Prep Hoops Circuit Grit Region Finals – Ramsey’s Sunday Notebook

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Championship Sunday is officially in the books as we crowned 15u, 16u, and 17u Prep Hoops Circuit Grit Region Finals champions at the Pacers Athletic Center. Whittling down nearly 250 teams on Friday and Saturday to the respective Final Four in each age group led to some really high level basketball being played on Sunday. Each of the three age groups had their championship game ultimately decided by single digits. Before highlight all-tournament teams and some other takeaways from the weekend, let's begin by breaking down Sunday's championship matchups.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">15u Championship</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[program_tooltip program_id='2075551' first='Indiana' last='Game'] Elite 2026 came out of the gate strong and built a 33-24 halftime lead over the [program_tooltip program_id='2075383' first='Chicago' last='Demons'] 2026 squad. [player_tooltip player_id='2272829' first='Jalen' last='Wilson'] (Griffith H.S. 2026) had a couple of athletic drives to the basket and Nick Stewart (Michigan City H.S. 2026) knocked in a corner three-point shot late in the half to help build the advantage. However, the [program_tooltip program_id='2075383' first='Chicago' last='Demons'] would not go down without a fight.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>6'2" athletic guard [player_tooltip player_id='2105399' first='Ahmad' last='Lee'] (Lincoln Park H.S. 2026) scored on three straight possessions at one point, including a couple of steals on the defensive end, to ultimately tie the game at 48-48 with just over seven minutes remaining in the game. That is when Jarvis Tolbert (South Bend Adams H.S. 2026) really started to take over for [program_tooltip program_id='2075551' first='Indiana' last='Game'] Elite and [player_tooltip player_id='1561100' first='Colson' last='Dobre'] (Marquette Catholic 2026) made some big plays around the basket as well.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Tolbert would end up leading the way with 15 points while Dobre chipped in 11 points and a bunch of rebounds. [program_tooltip program_id='2075551' first='Indiana' last='Game'] Elite 2026 would capture the Prep Hoops Circuit Grit Region Finals 15u Championship by the score of 65-56.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">16u Championship</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Ohio United McClure 2025 made sure that the state of Indiana wouldn't complete the clean sweep of championships at the Prep Hoops Circuit Grit Region Finals. Kruz McClure (Westerville South H.S. 2025) wasted no time at all getting going for Ohio United. The talented 6'4" guard opened the game by connecting on his first four three-point attempts of the game to build a 14-8 advantage. However, Indiana Ambition got their own outside shooting from [player_tooltip player_id='1578401' first='Jace' last='Jenkins'] (Princeton H.S. 2025) and [player_tooltip player_id='2628601' first='Xander' last='Niehaus'] (Castle H.S. 2025) to get it back to a tie game at 31-31 at the half.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In the second half, 6'5" wing Dominic Theado (Bishop Watterson H.S. 2025) took over in a stretch where he was attacking closeouts off of the bounce and laying it in. With his size and strength there just wasn't much the defense could do when he got downhill and played off of two feet. His offensive flurry put Ohio United up five, 57-52, with a little over four minutes remaining in the game.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Kruz McClure scored 20 points to lead the way while Dominic Theado had 16 points as Ohio United would come away with a 66-57 victory to win the Prep Hoops Circuit Grit Region Finals 16u Championship. In the loss for Indiana Ambition, Jay Summit (Evansville Harrison H.S. 2025) scored a team-leading 13 points.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">17u Championship</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The best, most exciting game of the weekend just might have been the very last one. [player_tooltip player_id='1384422' first='Eli' last='Ellis'] (Plainfield H.S. 2024) has been excellent all summer long including some massive scoring performances to lead Kyle Guy Elite Black to Sunday afternoon's 17u championship game. However, for the majority of the game it looked like he and KGE had met their match. Kentucky Future Elite has been one of the best Prep Hoops Circuit teams since April featuring a well-balanced scoring attack. At the half they had built a relatively comfortable 33-24 advantage.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Ellis was scoring it throughout the game, but it was a stretch by [player_tooltip player_id='1539552' first='Tanner' last='Teschendorf'] (Mount Vernon Fortville H.S. 2025) that really flipped the script for Kyle Guy Elite Black. The 6'2" guard finished a pair of And-1's while driving to the basket and relentlessly crashing the offensive glass. He is such a good rebounder from the guard position. His second half flurry cut their deficit to five, 53-48 with a little under four minutes to play. Then, Ellis turned on some more magic as Kyle Guy Elite Black would come all the way back to capture the Prep Hoops Circuit Grit Region Finals 17u championship by the score of 62-55.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Ellis would finish with a game-high 27 points to cap off his excellent weekend. [player_tooltip player_id='1578472' first='Tanner' last='Teschendorf'] added 10 points for KGE. Ben Godby and Brayden Mirus each scored 13 points to lead Kentucky Future Elite in the loss.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->