Thursdays Peach Jam Gauntlet Results NY

Both the Nike Peach Jam and Adidas Uprising Gauntlet Finale are in full swing now with the local New York teams looking to represent the state in style. Going up against some of the top AAU teams from across the country it was known that it would not be an easy challenge for the local teams, but with the talent that NY is fielding this year, anything looks possible.

Thursday presented the opportunity for the PSA Cardinals, Albany City Rocks, and the NY Lightning to get off to good starts in pool play at the Peach Jam, while the NY Rens looked to battle their way deep into the Gauntlet winners bracket. It is truly the time to shine in front of all the college coaches in attendance so let's now take a look at how our locals faired on Thursday.

PSA Cardinals

Even without the services of Villanova commit Omari Spellman who was out with an injury, the Cardinals played about as well as they have all AAU season on Thursday to get out to a quick 2-0 start in their quest for a Peach Jam title.

They got out to a good start against MOKAN Elite as behind the 20 points of Travis Atson and the 18 points and 13 assists of Virginia commit Ty Jerome they were able to jump out to an early double digit lead and never look back for the 88-74 win.

As a team PSA shot 51% from the floor as it wasn't just Atson and Jerome playing big roles as Christian Vital added 19 points, and Kassoum Yakwe, whole just scoring 6 points, had 11 rebounds and 5 blocks in the win as well.

The Cardinals second game of Thursday was against Each 1 Teach 1 of Florida, and even sporting the services of high coveted St. John's recruit Maverick Rowan they had nothing to contain the high powered offensive attack of PSA as the Cardinals rolled to an easy 77-49 victory.

It was another balanced attack by PSA as they shot 49% from the field in game two, and had 5 players in double figures as they were led by Yakwe, who was named Nike EYBL Defensive Players of the Year, as he had 10 points, 13 rebounds, and 5 blocks in the win. Vital had 16 points to lead all scorers, while Bryce Aiken had 14 in the winning cause that saw the Cardinals go to 2-0 and in great shape to go deep in the Peach Jam playoffs.

Friday will see them continue their pool play contests when they square off in the afternoon with BABC of Massachusetts before closing the night with a game against Elfrid Payton Elite from Louisiana.

Albany City Rocks

It was not the day that the City Rocks were hoping for as they came in with the best regular season record of the three NY teams in the EYBL, but left Thursday going 0-2 after two tough losses.

It was first and foremost a very tough shooting day for the Upstate power as in their opener against the Las Vegas Prospects they shot just 31% from the floor, and just 25% from behind the arc as they fell 68-58.

They did have a couple bright spots as Andrew Platek had 12 points and added 10 rebounds from the guard spot, while Anthony Lamb added 11 points and 11 rebounds playing down inside.

Anthony Gaines gave City Rocks a strong game shooting 3 of 6 and pouring in a team high 13 points, but it was not enough as a first half lead slipped away in the second to see them fall to defeat.

Game two gave City Rocks a chance for redemption against Houston Hoops but from the very start they just seemed out of sorts shooting just 32% and falling once again, this time by a 77-57 score.

Recent Xavier commit Howard Washington brought his top game and finish with 15 points and 5 assists, including shooting 3 of 5 from long range, and Quinton Rose had a very nice game as well from the perimeter, but they struggled from the floor and controlling the glass, just not having enough it seemed, falling behind by as many as 26 before losing by 20 to go 0-2 on the day.

Even though it was a rough Thursday, Friday presents a whole new day for City Rocks as they still hold hope of advancing to bracket play at the Nike Peach Jam, though first they will have to get wins against both Pro Skills and the Georgia Stars on Friday.

New York Lightning

Much like the City Rocks, Thursday proved to be a day that the Lightning are going to want to forget as they too have put themselves into an 0-2 spot after Thursday's action that saw them lose a heartbreaker to close the day.

They opened with BABC of Massachusetts and the Lightning got off to a strong start, but found themselves trailing by 1 at the half after a late BABC run, and the rest of the way seemed to go the way of the team from Massachusetts as the Lightning fell to start the day 67-57.

The Lightning didn't play particularly badly as they shot near 50% and only turned the ball over 10 times as a team, but they just couldn't find the big shot at the big moment to close the gap on BABC. Dimencio Vaughn led the Lightning with 15 points, with Shamorie Ponds adding 12 points, though the combo guard only was able to get off 8 shots, a number that most certainly needed to be higher for the Lightning to have had a chance to win.

If the first game was a tough loss for the Lightning, the second game was excruciating as they were up in the closing seconds only to lose on a shot with under 5 seconds to play as MOKAN Elite took them down 68-67 in a crushing defeat.

Vaughn once again played well from the wing and finished with a team high 18 points, and Ponds added 14 points shooting 6 of 12 from the floor showing a nice touch and good consistency from the perimeter, but once again the Lightning were beaten on the glass and struggled to get other players going late in the game.

One player who looked like he was getting going was Elijah Pemberton who made a bucket driving in with 20 seconds to go to give the Lightning the lead, but trailing once again by 1 it was Pemberton who had a chance to win it, but his shot fell off the iron and the Lightning fell to 0-2 after a very tough Thursday to start the Peach Jam.

Down, but certainly not out, the Lightning have a chance to regroup and get things going in the right direction on Friday as they have two games to get back into it as they open the day with Elfrid Payton Elite of Louisiana, and finish the day with Each 1 Teach 1 of Florida.

NY Rens

Last but not least are The Rens, playing in the Adidas Uprising Gaunlet Finale in Atlanta this week, and after a very nice 78-61 win over Brookwood Elite of Canada on Wednesday night, they were into the quarterfinals this morning in a game against Team Loaded of North Carolina to start their day in hopes of progressing deep into Adidas' big July tournament.

Team Loaded of NC looked to present The Rens with a lot of challenges in terms of size and skill on the ball, but with Rawle Alkins on your team anything is possible as The Rens got off to a quick 21-6 lead before holding on for a 57-54 victory.

Alkins had 10 points quickly to help The Rens get off to the fast start, and while the offense wasn't always fluid at times, especially in the 2nd half, defensively they did about as good of a job as you could hope for holding Team Loaded to just 25% from the floor, and when The Rens needed a big bucket they got it from both Alkins and Mustapha Heron as they both came up big late to hold on for the 3 point win.

It wasn't always pretty but Alkins had 18 points, Heron added 11, and Xavier commit Tyrique Jones chipped in with 7 points and a big 13 rebounds to help The Rens move onto the Gauntlet semifinals.

In the semifinals on Thursday night The Rens matched up with Indiana Elite, and while you can credit the offensive output that certainly was huge, they once again buckled down on defense and limited their opponents a 32% shooting night as they cruised to what proved to be a fairly convincing 87-77 victory.

A great all around game by Alkins which saw him score 24 points, grab 10 rebounds, and dish out 6 assists helped facilitate the offense and really allow the team to get out and go, playing the style of basketball they want and run there way to the victory.

The supporting cast was huge as well as Heron finished with 16 points and 9 rebounds, with Jones adding 14 points and 8 rebounds as The Rens are now into the Adidas Uprising Gauntlet Championship Game which will be played Friday night at 7:20 and will see them facing off against the Atlanta Celtics for the title.