Sunday showdowns set in Mesa EYBL action

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MESA, AZ – A couple of “2-0 East vs. West showdowns” are set to take place Sunday morning in the Athletic Grounds complex on the final day of the first weekend of the 2025 Nike/EYBL boys basketball spring and summer season.

Team Final of Pennsylvania takes on the Oakland Soldiers on Court 3 while the Utah Prospects face Team Takeover (from the Metro DC area) on Court 14, in a couple of Merritt Division 17s games set to tip at 9:30 a.m.

Four top-tier prospects in the Class of 2026 will lead the respective squads, Jason Crowe, Jr. (Inglewood in Southern California) for the Soldiers; Sammy Jackson (Roman Catholic in Philadelphia) for Team Final; Jordan Smith, Jr. (Paul VI in Chantily, VA); and Ikenna Alozie (Dream City Christian in Glendale, AZ) for the Utah Prospects.

Smith (pictured), the Maxpreps.com National Junior of the Year, averaged 28 points as Team Takeover won its first two games this weekend by an average margin of 25.5 points.

Three other 17s squads, Team Why Not (SoCal), Team Melo (Baltimore) and CP3 (Charlotte), are 2-0 in the Raveling Division.

TWN won its second down-to-the-wire affair Saturday afternoon, edging Mokan Elite (which draws it players from Missouri, Kansas and Oklahoma), 71-68, going ahead to stay on a 3-pointer by Tajh Ariza (St. John Bosco in Bellflower) with 13 seconds to go.

Ariza (with 15 points) led four TWN players in double-figure scoring as Kaiden Bailey (Santa Margarita) added 12 and S.J. Madison (Redondo Union) and Maximus Adams (Sierra Canyon) 10 apiece.