Peach Jam: Illinois Thursday Notebook
Thursday was a full day of hoops at Peach Jam in South Carolina. We saw tons of action from Illinois prospects on the Mac Irvin Fire, Meanstreets, and Brad Beal Elite. Here we dive into that in Peach Jam: Illinois…
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Continue ReadingThursday was a full day of hoops at Peach Jam in South Carolina. We saw tons of action from Illinois prospects on the Mac Irvin Fire, Meanstreets, and Brad Beal Elite. Here we dive into that in Peach Jam: Illinois Thursday Notebook.
Meanstreets Loses Thursday Opener to Team Takeover 76-65
Meanstreets tried to pick up the first win of Peach Jam for an Illinois 17U team, but fell short against perennial contender Team Takeover. They cut it to 6 points in the fourth quarter, but couldn’t get over the hump in the final minutes. Whitney Young 2020 point guard DJ Steward was fantastic! The silky smooth scoring combo started off hot draining a pair of threes. He has an easy and free flowing jumper that consistently goes down. As the game went on Steward used his crisp ball handling to get in the lane for floaters. Three level scorer finished with 24 points (8-17 FG) (4-8 3PT) and 3 dimes. Marian Catholic lead guard Ahron Ulis had a solid performance. The top 10 prospect didn’t hit from deep, but managed to score in the paint and on some mid-range jumpers. Also did a nice job distributing the rock to his weapons especially Steward. He had 13 points and 9 assists. Isaiah Rivera is a top 5 2020 in-state prospect from Geneseo. The skilled wing also couldn’t find the touch from three going 0-4 from beyond the arc. He was effective attacking and going through contact for scores and trips to the line. Rivera had 12 points (4-12 FG). Romeoville shooting guard Destin Whitaker knocked in a couple of threes along with a one dribble pull up for 10 points.
Mac Irvin Fire Drops to 0-2 In 50 point Loss to Indy Heat
Pretty much nothing went right for the Mac Irvin Fire in their second game overall at Peach Jam on Thursday morning. They got completely dismantled by their border rival Indy Heat. Just like last night they couldn’t buy a shot from three and also struggled at the foul line. Gave up way to many easy and wide open looks. Trinity (MO) center Ryan Kalkbrenner showed flashes inside as a rim protector, rebounded pretty well, and was efficient with his shots going for 12 points. Morgan Park point guard Marcus Watson got it going a little more in the second half hitting on a few scoop shots and a three for 12 points. Seryee Lewis didn’t finish well early, but had his moments as the game went on finishing with 11 points. State’s top prospect Adam Miller couldn’t consistently hit going 4-11 from the field and 1-6 from three for 9 points. He dished out 6 dimes. It was not pretty at all for the Fire.
Brad Beal Gets L in OT at Peach Invitational
We checked out Brad Beal Elite over at the Peach Invitational against City Rocks. This group features four top 40 players nationally and a top 10 in-state prospect in Whitney Young’s Tyler Beard. Brad Beal got off to a slow start, hit their stride for most of the contest, and collapsed in the last couple minutes of regulation and overtime to fall 92-89 in OT to Albany City Rocks. CBC (MO) point guard Caleb Love got off to a sluggish start, but when he began to roll where you can see why he is such a coveted combo guard nationally. Love hit an array of pull up threes along with ones off the catch. Slick ball handler that works well in ball screen and slithers through the defense for difficult layups. Cam’Ron Fletcher from Vashon (MO) flashed, but it wasn’t overly consistent. Huge dunk, couple transition finishes, and a three. We are big fans of Arkansas native Moses Moody. The two guard is a plus perimeter sniper that is one of the better shooters in the class nationally. He is starting to show there is more to his game doing damage in the post and putting it on the deck. Natural scorer! Whitney Young 2020 point guard Tyler Beard was a solid role player for this group. Tough on ball defender that put pressure on City Rocks guards. Offensively he is best using his strength putting his head down and getting to the rim. Crisp passer finding his teammates in positions to score.
Boo Williams Defeats Mac Irvin Fire 16U 82-74
The first 16U game we caught on Thursday was the Mac Irvin Fire’s tilt against Boo Williams. The Fire trailed most of the contest, but made several runs at it. Never were able to completely close the gap falling by eight. Amari Bailey was fantastic in the loss. The Chicago native who plays his high school ball in California is a slick handling shooting guard that slices and dices through the lane with ease for finishes. Finished several nifty finger rolls. Burst with the ball in his hands. Jumper can be streaky, but it has sound mechanics as he made a three and another baseline J. Passes it with a ton of flair! Simeon 2021 shooting guard Ahamad Bynum is a high scoring Chicago tough guard. He is a microwave scorer that goes on bursts. He did that again on Thursday with a trio of triples in a short period of time. It was a solid, but overall quiet night from top 20 national recruit Tre White. The Milwaukee product is a skilled shooting guard that had a couple impressive finishes on a bullet pass from Bailey and an explosive straight line take for a dunk.
Mac Irvin Fire 17U Fights Back, Comes Up Just Short to Vegas Elite
In this game the Fire actually got off to a fast start for the first time at Peach. They opened on a 7-0 run including an Adam Miller three. Vegas Elite who features five-stars Josh Christopher and 2021 superstar Jaden Hardy took it from there. We will get into them in our national coverage. The Fire trailed 65-49 heading into the fourth quarter. That is when Morgan Park 2020 point guard Marcus Watson exploded bringing his team almost all the way back. The slick handling guard has been the most consistent performer for the Fire in their first three games of the event. He has such a great burst getting to the rim along with tremendous body control maneuvering through a defense while getting it up off the glass for layups. He hit a few key threes in the late rally as well. Couldn’t be more efficient as he scored 24 points (11-14 FG) along with dishing out 4 assists. They ultimate fell in a close contest 85-82. Morgan Park power forward Seryee Lewis was another bright spot. The bouncy four man and top 5 prospect had his best game of the event. Was more assertive on the glass going after rebounds on both ends. Recorded a double double of 14 points and 12 rebounds along with 6 assists. Top 2020 Adam Miller recorded 13 points, but it was another tough shooting night for the star as he was 4-14 from the field and 1-8 from three. Did record 7 assists as well. This loss most likely eliminates them from chances of advancing to the Elite 8 on Saturday.
Meanstreets Falls Short in OT Loss to AOT
Once again it was a heartbreaking loss for one of the Illinois squads. Meanstreets took the lead after they trailed the majority of the game on an Isaiah Rivera bucket with six seconds to go. Sharife Cooper would then go on to score to tie it, send the game to OT, and AOT ultimately won in the extra session 95-87. The story of the night was DJ Steward. He made a very strong case for the #1 spot in the 2020 rankings with his play. The Whitney Young point guard is a silky smooth scoring point guard that slithers through the defense. He got to the hoop over and over where he converted acrobatic layups with excellent body control in the lane. Shot it pretty well from three going 3-9 from down town. Defensively he used his length to get in passing lanes and on one occasion took it the other way for a slam. Can even block shots of opposing guards. Was very impressed with how well he rebounded on both ends of the floor. Final stat line was 31 points (11-25 FG), 12 rebounds, and 5 assists. Marian Catholic 2020 point guard Ahron Ulis also had a nice night. Ulis got in the lane for a few scores and made regular trips to the foul line where he shot 7-8. He shot 2-4 from three finishing with 19 points. Thornton 2020 point guard Derrick Williams got the surprise start and played well scoring 10 points using his toughness on both ends of the floor. Like the Fire this probably ends the hope for Meanstreets advancing to the playoffs on Saturday.