We got a chance to cover the Ready or Not event at the Long Island Sports Dome in Massapequa Thursday. This was a Real Scout event featuring some AAU teams and local high schools. Here are some of the results and top performers.

Vision over Upper Room

Vision stuck close to the Royals after a couple of early baskets from guard Dante Green (Upper Room ’24). They stepped up their defensive pressure and after a couple of sloppy turnovers by Upper Room found themselves right in the mix with under two minutes to go. While the Royals took the lead late a tremendous drive by guard Steven Turner (Vision ’22) collapsed the defense, and he was able to find a shooter in the corner who buried the game winner at the buzzer. Turner was player of the game and lead all scorers with 15 points.

Blazers over Uptown United

Uptown United brought immense pressure as soon as they blew the whistle. They set the tone for the entire game creating turnovers or fast possessions by the Blazers. Luckily for the Blazers 6’6” F Luke Cronin ‘23 (Great Neck North) was able to help break the press and score inside. While Uptown refused to let up at all Cronin was able to stabilize the defense to get stops and helped them take the lead. He and the Blazers were able to secure the win after a late tip in with Cronin easily winning player of the game.

Aviation Athletics over Deuce Trey

This was a great battle from start to finish with a ton of good guard play. Team Deuce played with great energy and did a phenomenal of getting the basket. Aviation starting to make the right matchups adjustments and grinded out some good offensive possessions. When guard Quentin Cesar (Copiague ’22) got going in the second half he helped Aviation pull away late and they never looked back. He earned player of the game for his 14 points and for some of the big plays he made late.

Upper Room over Portledge

This was the most expected matchup of the day, and the first half didn’t disappoint. Portledge got a bunch of their points from point guard Zaire Baines ‘22 who connected on some deep threes behind the arc. He was able to keep the Panthers close to Upper Room who got an impressive performance from their 6’2” point guard Jean Aranguren ‘22. When the second half started Upper Room won the first 4 minutes and started to separate from Portledge. Araguren and company did an excellent job of slowing Baines down plus created several turnovers. The Panthers tried for a late rally, but the Royals were too much for them as they secured the win. Araguren was fantastic earning player of the game honors while Baines lead the Panthers in scoring.

Bruins’ overs Deuce Trey Elite

The Bruins brought a ton of intensity and energy as soon as the game started. Their defense created some offense, and they took control in the first half. They spread the ball around, played unselfish and used everyone on the roster to score. Deuce Trey had a nice run in the second half where they got back-to-back transition hoops and started to close the gap. In the end the Bruins were too much for Deuce as guard Jamir Stewart (Baldwin ’23) was named player of the game after leading them to victory.