LAS VEGAS – The Salt Lake Rebels 17’s Gray squad took command early and then cruised to an 80-67 victory over Oxnard, CA-based Team Build Up Sunday afternoon in the title game of the Invitational Division of the Pangos Spring Sweet 16 at Bishop Gorman High.
Former UNLV standout Evric Gray, who brought seven of his Salt Lake City-based Rebels’ program’s teams to the event, got a flashy all-around performance from 6-foot-6 guard Dylan Jones (Westlake High in Sarasota Springs, UT) to cap a run of four wins since Friday night over Arizona, San Diego, Northern California and, finally, a Team Build Up team that had scored buzzer-beating wins over Las Vegas’ Hard 2 Guard and Arizona-based The Factory 17U Saturday.
Jones (pictured) led a squad of players whose’ high school careers wrapped up earlier in the spring and are still considering their college options for the 2022-23 season.
He scored 28 points (including five 3s) to go with seven rebounds and six assists and was an easy choice as the division’s Most Outstanding Player.
Six-one Reese Widerburg (a junior at Oxnard High) hit five 3s en route to a team-high 17 points for Team Build Up.
In other division finals Sunday:
*The Utah Force (based in Riverton, UT) toppled the Las Vegas West Coast Rebels, 58-51, as 6-6 junior Logan Deal (Sky View High in Smithfield) scored a game-high 19 points;
*In the Gold (15s) Division that tipped things off at 8 a.m., Kongo Black (based in Kaysville) beat the Salt Lake Rebels Black in a “Utah vs. Utah” clash, 49-29. Freshmen Cache Tua (West High) and Bryker Couser (Shoreline High) scored 11 and 10 points, respectively;
*And, in a game pitting teams with rosters with multiple future “major” college prospects, Players Play (San Diego) pulled away early in the second half while beating The Factory, 66-54, in the Select (16s) Division.
Six-eight Ryan Enos (Cathedral Catholic in San Diego), who scored 26 points in a semifinal win over Alley-Oop of Seal Beach Saturday night, scored nine points with 12 rebounds Sunday morning while 6-6 Pearson Carmichael (Summit High in Bend, OR) had a game-high 22 points.
Each can safely be categorized as “Top 50 prospects) in the western Class of 2024.
The Factory squad had just six players in uniform and one of those – freshman Kaleel Kelly (Wilson Canyon High in Sunrise) – was operating at well less than 100 percent because of a wobbly ankle.
But Kelly – rated by Gregg Rosenberg of Prep Hoops as the top freshman point guard in the state – was impressive both Saturday night (against a Salt Lake Rebels squad) and Sunday morning, scoring 13 points including three second-half 3s.
There was a couple of terrific efforts early Sunday afternoon by two players from the Class of 2022 who have yet to decided upon a college destination.
*Six-eight Elijah Price (St. Anthony in Long Beach) scored 32 points and grabbed 16 rebounds for Carson-based Lightning in a 68-65 loss to Fresno’s EBO 17s in the consolation championship game of the Invitational Division.
*In the same division’s fifth-place game, Hard 2 Guard edged Players Play 17s, 70-67, in overtime.
Six-two guard Taviontae Jackson (Las Vegas High) scored 39 points – including a 3 from the left wing with three seconds to go to send the game into OT and another, off the dribble, from out front with four seconds remaining for the victory.
Among other standouts on the final day of the event were three frontcourt players from the Class of 2023 in 6-7 Mike Davis (EBO/Fresno San Joaquin Memorial), 6-7 Isaac Garrett (SL Rebels Red/Pleasant Grove) and 6-8 Brock Felder (St. George, UT, Ignited 17/Parowan High).
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