Frank Burlison

WESTFIELD, Ind. – The second weekend of the 2017 edition of Nike’s Elite Youth Basketball League (EYBL) wrapped up Sunday afternoon in the Jonathan Byrd Field House.

And, after eight games apiece, only one of the 40 EYBL programs participating on the “17s” level remains unbeaten.

That’s the situation after MOKAN (Missouri and Kansas; got it?) Elite held off Team Penny (based in Memphis), 56-53, while at-the-time-unbeaten Boo Williams (based in Virginia) was toppled by Team CP3 (Chris Paul), 75-68.

The Chris Neff-coached MOKAN Elite squad needed an offensive goal-tending call against Team Penny to keep the scored from being deadlocked in the closing moments.

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FISHERS, IN – I spent just about 15 ½ hours in the Best Choice Field House Saturday for Day II of the second weekend of the Under Armour Association spring and summer schedule.

It was 20-plus games (spread over the 17s, 16s and 15s divisions) of mostly full-throttle action from Under Armour’s contribution to the “shoe and apparel company”-funded (along with Nike and adidas) grassroots hoops scene.

None of that action, though, was nearly as nail-biting and stress-inducing as the 30 minutes it took me to drive from the gym to my hotel in Carmel through a lightning storm the likes of which we don’t experience often in Southern California.

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WESTFIELD, Ind. – Night 1 of weekend 2 of the 2017 Nike Elite Youth Basketball League (EYBL) proved a nice platform for some of the better point guards in the Class of 2018.

I watched at least one half of six of the 20 games played Friday night in the seven-court Jonathan Byrd Field House in this suburb of Indianapolis.

So my sample size, of course, was only 30 percent of what was played Friday night.

That conceded, the aforementioned 2018 point guards that I watched played quite well were:

*Xavier Castaneda (Chicago Whitney Young) scored 10 points to go with five assists as seven Meanstreets players scored from eight to 14 points in its 79-78 victory Pro Skills;

*Nick Honor (Orlando Lake Highland Prep) had 13 points and eight assists – without a turnover – as Each 1 Teach 1 rolled past Mississippi Express, 95-69;

*Darius Garland (Nashville, TN, Brentwood Academy) scored 32 points (11 of 17 from the field, including a 3, and nine for nine on free throws) with five assists, two steals and three turnovers in Bradley Beal Elite’s 86-81 decisions against Nike Team Florida;

*Marcus Zegarowski (Hamilton, MA, Tilton) had 13 points, seven rebounds and five assists as Expressions Elite pulled away from the Portland Basketball Club, 73-60, and;

*Spencer Freedman (Santa Ana, CA, Mater Dei) went for 17 points, eight assists and two steals while California Supreme overwhelmed Team Final, 84-64.

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FORT WORTH – The first three-day session of the adidas Uprising Gauntlet – 17s Gold Division – wrapped up Sunday afternoon in the six-court “Game On” facility.

Eight of the 51 regionally-based squad spread across six divisions went 4-0: Compton Magic (Southern California), Dream Vision (Southern California), Exum Elite (Utah), Louisville Magic, Massachusetts Rivals, New England Playaz, Team Loaded (Virginia) and YIIS Future (San Antonio).

The majority of the teams on showcase in front of hundreds of coaches from the NCAA’s 32 Division I-designated conferences over the weekend had at least a couple of Division I prospects on their rosters.

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FORT WORTH – The 2017 adidas Uprising Gauntlet spring and summer series tipped off with 18 games in the 17s Gold Division over six courts Friday night Game On facility.

OK, a few sentences on one of the games I didn’t watch Friday night:

Twenty-Two Vision (based in Louisville) edged South Carolina Supreme, 66-62.

Those names may not ring any kind of hoops bell for you but these will:

For TTV (for short), 6-foot-5 guard Romeo Langford (New Albany High in Indiana) scored 28 points while hitting nine of 15 shots from the floor (but missing four of five from behind the arc) to go with four assists, four rebounds and six turnovers.

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