First Annual Eastside Classic Recap
Michigan
Mustangs (Detroit) 17 & Under Champs!
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The first
ever Eastside Classic Basketball Tournament took place this past weekend at St.
Clare Middle School, Grosse Pointe South and Harper Woods High Schools and there
were some very good teams and a lot of quality players. The tournament was
coordinated by Loren Ristovski, Athletic Director & Boys Head Basketball
Coach of Harper Woods High School and Maurice Taylor. Here is the recap.
There were
teams from all over Michigan; Pontiac, Kalamazoo, Ypsilanti, Detroit, Rochester
and Jackson. We also had some international flavor with the Riverside Basketball
Association bringing four teams from across the border Windsor, Ontario Canada,
eh? As being the co-director of the tournament I couldn't really sit down and
see all the action but I had a lot of help from coaches and parents who
witnessed a lot of the action to choose the MVP and All-Tournament Teams from
each age bracket.
14
& Under Champs:
Riverside Basketball Association (5-0)
In Canada
they group kid's ages a little differently than in the States, Riverside's
team was 14 & Under but they had all 9th graders who turn 15
sometime after the tournament. Unlike here where you cannot play the lower age
unless your birthday comes after September 1st.
yes"> Coach Steve Yednoroz's
team
breezed through the tournament field and just over powered the 14 & Under
Division. Riverside's biggest challenge came from the Michigan Mustangs
coached by Odis Bellinger who were 7th graders playing up in age. It
is easy to see that they teach basketball different in Canada because
Riverside's teams were easily the most fundamentally sound. That plus being a
little older than everyone else really help them cruise to the 14 & Under
title. Here is the 14 & Under All-Tournament Team
10.0pt;font-family:Arial">
Eastside
Classic 14 & Under Most Valuable Player & 1st Team
All-Tournament
Nick
Baldassi-Riverside Basketball Association
6'3
freshman Assumption High School Windsor,
ON Canada
This kid
was dominating all weekend with his scoring and rebounding. Riverside had him
playing center but he looked very comfortable handling and shooting the
basketball out on the perimeter. He over powered smaller defenders and dribbled
around bigger, slower opponents.
normal">Eastside Classic 14
& Under 1st Team All-Tournament Team
Greg
Blunden-Harper Woods Titans
6'0 8th
Grade Parcells Middle School Grosse Pointe, MI
normal">
Worked
hard all tournament and helped the Titans go undefeated on the first day. Shot
the ball well and was strong taking the ball to the basket and made good
decisions.
Goran
Kovac-Riverside Basketball Association
6'4
freshman Herman High School Windsor, ON Canada
Nick's
partner in crime, he simply overpowered and had too much athleticism for his
middle school opponents. Fundamentally sound and does not force or
try to do
anything that he is not good at.
Chris
Roberson-Michigan Mustangs
6'2 8th
Grade Malcolm X Middle School Detroit, MI
Chris was
the best 14U player at the tournament. If his team would've won he would've
won the MVP award hands down He posses an unbelievable combination of
athleticism and a high skill set. Whatever high school he eventually goes to is
getting a stud!
15
& Under Champions: Michigan
Mustangs (Kalamazoo) (5-0)
10.0pt;font-family:Arial">
These boys
was putting in that work! Coach Damon Allison's group is very talented I think
is very poised to win the 15 & Under State AAU. They had a very good
combination of strong post players with 6'5 freshman
normal">David Felton of Kalamazoo Central and guard play with 6'1 freshman
James Harris and 6'3 freshman Cory
Person both of Kalamazoo Central. The Mustangs faced their toughest match in
pool play when they played Team Detroit led by the outstanding guard play of
normal">Adrian Peterson/Detroit Cooley,
normal">Deniro Cunningham/Detroit Redford and the high school version of Mr.
Big Shot Eric Evans/Detroit Rogers.
Team
Detroit was really fired up to start the game was doing a lot of trash talking
and built a 14 point lead in the first half but I will give Coach Allison a lot
of credit when his team was losing he didn't panic he remained calm gave his
kids their instructions, turned up the defensive intensity and won the game.
With the size that the Mustangs have they have a chance to be successful on the
national circuit.
normal">15 & Under MVP
& 1st Team All-Tournament
James
Harris-Michigan Mustangs (Kalamazoo)
6'1
freshman Kalamazoo Central
James'
3-ball was wet all tournament and he wasn't too gun shy either. But after he
hit a couple of jump shots he also displayed the ability to pump fake and take
the ball strong to the basket. He consistently made clutch baskets at key
moments of the game.
15
& Under All-Tournament Team
Alex
Johnson-Michigan Mavericks
6'0
freshman Ann Arbor Huron
Alex was
stopping and popping all tournament. He also was very good ball handler and kept
beating a lot of defenders off the dribble after setting them up with the jump
shot. He must have averaged 20 points a game for the tournament.
David
Felton-Michigan Mustangs (Kalamazoo)
6'5
freshman Kalamazoo Central
David was
crashing the boards hard and controlled the lane blocking shots. David played
with an aggressive mean streak. When he is the game the Mustangs never gave up
offensive rebounds.
Dmetrius
Ford-R & G All-Stars
5'11 8th
grade Baldwin Middle School
Dmetruis
can flat shoot the ball from deep. But when
teams tried to come out and guard against the 3-ball. Dmetruis was equally
effective in putting the ball on the deck and going to the basket.
He was one of the very few 8th graders who was doing their
thing against older competition.
Cory
Person-Michigan Mustangs (Kalamazoo)
6'2
freshman Kalamazoo Central
A lot of
my friends on the west side of the state have been raving to me about Cory for
months now. He plays with a very high basketball IQ and plays very smooth. Cory
sometimes when the Mustangs would get the lead would tend to float but whenever
he was focused whew can he get down.
