Girls: NJ Sparks Basketball Classic
PATERSON, NJ- It was a sunny Sunday afternoon to close out the first of two April Live Period weekends, and on the girl’s side of things one of the hottest places to be was at the NJ Sparks Basketball Classic.
Dozens upon dozens of Division 1 coaches surrounded each of the two courts at Paterson JFK H.S. to catch the action that featured 3 Nike EYBL teams meaning the talent in the building was of the highest level.
New York teams were well represented as well as on Sunday there were 3 different Exodus teams that took the court, the Nike EYBL team that will be playing in the first Girls EYBL session next weekend, along with the Gold and Silver teams, while one of the best from the Capital Region in the NY Havoc were also on hand making some noise.
For the New York squads, the day was headlined by the final game of the day which pitted the Exodus EYBL team going up against the NY Havoc in a game that featured what could be looked at as a game of NYC/Long Island All-Stars in Exodus EYBL vs. Albany All-Stars in the Havoc in a game that saw many high major-D1 coaches perched in to watch the action.
From the start, Exodus EYBL began to apply a lot of pressure in the backcourt to try and rattle the Havoc guards with Jenna Annecchiarico (Baldwin '18) and Aziah Hudson (Baldwin '18) being the two leaders of the harassment that created several early Havoc mistakes.
On Saturday when the NY Havoc played well enough to defeat the NJ Sparks EYBL team, they were knocking down shots from the perimeter and getting themselves in good enough spaces to finish off the dribble. For whatever the reason be it just a poor shooting day, or a credit to the Exodus EYBL defenders on the outside, the shots weren't falling, and against a frontline of Zaria Dorsey (The Patrick School, NJ '18) and Shanniah Wright (Poly Prep '18) that is big and physical and tough to operate around, the Havoc didn't have a ton of luck there are well.
The bright spot for the Havoc in the opening half was Jenna Zimmerman (South Jefferson '18) as the long and athletic 6'2" wing was able to be the lone player for the team to pull up on and hit from long range, while she also shined as a mismatch off the dribble as well showing a unique variety of skills for someone her size.
Offensively for the Exodus EYBL team it was all about Dara Mabrey (Manasquan, NJ '18) at the guard spot as she would create and find her own room to get off quality looks from the outside, and with Dorsey and Wright combining to dominate the paint early on, Exodus EYBL took a comfortable lead into halftime.
For much of the second half it was exactly what we saw in the first half, though Hudson became more of an offensive weapon who was able to finish driving to the rim at tough angles, while Mabrey and Grace Stone (Long Island Lutheran '18) were both effective scorers getting the ball in the halfcourt and beating defenders to the rim.
Grace Heeps (Columbia '19) was a strong leader on the floor at the point for the Havoc as her energy, and ability to pull up and spot up from deep kept the Exodus EYBL team from building the lead up anymore, but it was a struggle for the Havoc as after a solid run throughout the first 3 games they played, this one proved to be too much as the EYBL team was too tough both inside and outside as Exodus would roll home with a 19-point win.
It was two wins on the day for the Exodus EYBL team as they all took down Books and Basketball Elite earlier on Sunday, while the NY Havoc after Saturday's victory over the NJ Sparks, failed to regain that magic losing to Team Takeover EYBL in their other game on Sunday, though it was a game they were within 4 at halftime, and were in the hunt for another EYBL win, after beating the NJ Sparks EYBL on Saturday, until the very end in a game that saw Julie Ford (Cooperstown '18) play very well being a versatile weapon on difference spots on the floor.
The other two local teams who played on Sunday were Exodus Gold and Exodus Silver. Exodus Gold had a tough opener of the day when they fell by 3 to a very good and talented NJ Demons Elite team, but their second game proved to be much better when they played Team Miller from New Jersey.
With Exodus Gold up by 8 with just over 7 minutes to go in the game, Team Miller decided to forfeit the contest deciding that their players had enough action for Sunday. It was a great comeback effort for the Gold team after a tough early morning loss as Cinnamon Dockery (Murry Bergtraum '18) was the team's star as she was able to do just about everything needed for the victory.
Whether it was connecting from the wings, driving to the basket and scoring against multiple defenders, rebounding the ball against the bigger Miller team, or running the point and finding open teammates in the halfcourt, Dockery did it all.
When you add in a strong effort alongside of her by Gabrielle Zaffiro (North Shore '18) getting to the rim with runners and floaters, along with solid size down low, it proved to be a winning effort as even after falling behind by 10 early on, Exodus Gold showed no quit and stormed back to take the win and go 1-1 on the day.
The Exodus Silver team was another solid group that was led by Shonnyvelle Regalado (Nazareth '18) as she showed the ability to play either the 1 or 2 spots, and score from near anywhere on the floor, while Aaliyah Lyn (Bishop Loughlin '18) was a tough undersized 4 type who did a lot of grunt work around the basket to make the team successful.
Kayla Robinson (St. Anthony's '18) was strong on the ball in her team's two games against the Springfield Lady Ballers and Peak Skills (A), and as a team the Silver group would go 1-1 on the day, showcasing to the college coaches on hand just what they could do.
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