*Another of the best “wing-types” in the national class of 2015, 6-6 – and change – Tres Tinkle (Missoula Hellgate in Montana) was the best and most effective player on the court during the moments that Southern California-based Earl Watson Elite needed him to be during its victory over Team Breakdown of Florida in a game that was the last to wrap up Friday night – about 15 minutes short of midnight.