Rumble in the Bronx Championships

ARDSLEY, NY- The Rumble in the Bronx championships looked as if they would be something of a culmination for the City Rocks program as each of their 17u, 16u, and 15u EYBL teams were in their respective title games.

While they were able to take home one championship, others were able to come in and go home with the other two titles as each of the three games proved to be full of excitement and drama which is what the Rumble has been long known for.

An exciting day from start to finish, here now is a recap of the championship game action from House of Sports, and one of the bigger events the greater New York City area offers each season in the Rumble in the Bronx.

NY Gauchos Tops City Rocks EYBL, 53 - 44

It was an Upstate vs. Downstate battle for the right to be called 17u Rumble in the Bronx champions, and while it was a nip and tuck battle for most of the way, some late plays made by both Truth Harris (Trinity-Pawling '20) and Marcus Burnett (South Shore '20) allowed the Gauchos to pull away and take the 9 point title game victory.

While this wasn't a fully stacked City Rocks as they were without the services of star wing Andre Jackson (Albany Academy '20) and lead guard Noah Hutchins (The Park School '19), they still had a deep and potent team full of future Division 1 stars.

The Gauchos though wanted to spoil the City Rocks parade though as even though they just had 6 players on Sunday, all 6 found ways to make a difference and make their presence felt to help the Bronx based power to the championship.

C.J. Wilcher (St. Benedict's, NJ '20), who is a recent Xavier commit, was on point early for City Rocks as it was him and Andrew Mason (Webster Thomas '20) who led the offensive charge in shooting the ball strongly from the outside, while the Gauchos went about things a bit differently as Harris and Malachi Smith (St. Raymond '21) time and time again would attack the rim.

With both teams playing the style they wanted it was a 25 all tie heading into halftime with each team confident in their ability to close things out and win the title.

Continuing to trade buckets, Will Amica (West Genesee '20) was able to get out in transition for City Rocks, while Harris kept countering on the other end for the Gauchos. It wasn't until Burnett instilled his will onto the game that things finally began to pull away in a good way for the Choz.

It was a 35-34 lead for the Gauchos with 8:52 to play when Burnett would drain a wing three from the left side to put them up 4. After a City Rocks turnover, it was Burnett once again connecting, this time from the left side as he would drain all four of his three balls in the second half to see the Choz take control.

The intense defensive pressure from the Gauchos guards began to rattle a City Rocks team that was especially shorthanded in the backcourt as the lead would go to double digits for the first time with just over 3 minutes to play. It was a 53-44 lead for the Gauchos when Smith, Harris, and DeMarco Watson (Eagle Academy '20) began playing keep away to run the clock down, and with 2:44 to go in the game and seeing enough City Rocks head man Jim Hart waved off the game calling an end to things and giving the Gauchos the coveted title with the 9 point win.

Harris led all scorers with 19 points for the NY Gauchos while Burnett had 14 points, 12 of which came in a big second half outing.

In the defeat it was Wilcher who was the only double digit scorer for City Rocks with 14 points, with Mason chipping in with 9 as well in the loss.

Coming in and playing against an EYBL power with just 6 players seemed like it might be more than the Gauchos could chew but credit to their coaching staff and every player who stepped up as it allowed them to finish out the weekend as Rumble in the Bronx champions.

Team Swoop Over City Rocks EYBL, 52 - 49 in OT

This matchup may have proven to be the most exciting of the day as Team Swoop from Florida was able to hold on and come away with a hard fought 3 point title game win, after nearly seeing a 14 point lead completely disappear.

Swoop seemed to be in full control until the final 3 minutes of regulation when everything began to go haywire for them as they committed way too many turnovers which allowed the City Rocks to chip away at the deficit.

Rob Brown (Albany Academy '20) was the one who applied the pressure and was able to cause turnover after turnover as City Rocks went to a full court trap and really started to take over. A 10 point lead for Swoop with 3:02 to go evaporated as Billy Lia (Guilderland '21) was able to connect from the outside, and with Brown scoring 6 straight down the stretch, City Rocks finished regulation of a 10-0 run to send this title game into OT tied at 47.

City Rocks took their first lead of the game in OT when Brown hit on a pair of FT's with 57.5 to go going up 49-47. Momentum was completely on the side of the Upstate, NY power but off an inbounds it was London Previlon (Hallandale, FL '21) stepping back and draining a left corner three to give Swoop back the lead at 50-49 with 17.2 to play.

It looked as if City Rocks would have a drive to the bucket as they pushed up the court quickly but Brown was called for a charge giving Team Swoop back the ball with under 10 seconds to play. A pair of FT's gave Swoop a 52-49 lead, and while Brown had a good look at a straight away three for the tie at the buzzer to send the 16u title game into a second OT the shot was long as the whistle sounded giving Team Swoop the title to go back down with them to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.

Previlon had 17 including the game winner for Team Swoop in the win, while in defeat it was Brown who paced everyone with 18 points of his own.

City Rocks EYBL Freezes Heat Elite, 52 - 37

For much of the opening half it was a very close affair with City Rocks leading just 25-19 at the half over a very good Heat Elite team from Long Island, but J.J. Starling (Baldwinsville '22) and company proved to be too much as the Syracuse area star had 18 to lead his team to a going away 15 point championship game victory.

After what could only be described as a slow start, City Rocks got going early in the second half as Starling began to become more aggressive and assertive making moves to the rim and showing off his strong midrange pull up game as well.

Sean Lee (Our Lady of Lourdes '22) was another elusive guard who could finish from all over the floor, while Riley Mulvey (Albany Academy '22) was a physical and dominating finisher inside as Heat Elite struggled to keep pace with the weapons that City Rocks had all over the floor.

The deficit got up to as much as 21 for Heat Elite before a small comeback late, but the firepower of City Rocks proved to be too much for them to handle as the hosts from Albany got one title this weekend with their youngsters coming up big in the big spots to take the 15u title back Upstate.

TOP PERFORMERS

TOP 16U PERFORMERS