Other
15 & Under Standouts
Eric Evans
5'9 Team Detroit
Nick
Waller 6'5 Michigan Mustangs (Detroit)
Adrian
Peterson 5'11 Team Detroit
16
& Under Champs Michigan Mustangs (Detroit) (5-0)
This
incarnation of the Michigan Mustangs has been really revamped with the additions
of Patrick McLain 6'7 Gibraltar Carlson, 6'6 Rocky Weaver Harper Creek,
6'2 Spencer Hickoff and 6'3
Andrew Charlesworth both of Flint Powers and 5'9 Nick Neal Detroit
Southeastern. They started out a little slow because anytime you have new
players playing together for the first time it is going to take time for them to
gel and develop chemistry. With some hard work this team really has a chance to
be special. When they clamped down and played solid defense teams would go 5-8
minutes without scoring.
16
& Under MVP & 1st Team All-Tournament
Rocky
Weaver-Michigan Mustangs (Detroit)
6'6
sophomore Harper Creek
Rocky was
dominating from start to finish. Very athletic and stepped out and shot the ball
well from the outside. Whenever he was asked to step up and rebound he did.
Rocky has the ability to be a very good player and the Mustangs are expecting a
big summer from him.
16
& Under 1st Team All-Tournament
Austin
Thornton-Michigan Mustangs (Kalamazoo)
6'5
sophomore Cedar Springs
Austin
really impressive, great basketball savvy and high IQ. Very unselfish and makes
everybody around him better. His role on the team is similar to Magic
Johnson's when he was running the Showtime Lakers of the 80's. Austin knows
how and when to get the ball to the right players at the right time and that is
something that is a lost art from point guards today. Austin is also very
offensively potent too! When he picked his spots to look for his shot either he
was scoring or getting fouled.
K.D.
Bell-Michigan Mustangs (Kalamazoo)
5'10
sophomore Kalamazoo Loy Norrix
K.D. was
thumping this tournament. K.D.'s hype preceded me seeing him play. Last AAU
circuit I saw him play a couple of times and never thinking this kid is special.
But a year later K.D. was getting the job done. Stroked the 3-ball very well and
put the ball on the floor and got to the rim where he consistently showed he
could finish with either hand. Against smaller, weaker defenders K.D. was just
bulldog them to get the shot he wanted. Against Team Detroit in the semifinals
with the Mustangs down 10 with a minute left in the game he scored 11 straight
points to help the Mustangs pull out the victory.
Spencer
Hickoff-Michigan Mustangs (Detroit)
6'2
sophomore Flint Powers
Spencer is
a bad motherf…..! Where do I start; he played extremely hard, shot the blood
out of the ball. Very high basketball IQ and has great court awareness and
savvy. Spencer was a playmaker all weekend. He rebounded the basketball and made
other people around him better. He is a great pick up for the Mustangs and we
are expecting a huge AAU season from Spencer.
Other
16 & Under standouts:
Patrick
McLain 6'7 Michigan Mustangs (Detroit) Gibraltar Carlson
Nick Neal
5'9 Michigan Mustangs (Detroit) Detroit Southeastern
Jamell
Terry 6'3 R & G All-Stars Detroit King
Anthony
Daniels 6'2 Team Detroit Detroit Mackenzie
17
& Under Champs Michigan Mustangs (Detroit)
Wow is this team
loaded with talent, 6'4 jr. guard David Johnson/East Catholic, 6'2 sr. guard
Justin Popov/Harper Woods, 6'3 jr. guard Jovan Mosley/Warren Lincoln, 6'3
jr. guard/forward Donnie Carson/Livonia Clarenceville, 6'5 jr. Mike
Tillman/Detroit King it doesn't stop. Too bad only four teams were in this
division. Had two close games against the Tri-County Cobras and two blowouts in
their other two games.
MVP
17 & Under Division & 1st Team All-Tournament
Justin
Popov-Michigan Mustangs (Detroit)
6'2 sr.
Harper Woods
The usual arsenal with Popov, the 3-ball, dribble drives to the basket and
working out getting and 1's in the post. In a very close game during pool play
against the Tri-County Cobras he scored 14 straight points in about 2 minutes.
A good start to the AAU season.
17
& Under 1st Team All-Tournament
David
Johnson-Michigan Mustangs (Detroit)
6'4 jr.
Detroit East Catholic
David had
a really good tournament right now he is still learning his new teammates.
Scored in bunches but also rebounded in traffic and is a very good ball handler
will be able to play point guard in college. What a pick up!
Jovon
Mosley-Michigan Mustangs (Detroit)
6'3 jr.
Warren Lincoln
Jovon had
a good tournament also. Unlike playing with his school Warren Lincoln, Jovon is
the starting point guard and the ball doesn't leave his hands. We ask Jovon to
make decisions, get the ball to the right players and the right time and be the
quarterback of the team. He stepped up and did all the things this weekend.
Bryon
Smothers-Tri-County Cobras
5'10
sophomore Pontiac Northern
Whew can
this kid go. Gets in the lane and puts a lot of pressure on the defense. He also
got his teammates involved. Basically just a continuation of all the things he
did for Pontiac Northern. Bryan keeps working hard he is going to be a D-I
player.
Timothy
Williams-Tri-County Cobras
6'3
sophomore Pontiac Northern
Smooth as
silk. Timothy shot the ball well and went to the rack strong. Timothy along with
Bryan Smothers and Martell Webb play with good chemistry and share the
basketball extremely well. They are playing up against 17 year olds and they are
going to have some success and I think Pontiac Northern is going to win a state
championship either in 2006 or 2007.