Adidas Invitational: Sunday
INDIANAPOLIS, IN | It was Sunday and as the Illinois Wolves motto goes, Champions Play On Sunday. A couple Indiana Elite teams and a team from Tennessee were among the more impressive teams and Champions on this Sunday. We breakdown what we saw at Warren Central.
IE Fastbreak 2019 Wins 16U Gold
In one of the more impressive runs this weekend, Indiana Elite Fastbreak 2019 took home the 16U Gold Championship at the Adidas Invitational as they knocked off Indiana Elite Metro 2019 in the final game. They had a balanced attack all game long and used their length and stout defense to slow down the hot shooting IE Metro group.
Jakobie Robinson had one of his best games of the tournament as he scored 18 points to lead the way. Jesse Bingham had 16, Jared Hankins had 17 points, and Keith Rupert knocked in four threes for 12 points. Bingham and Robinson were the difference makers in this one as their length really bothered the talented shooters on Metro. The Warren Central duo was impressive on Sunday.
Throughout the tournament this group showed they could really play and has some solid players among them. Guys like Wendell DeMyers and Zach Rinehart stepped up in other games we saw to help get them to the Championship game.
Tennessee Bobcats Showcase Volunteer State Talent
There were plenty of out-of-state teams that performed well this weekend including Northern King, Cincy Lakers and Tennessee Bobcats. The Bobcats were the ones that stood out the most in 17U to us on Sunday.
Made up of Tennessee and Kentucky players, they had at least four guys that looked the part and they drove in coaches from Ball State, Indiana State, IUPUI, Grand Valley State, Marian University, and Evansville on Sunday at Warren Central. Guys like Cooper Robb, Brock Jancek, Kendon Reaves, and Grant Ledford.
Robb was the guy most were watching, a 6’2 lead guard who had some flash to him. He showcased his scoring ability and his skill level as well as his energy. Looked the part of a player you want to have on your team and hope you never have to face. Grant Ledford, a 2019 wing playing up, was maybe the most impressive on the day as he was hitting jumper after jumper. Jancek and Reaves are both 6’7 forwards that should draw in a ton of small school interest.
IE North 2020 Wins 15U Gold
Indiana Elite North 2020 had a hard road to get to the 15U Gold Championship. The toughest part had to be the overtime game against Iowa Barnstormers on Saturday night where they were up near 20 before the Barnstormers started making plays. The squeezed it out in overtime and then took down EG10 2020 in the morning game at Warren Central.
However, they had to take down fellow IE program Indiana Elite Central 2020 to win the championship. Backed by a very balanced scoring effort, they won 62-48. Edreece Redmond, Grant Coleman, and Harrison Eckel all finished with 12 points a piece. Eckel looked great when we watched this weekend. His jumper was really falling for him and he was making plays off the bounce as well.
Was also really impressed with Malek Edmonds. He’s grown a bit and become strong which has helped his production on the court recently. He wasn’t able to play on Sunday but North was still able to get the wins it needed.