What We Learned: Show Me Showdown
Each week we look back at the previous event we covered in “What We Learned” breaking down the things that happened. Here we look into what stood out the most at Show Me Showdown!
Epic All-Illinois 17U Title
The 17U championship was a great way to end the Show Me Showdown! Two Illinois programs Young & Reckless Parham and the Illinois Warhawks went to OT for the right to take home the 17U Show Me Showdown crown. Donzell Johnson had it rolling early for the Warhawks as the Bloomington guard got to the rim and hit jumpers. Isaac Stanback and Keenan Jones hit the glass and scored inside for Young & Reckless. Nate Duckworth and Payton Sheen both shot it well. In the end though Downers Grove North 2019 guard Trey Boston took over scoring a game high 26 points giving Young & Reckless the win.
Young & Reckless Parham Wins 17U
As mentioned above Y&R Parham took home the championship crown in the 17U division. The thing that stands out most about them is their athleticism on the front line and speed in the backcourt. Their guard trio of Trey Boston, Chris Roberts, and Artese Stapleton have speed to burn and make plays with the ball in their hands.
Young & Reckless Boateng Wins 16U
Coach Stanley Boateng led his team to the 16U crown in an overtime win over Marcus Denmon Elite. In a close win Marcus Denmon actually got hurt by only having two second half fouls and couldn’t commit a key foul late to send Y&R to the line. Young and Reckless got the win 71-69 in OT. Bryce Hall led the way scoring 16 in the title game. Seryee Lewis capped off his big weekend with 12 points. Keshawn Williams might have had the block of the tournament swatting a shot into the wall to save the semifinal win.
Illinois Bears Take Home 15U Crown
The Illinois Bears 15U made it a clean sweep for the Illinois programs at the three high school age levels. It was the Parker Wolfe show in the semis. The 5’9” point guard got to the line at will, hit clutch jumpers, and scored at the rim to send his team to the title game going for 32 points. His teammates stepped up big in the championship game getting the win with solid perimeter play from Jordan Hardiek, Nate Thompson, and Evan Addis. Inside it was Matthew Deters who boarded and scored.
Illinois Warhawks Put Name on Map
The Illinois Warhawks program might not have won the 17U title, but their emergence as a program was one of the bigger stories of the weekend. They have a lot of small college kids that played tremendously well together and are very well coached. Nate Duckworth (Normal West) and Payton Sheen (Urbana) proved to be big time shooters. Donzell Johnson (Bloomington) is a powerful scorer in the backcourt that made plays at the rim and with his pull up shot.
Caleb Zurliene Stock on Rise
Zurliene is a good sized two guard from Breese Mater Dei that we have seen in a couple previous settings and were intrigued by. Long and lanky wing with a lot of projectability. Plus athlete that can play above the rim as he showed with a couple huge dunks. Big time perimeter jump shooter that drills them with a clean shot from deep. One of the biggest stock risers of the weekend!
Illinois T-Wolves 15U and Joliet West Have Bright Future
The Illinois T-Wolves 15U have several prospects that emerged in a major way. Ashawn Burbridge is a 6’4” power forward that plays bigger than his size and should grow more. He was a beast rebounding and had a tremendous feel scoring in the paint. On the perimeter Jaiden Lee was lights out proving to be one of the better shooters we have seen so far in the 2021 class. Also on the wing Andrew Johnson is big time slasher that can hit mid-range jumpers. Last of the Joliet West quartet is point guard Terrance Moncrief who is a shifty left handed guard that ran the show and hit open shots.
Balanced Chicago Select 17U Makes Another Playoff Run
Another impressive run for Chicago Select. Their 17U group made it to the semifinals losing a close one to the Illinois Warhawks. They did so without their top two prospects Greg Outlaw and Damari Nixon who both didn’t make the trip. Inside Adrian Gutierrez and Taeyon Neal did a nice job rebounding and blocking shots. They have a group of versatile forwards in Jason Mason, Deion Jackson, and Danardo Jones that bring athleticism. Elijah Stewart and Tyriel Nelson did the scoring in the backcourt.
Illinois Bears 17 Players or 4 Players?
The second Illinois Bears 17U squad had quite an interesting weekend. In their game on Friday night they were going to be undermanned so their 16U squad all dressed playing up for a total of 17 players going through warm ups. Other games throughout the weekend they had a mix of 2019 and 2020 players. In one game we saw they began the game with only four players and had to play a box defense to start.