HG Summer Jam Fest (NY Team Recaps)

MANHEIM, PA - As we hit the second weekend of the all-important July Live Period, one of the key spots where many of New York's top teams are in action is just outside of Lancaster, PA at the Hoop Group Summer Jam Fest.

Once again this July the Summer Jam Fest has a very strong field with many of the Northeast's best in attendance, and on Friday some of New York's best took to the court to show that they can compete and thrive against teams from anywhere.

It was a very solid Day 1 for New York as 9 teams in the 17u Spooky division have advanced in the Championship Bracket into Day 2 action on Saturday. NYCHoops.net was at Spooky Nook Sports on Friday for the action, and here is a recap for the 9 that will continue to represent New York in the main bracket on Saturday.

Every team that made it unscathed from New York on Friday only had to play 1 game as each team had an opening round bye, and that includes a very talented Ionians team. They took on Higher Level Elite out of Virginia in their 2nd Round game, and led by a dominating effort in the post, the Ionians were able to pull away late for a 66-44 victory.

The interior duo of forwards Wassef Methnani (Knox School '17) and Efstratios Kalogerias (Knox School '17) were able to finish with ease inside as Methnani was able to use his 6'8" frame and be a huge mismatch in the halfcourt as he stepped out and did damage, while also doing a solid job when he cut to the rim. Kalogerias on the other hand was a true inside presence at 6'10" as with soft hands and strong footwork in the paint he was a force to reckon with.

Good guard play in transition from Kareem Holmes (Bay Ridge Prep '17) also allowed the Ionians to pull away in the 2nd half as a tight game early on was pushed open to a dominating performance late.

As athletic and dominating a team in the open court as there was on Friday, City Rocks was able to run away from a good New Jersey Pirates team with eye opening dunks, and strong defense which created turnover after turnover and allowed the Upstate, NY power to run away with this one.

Even with a couple of key players showing up late, City Rocks was able to get off to a quick start as wing Justyn Lacy (Vermont Academy, VT '18) scored 14 of his team's first 20 points to get them off to a quick double digit lead. After that it was the Jalen Hawkins (St. Thomas More, CT '17) show as the lanky 6'5" guard was able to fly through the air in transition and throw down dunks that had the crowd buzzing.

City Rocks took a 22-point lead at the half, and then with Ty'jon Gilmore (St. Thomas More, CT '17) distributing the ball and leading the offense to perfection, it was a runaway rout in the second half as they were able to cruise to an 81-45 victory.

This was a mixture of players from both of the Lightning's 17u teams. Some from the secondary Black team, and some from the EYBL squad. They took on Gainesville Elite from Virginia, and it was a combination of working out the kinks playing with each other, and a talented opponent that caused the Lightning to not pull away, but eventually they hung on for a 66-60 win.

Chris Duarte (Redemption Christian Academy '17) was able to handle the ball well and do a solid job creating inside for the likes of Isaac Kante (Putnam Science Academy, CT '17), while also doing a good job getting to the basket and finishing for buckets. Hafeez Melvin (Maple Shade, NJ '17) was also a reliable ballhandler as the Lightning overall didn't allow the Gainesville pressure to get to them doing an overall solid job in limiting turnovers.

They struggled guarding the 3 ball though on the other end which did allow Gainesville to get within 4 late, but with Duarte creating in transition late, the Lightning were able to hold on and advance with the 6-point victory.

Going up against the College Basketball Prospects of America, it was Eastside who were able to use the fact that they had reliable guards all over the floor at all times to knock down big shots, while also showing a great ability to come up with second chance opportunities to take home the victory at 71-62.

To their opponent’s credit, Eastside guarded the perimeter well but it was just good shooting that allowed College Basketball Prospects to stay as close as they did. They knocked down 8 threes in the second half and allowed a 17-point Eastside lead to get cut to as little as 5 in the closing minutes. Dan Masino (Fairport '17) and Griffin Kornaker (Suffield Academy, CT '17) each were great on the ball, with both doing a great job in finding Jason Hawkes (Aquinas '17) for buckets inside which helped allow them to hang on for the win.

