Jordan Brand Classic Regional Game

BROOKLYN, NY - For the Wings Academy duo of big man Jessie Govan and guard Desure Buie the Jordan Brand Classic Regional Game on Friday evening at the Barclays Center was going there last chance to suit up as high school players.

They were on separate teams in this one but that didn't make it any less meaningful, in fact it made the game mean even a little more with bragging rights on the line for both.

There were other New Yorkers in the game as well were Iona Prep sharpshooter Matt Ryan, who is heading to Notre Dame, along with Louisville bound Donovan Mitchell, Sacred Heart commit Quincy McKnight, Syracuse bound Tyler Lydon and the OSNA duo of Davon Dillard and Damon Wilson Jr. also were also participating to give NY a nice representation.

The Regional Game has developed into more of a Northeast game now with the best from Washington D.C. up through Boston playing, but the New York feel was definite and no storyline was more interesting than that of Govan vs. Buie, a matchup that both admitted was odd for them, but something they were excited for.

"It was weird. Giving him a handshake before the game and wishing him luck, I haven't done that in about 3 years," Govan said. "I told him though to have fun and go out and show your stuff."

"I didn't know why we weren't on the same team at first but then I found out Mike Williams and Khadeen Carrington of Bishop Loughlin were on different teams last year so then I just wanted to win and I felt like we would," Buie said.

Both wanted to win to be the Wings player to go out on top, but to win, both would need help, and the talent in the game allowed both of them to have the chance to go out as winners.

From the opening tip though it was all Black Team in the first half as Govan scored 4 early points, one bucket an elbow jumper, and the other a slam down the lane, as they quickly built a 10 point lead less than four minutes into the game.

The lead for the Black Team grew to as big as 25 points with just under 4 minutes to play in the half as Ryan, Govan, McKnight, Dillard, and Lydon were the New York representatives on the winning side early on, and each were doing a solid job contributing with Ryan knocked down a pair of treys, Govan scoring 10 points to be one of the team leaders, while Lydon and McKnight were also doing a little bit of everything.

Mitchell had a dunk late in the half for the White Team that got the crowd going, while also getting his team going a bit as Mitchell had 9 points in the opening 20 minutes, and even though Buie didn't score, his impact late in the half was big as he helped push the tempo as at the half the White Team was back within striking distance after a late 10-2 run, making it 62-48 for the Black Team at the half.

With Mitchell leading the way the White Team came out of the gate strong in the 2nd half and got the deficit down to as little as 7, but an open court three ball by Ryan pushed the lead quickly back to double digits for the Black Team with 16:44 to go in the game and it seemed to stymie the progress the White Team was making.

Terrance Mann was a huge factor of the non-NY players for the Black Team as his athleticism in the open floor helped them keep the lead strongly in their favor, but Donte DiVincenzo and Derrick Jones each helped get the White closer to make another run and with 12 minutes to go they once again seemed to be creeping back in the game to make one last push for the lead.

Five straight points by Mitchell, who was doing everything he could to bring his White Team back, narrowed the gap to 73-69, and they slowly but surely kept chipping away and then with 9:52 to go, it was Mitchell again who canned another trey to tie the game at 88, with Mitchell saying he wasn't going to let him team go down without a fight.

"I have noticed that winning doesn't mean everything to players in All-Star Games but I just want to win," Mitchell said. "I said to myself when we were down 24 that even if I don't score again we aren't going to lose by 24, and when we tied the game I felt we were going to win by about 10."

While he was confident that his White Team would come back and get the win, the fight to get the game tied seemed to take something out of them as even with Mitchell scoring a game high 30 points, the rally fell short.

Jalen Adams knocked down three straight jumpers showing off why UConn is so excited to be landing him, and with he and Ryan knocking down long threes, the Black Team closed out the game strong, rolling down the stretch for the 125-112 victory.

The 27 points of Adams earned him Black Team MVP honors for the winning team, and while the Brewster Academy guard was the player with the big acknowledgement, the New Yorker's on the Black Team did quite well with Dillard scoring 18, Govan putting in 10, and Ryan adding 15, and Ryan got to enjoy the moment even a little more as he was celebrating a special day on Friday as well.

"This was an unbelievable experience and I am just so happy to be here. From where I was a year ago in bed and not being able to move to where I am now is incredible, it means a lot to me, and today is my birthday too so this made it even more special," Ryan admitted.

It was a great game with the Black Team doing just more down the stretch to come out on top, and it also meant that in the Wings Academy battle that Govan was able to beat Buie in the first game they have faced off against each other in years.

Buie after the game said that Govan can't talk too much smack because he didn't guard him, noting that it may have been different if they were truly going head to head, but Govan had a different opinion noting that even though Buie went in confident before the game, he will now be the one who will be doing all the talking on Monday at school.

"He felt his team was going to win because he had the bouncy guys, but we had bouncy guys too so I am going to talk his ear off on Monday because we were the team that came out with the win."