In two months, the Funsport Junior Pros Championship game will take place at Madison Square Garden following an NBA contest between the Indiana Pacers and New York Knicks.
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But, first, thirty teams of the top junior high school talent in the metropolitan area will do battle in pool play and playoffs at JHS 113 in Brooklyn, NY. If the past Junior Pros standouts are any indication, we are about to get an early preview of the future of high school basketball in the tri-state area.
Riverside-8 won the season tipoff game, using a 15-0 run in the second quarter to take control and post a 54-47 win over the Brooklyn Patriots. Jack Daly (Eastchester), whose three-point banker just before halftime put Riverside ahead for good, led all scorers with 20 points. Aaron Walker topped the Patriots with 18 points while Pedro Lopez grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds.
The NJ Pirates and Above and Beyond were both double winners on opening day. A&B trailed Team Underrated at the end of each of the first three quarters before running away in the final period for a 44-33 triumph. Fred Prieto (St. Frances De Sales, PA) led the rally with 15 points; Kyle Williams (Freeport Middle, LI) recorded a game-high 15 rebounds for Underrated. In their second contest, A&B received 13 points from Jerron Love (Riverdale, Bronx) and 10 points from Shavar Newkirk (Frederick Douglass, NYC) in a 58-35 victory over BK Ballers-Stompers. Niquan Campbell (MS 349, Brooklyn) had a solid 21-point, 8-rebound performance in the losing cause for the Ballers.
The Pirates pulled out their second win with a buzzer-beater as Johnathan Hilliman (Franklin Middle, Somerset NJ) put back a missed shot to edge Elite NYC 50-48. Hilliman led four Pirates in double digits with 15 points to offset the day's top shooting performance by the Elite's Jermaine Bishop (4 three's and 20 points). Earlier, the Pirates rolled over Riverside-7 69-21 behind Mike Silverthorn (St. Mary's, Hackettstown NJ), who matched the entire Riverside output with 21 points.
In other opening day highlights: C-3 Elite pulled away in the second half to down St. Mark's 55-29. Lamont Peebles (IS 323, Brooklyn) and Nixon Garcia (ENY Family Academy, Brooklyn) topped C-3 with 13 points apiece. Altine King (Bay Academy, Brooklyn) had the high of 12 points for St. Mark's. . . Chris Robinson (IS 131, Bronx) tallied 17 points and 10 boards to lead the Gauchos-Tommie past New Heights-Blue 65-28. 6-foot-6 Adonis Delarosa (MS 391, Bronx) had a double-double of 12 points, 10 rebounds for New Heights. . . Team Underrated evened their record at 1-1 on the day as Chris Davis (Scholars Academy, Far Rockaway) scored 16 points in a 62-23 romp over host JHS 113.
Pool play continues every Saturday and Sunday at 10 a.m. at JHS 113, 300 Adelphi Street, in Brooklyn, NY