Battle at the Lakes: Team Rose vs Young & Reckless
From an Illinois perspective one of the most intriguing games at Battle at the Lakes came on Sunday in the 17U quarterfinals as Team Rose tangled with Young & Reckless for the right to go onto the final four.
Both squads feature a ton of quality prospects. The headliners were three of the premier wings in the Illinois 2019 class. For Team Rose it is Whitney Young shooting guard Myles Baker and Curie two guard Dajuan Gordon. Young & Reckless would counter with St. Viator’s Jeremiah Hernandez. All three would live up to their reputations in this game.
An out of state player Jalen Johnson made a huge impact on the game for Team Rose especially in the first half. He is a great rebounder that dominated the boards. He also is an efficient scorer that got a lot of buckets in the low post. Myles Baker also had it working early for Team Rose with his smooth jump shot from mid-range and three. Hernandez came back with a quick personal run of his own getting to the charity stripe, hitting several jumpers, and finishing tough drives. Also in the first half Bloom 2020 shooting guard Keshawn Williams made some noise playing up with a scoring barrage of his owen.
Dajuan Gordon started off slow, but then Young & Reckless 16U coach Stanley Boateng started talking smack to Gordon on the sidelines. Gordon then went all Reggie Miller on Y&R. He was lethal from the corners drilling threes and taking it to the rim with explosive baseline slashes. Team Rose pulled away late to win 74-62. Gordon had 18 points while his running mate Baker finished with 16 points. Hernandez had 16 of his own.
Check out some game footage from the first half below!