Talent Shows Up Shows Out for Alimoe Classic

BRONX, NY - The 2nd Annual Tyrone "Alimoe" Evans Memorial Game normally called the Tri-State Classic was held on Sunday at the Gauchos Gym to honor the Streetball legend of the same name.

An underclassmen and an upperclassmen game was held which featured some of the top talent in the metropolitan area. A no-zone rule was enacted to encourage man-to-man defense. In both games, some players rose to the occasion while others wilted under the pressure of the streetlight.

In the underclassmen game, the action heated up quickly egged on by a packed house. In the first half, point guard Ty Jerome frequently found himself attempting to fend off the offensive advances of Rashond Salnave to no avail. Guard Bryce Aiken also excelled as he put his superb handle and perimeter game on display against freshman guard Jose Alvarado (Christ the King). Another player that put on perimeter show was Donald Flores (St. Raymond).

High flyers were also seen flying overhead. 6'6" Sidney Wilson (St. Ray's) attacked the rim on the decent in a variety of different ways but it would be Unique McLean who would earn MVP honors as he put an aerial assault on the rack and literally beat the rim up like he had a vendetta against it.

The upperclassmen game had a vast array of talent from the tri-state area and even had Ja'Quan Newton from Philly. Friends became enemies as Bishop Loughlin teammates Khadeen Carrington and Mike Williams went at each other head to head on opposing teams. There would also be a battle between the old guard and the new as Seton Hall bound senior Isaiah Whitehead took on upstart junior Desure Buie.

Once again the high flyers were in rare form as McLean, who played on both games, Desi Rodriguez and Rawle Alkins showed their incredible hops. Paul Jorgensen, who was the MVP of the inaugural Alimoe Classic and dubbed "White Jesus" by M.C. Dave Cha Ching Teele, delighted the packed house with his assortment of and-1 moves as did Taquan Givens as he bogarded his way to the rim or drained rainbow jumpers from afar.

But out of all the one-on-one, mano y mano match-ups of the evening, the most entertaining by far was that of undersized guards Tremont Waters versus junior Randy Corporan of Wings Academy. From the first confrontation, Waters, a freshman playing up, completely undressed and embarrassed Corporan repeatedly on offense with next level ball-handling sleight of hand and then followed that up with mind numbing pit-bull jaw locking defense that left the junior scoreless.

This scenario played itself out so many times that onlookers eventually crowded the court and formed a circle around the two players on each Water's possession to get a better look and capture the spectacle on social media.

At one point during a time-out, Whitehead asked his bewildered teammate sarcastically, "What did you do to him?" To which Corporan replied in a serious tone, "I don't know." Water's game high 21 points at Corporan's expense earned him upperclassmen MVP honors in what would be a thoroughly entertaining evening.

Each MVP was given their award alongside of Evan's mother Victoria Rollins and event organizer Antonio "Mousey" Carela. Evans who was also known as the "Black Widow" died in 2013 from complications due to diabetes at age 37.