VAN COLEMAN
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Both the Las Vegas Spring Classic and the Las Vegas Showcase finals were family affairs as the Pump N' Run Elite edged Utah Pump N' Run for the Spring Classic title while it was an All-Fullctpress.com final in the Las Spring Showcase as Compton Magic outran Belmont Shore for the Showcase crown.
The final day in Vegas turned from individual talent to team play as the top clubs went nose to nose in a couple interesting final day matchups on the west side of Vegas at Bishop Gorman and Spring Valley high schools. We had some great semifinal action that led to one lopsided final and one come from behind classic. With that in mind here's the breakdown of championship day this weekend in Las Vegas.
Las Vegas Spring Classic 17-under Championship game: Pump N' Run Elite 80, Utah Pump N' Run 78
This one turned into a survival of the fittest game as Utah Pump N' Run ran out to an early 18-6 lead behind the leadership of 6-foot-1 point guard Skyler Halford and the inside play of 6-foot-8 Brandon Davies and 6-foot-7 Bronson Kaufusi. Utah maintained their margin throughout the first half as they used patience, getting good shots inside the paint and crashing the glass on both ends as they went to the intermission up 38-25 over a tired looking Pump N' Run Elite squad.
The second half started with both teams trading early buckets, as Utah was still in command 46-32 with 13 minutes to play. But, a put back slam by 6-foot-2 Elijah Johnson for Pump N' Run Elite seemed to light a fire under the Double Pump's top squad as went on a 12-2 run to cut the Utah lead to 48-44 with just under nine minutes to play. The L.A. based Elite squad chipped away at Utah's lead until 6-foot-4 sophomore Tyler Lamb hit a drive with 4:26 to play to give them their first lead at 65-64 over Utah. The two teams exchanged leads over the next three minutes and were tied at 77-all with thirty seconds to play. Utah had the ball and called timeout, to set up their strategy for the final seconds of the game.
Coming out of the timeout Utah took a quick drive to the hoop but it rolled off the rim, Elite's 6-foot-10 Vander Joaquim got the rebound and the Elite squad held the ball until the ten second mark when 6-foot-2 Chase Tarpley drove scored on a lay-in was fouled and made the free throw to put his squad up three, 80-77, with 4.6 seconds to play. On the inbounds Pump N' Run Elite fouled Utah's Ray Tapasoa. He went to the line made the first free throw, then missed the second; but his teammate Sean Carey got the rebound, but missed a ten footer on the baseline. But Elite tipped it out of bounds to give Utah one last chance, but a tip try was knocked away at the buzzer giving Pump N' Run Elite a 80-78 championship victory.
Pump N' Run Elite featured a balanced attack led by 6-foot-8 Tyler Honeycutt who finished with 18 points, while Tarpley added 16 points, and Lamb 11 points. They also got solid support from Elijah Johnson and 6-foot-2 Kendall Williams who rounded out their double digit scoring with 10 points each. Utah Pump N' Run's top gun was Tapasoa who finished with a game high 20 points, while Davies added 15 points and Skler Halford added 11 points in the loss.
Las Vegas Spring Classic 16-Under Championship game: Martin Bros. Select 92, Bay Area Hoosiers 83
This was a hard fought game between two young and talented squads. It was close throughout the early going as Martin Bros. opened up a 31-22 lead after a 9-2 run midway through the first half. But, Bay Area came right back on a 12-2 run to close the half to got the locker room with a 41-38 advantage at the intermission. Both clubs were starting to show signs of fatigue at this point.
The second half was close in the early going until, 6-foot-9 Jordan Dykstra and 6-foot-6 Chanse Creekmur led a 14-3 run that opened up a 74-59 lead for Martin Bros. It was a lead that Bay Area didn't seem to have an answer for as the Iowa based Martin Bros. held on to win 92-83. Martin Bros. was led by Creekmur with 23 points including three threes. He got solid support from Dykstra with 17 points, while 6-foot-9 Marcus Heemstra and 6-foot-3 Cody Ingle added 13 points each. Point guard Tyler Putz chipped in 10 points in the win as well. Bay Area's top gun was 5-foot-10 Keyondrei Gardner with 22 points, while 6-foot-3 Travis Souza added 12 points and 6-foot-7 Jamie Moore chipped in with 10 points.
This one was close early, as both clubs had small leads throughout the first half of the game. It was knotted at 30-all with just 3:18 to play in the half when Compton Magic closed the half with a 16-4 run that put them up 46-34 at the half as Roberto Nelson scored nine points in the stretch to put Compton in control as the squads went to the locker room. The second half was more of the same as Compton behind some stellar play by 6-foot-4 Xavier Thames and 6-foot-1 Shannon Sharpe opened up a 20 point margin at 72-49 and never looked back in route to a 100-81 victory over a tired BelmontShore squad.
Compton Magic was led by Nelson who finished with 21 points, while 6-foot-3 Justin Hawkins added 18 points while Sharpe and Xavier Thames chipped in 11 points each. 6-foot-8 big man Joe Burton added 10 points and pulled down double digit rebounds in the win. BelmontShore was led by 5-11 freshman Cezar Guerrero with 25 points, while 6-foot-3 Kyle Fogg added 19 points, Darius Morris had 14 points and Leonard Washington chipped in with 11 points.
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