Luke Hicks (Shenendehowa '17) was a strong perimeter threat in knocking down threes, especially in the opening half where he really had a rhythm going, while Ryan Algier (Fairport '17) did a real nice job as well inside as even though he is lanky, his 6'8" length allowed him to control the paint for large stretches to help Eastside advance to Saturday.

It was great play from the outside by both Thornton Scott (Holy Trinity '17) and Kyle Murphy (Chaminade '17) that allowed Crown to upend a tough Cecil Kirk team 50-48.

Primarily playing halfcourt offensive sets that was dictated on good ball movement and strong ball control, Crown got good play from Camren Wynter (Holy Trinity '17) who was great a facilitating the offense and getting everyone else involved.

Crown has lost a good bit of their offense as of late due too recent 2016 commitments, but they were able to do a good enough job connecting off of the dribble late to fend off a late Cecil Kirk challenge and move onto Saturday's action.

The Adidas circuit team was in a tussle early on as their opponents, Maryland Elite, were holding up going at Castle in transition. The saving grace, and what allowed Castle to pull away in the second half was the ability for them to use their athleticism inside with both Malachi de Sousa (Kennedy Catholic '17) and Opong Bramble (Canterbury Prep, CT '17) showing that they can comfortably play around the rim, while also put the ball on the floor to score en route to the win.

It wasn't easy at all though as throughout the first half it looked as if Maryland Elite was going to be there until the very end, but the speed and overall athleticism really pushed through in the second half as Castle also did a better job in closing out on the Maryland shooters which allowed long rebounds and more fast break chances as well.

It may not have been the prettiest performance, but Castle showed why they can compete and thrive against anyone as they had the depth and the ability to control the tempo in their 57-49 win.

Much like Castle, CM3 also struggled in the early going in their game against Basketball 2 the Limit, the difference here was in the 2nd half there was no denying CM3 as they were able to run, run, and run some more, getting out for easy buckets to pull away for a blowout 76-48 win.

Maybe the biggest shot of the game was when Luis Cartagena (White Plains '16) was able to knock down an off balanced 3 ball from the left wing at the halftime buzzer to see CM3 go up by 12 at the break. It seemed to be just the shot that they needed to get going as they were able to really control the tempo and get out and run much more as the game wore on.

Elvin Rodriguez (Greens Farms Academy, CT '17) was great in the open floor getting the offense going, while Mike Laster (Institute for Collaborative Education '16) was able to be a tough and tenacious player all over the floor. Long and athletic at nearly every spot, CM3 will be a tough out on Saturday as they look to be strong and primed for a big run.

Led by former LuHi star Losini Kamara (Park Center, MN '17), Team NYC went up against Team Maryland Elite, and though they didn't have the size that most of the other teams from around New York have, they were able to counter that with a solid understanding of where to get the ball in spots down low, while also hitting key shots and being aggressive defensively to hold on for a 60-52 victory.

It was Kamara who primarily handled the ball and was able to go and finish strong towards the rim on isolation sets, while the tandem of Daniel Charlton (Springfield Gardens '16) and Eli Ezenekwe (Van Buren '17) were very strong off the dribble shooters with excellent athleticism in the open floor.

They don't have the depth of other teams, but they played very well as a unit and came up with the big stops when they needed them to never relinquish the lead late and hold on for the 8-point victory.

The Jayhawks are the last team we mention because they are the only team in the field that didn't have a game on Friday. They were due to play NX Level on Friday night for the right to advance to Saturday but NX Level was a no show and gave the forfeit win to the Jayhawks, the powerful Adidas Gauntlet squad that has to be considered one of the teams that can contend to take home the Summer Jam Fest title.

Led by the likes of Chris Coalmon (Long Island Lutheran '17) and C.J. Kelly (Queens H.S. of Teaching '17), the Jayhawks are strong both inside and outside, and have the depth needed to knock off anyone put in front of them on Saturday.