National Open Championships: Fury Antl to the finals

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Prep Hoops National Open Championship is powered by VKTRY</strong> – the world's best performance insoles. Jump higher. Run faster. Reduce injuries. <a href="https://vktry.com/?utm_source=Prep+Network&amp;utm_medium=Tournament&amp;utm_campaign=Indy_July">Shop the insoles trusted by 500+ pro/college teams. </a></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The [program_tooltip program_id='2075672' first='Minnesota' last='Fury'] has taken quite the road to the Prep Hoops National Open Championship final. They will take on Indiana Elite/Team Indiana at 12:20 Central time today for the 17u title. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Just last weekend Indiana Elite/Team Indiana was in the 3SSB National championships of Adidas. They won three of five games including a 3SSB win over EG10 who Team Indiana also beat in this event in the quarters. Last weekend Indiana Elite- Team Indiana also beat two teams from California and had one point losses to the longtime known Arkansas Hawks as well as a team from Utah. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>For the Fury to be in this position is actually quite interesting. In the sweet 16 round the Fury beat Davis Brothers by a single point (67-66) and needed a late comeback to do that. They beat [program_tooltip program_id='2075674' first='Minnesota' last='Heat'] Conyers by a point in the quarters and then moments ago knocked off an Indiana Basketball Club team that was also in the 3SSB finals last weekend and went 4-2 there. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Indiana Basketball Club was crushing everybody at the Prep Hoops Nationals. In their previous three games IBC beat [program_tooltip program_id='2075685' first='Minnesota' last='Select']'s top team by 31, IBC beat Pro Skills San Antonio by 41 and IBC controlled North Dakota Phenom by 30! IBC was nearly half way there versus the Fury up 35-21 at the break. However...</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The [program_tooltip program_id='2075672' first='Minnesota' last='Fury'] went on a 25 point second half turnaround that included a 15-0 run to end the game not allowing IBC to score the final four minutes and forty-four seconds of the game. Adidas teams Gamepoint and TJ Ford Elite beat IBC last weekend and neither of them could beat IBC in the way the Fury did. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Who from the Fury turned things around? It was surely a team effort as the defense in the second half was outstanding. That said the standouts were:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1560798' first='Lucas' last='Gustafson']. If there was any doubt that Lucas is a first team 17u player this year, Lucas put that to rest with an amazing second half. When the Fury made their late game run Lucas had a three, a transition lay-up, two assists in the halfcourt and clutch foul shots makes to put things away. Gustafson had 17 points on 6 of 10 shooting including three threes plus six assists. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Thomas Shunmugavelu. The Fury does so much through Thomas to start their offense (high ball screen, high post entry into dribble hand off, turn and face to pitch or attack, etc) and his size has went at IBC down hill for three scores early and for 11 points overall on seven shots. He also had four assists and did a great job with ball screens and ball movement in the offense. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1560747' first='Alex' last='Schroepfer']. Alex did some tough things late that were huge: he shut a D1 offered forward down in the second half and that's a player that has had D1 schools from the area watching him all weekend. Alex also grabbed a game high seven boards and scored nine points most of which he put on the board in the paint lately. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2120500' first='Eli' last='Moseman']. Eli has been fantastic this July and his transition basket push was crucial to the Fury beating IBC up the floor to get good shots. Fury killed IBC in the halfcourt in the second half but they also hurt them with the smart transition push and Eli was a huge part of that. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1521424' first='Kayden' last='Oakland']. Kayden was another key piece of that Fury defense. JaShawn Ladd was terrorizing other teams but was just 2 of 10 from the field against the Fury. That is a D1 offered player that Kayden and others totally took out of the contest. Kayden also moved the ball well for five assists and scored ten points. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Finally, do you know how we always talk about the Fury being a shoe team killer over the years? This weekend they have beaten two Adidas Gold Teams (Davis Brothers and Indiana Elite - D1 Indiana), they just beat a Adidas 3SSB team in Indiana Basketball Club and they have another Adidas 3SSB opponent coming up in 30 minutes (Indiana Elite - Team Indiana). </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->