iS8/Nike Fall Tip-Off Classic Playoffs Begin

SOUTH JAMAICA, NY - “Somebody’s going on vacation!” When you hear that come through the speakers, spoken by the commissioner of the Fall Nike/iS8 Tip-Off Classic Pete Edwards, you know it’s playoff time.

Saturday was the first weekend of the playoffs at iS8. The format was 4 first round games starting at 10 AM, and then the winners would play each other in the afternoon. Northeast Basketball Club and Road To Riches played each other after both teams won in the morning. While both teams played well in the morning, only one still had the juice in the afternoon.

Northeast Basketball Club mostly dominated the game against Road to Riches, never really getting any type of pressure from their opponents. Ron Harper Jr. was one of the main reasons why Road to Riches couldn’t get into the game. NE Basketball Club won 81-72, but it wasn’t as close as the score suggests.

Harper caught fire in the third quarter, scoring 13 of his team high 23 points during the period. He made 3 three-pointers in that span, getting progressively more animated after making each one. It seemed like every bomb that Harper hit, it deflated Road to Riches energy. You could assume that was the case because the body language started to change.

NE Basketball Club looked like they were having fun and played with a lot of energy, while Road to Riches looked like they played one too many games on the day. Harper Jr., who is 6-6 and whose dad used to play for the Chicago Bulls, wasn’t the only player on the team to have an outstanding game. Luther Muhammed added 18 points of his own and put his stamp on the game in the final period. The Ohio State commit scored 12 points in the fourth and finished with 18.

The game was never in question, and truthfully NE BB Club was full of talented players. They basically just coasted and didn’t seem to really need to put out too much of an effort. Louis King, who committed to Oregon last month, only had 9 points and barely broke a sweat.

By the way, it says “Bring your game, not your name” on the back of the IS8 jerseys. Sometimes, that couldn’t be truer.

Stephen Takyi scored a game high 24 points for Road to Riches.

Team Long Island and Eagles was a good game in the second half. Eagles made a furious run at Team Long Island in the fourth quarter, but Team Long Island was able to stave off any major runs from the Eagles and held on.

Team L.I. guard Savion Lewis put on a display of skilled ballhandling and just plain toughness all game. He got into the lane at will and was excellent at creating his own shot off the dribble and knocking down the mid-range jumper. Lewis hit the ground hard a few times late in the game, but got up off the floor each time to take and make his free throws.

The game was competitive late, but the Eagles could only get as close as 4 points before someone on Team L.I. made a play. Most of the time the ball ended up in Lewis’ hands and he just dribbled through the defense and got to any spot he wanted to. The end result was a victory and advancing to the semi-final round played next weekend.

Lewis finished with a team high 24 points, but he wasn’t the only one doing damage. Eagles continuously left guard Tyler Small open in the first half, and Small continuously kept knocking down three pointers. He scored 16 points in the first half and finished with 23 points. Small made all 4 of his triples in the first half.

Aquarn Butler tried to get it going in the 2nd half after struggling to start the game. However, he ultimately couldn’t get the upper hand on Lewis. Still, Butler did put up an impressive point total in the loss, finishing with a game high 36 for the Eagles.

* Road To Riches unravels Aycool All-Stars, 67 - 43

* NE Basketball Club Batters 6Henshaw, 90 - 63

* Team Long Island Eliminates Fearless Tigers, 80 - 71

* Eagles Take Down D1 Stars, 61 - 43

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