Nike EYBL Peach Jam - Five Wednesday Takeaways

<p>Another day of basketball is in the books from the annual Peach Jam in North Augusta, South Carolina. Starting Thursday, college coaches will be able to attend as a live evaluation period begins. That will bring a newfound buzz to an already electric atmosphere at the Riverview Activities Center. I've had boots on the ground at the Peach Jam since Monday, but will now be making the drive to Rock Hill, South Carolina to cover the 3SSB Championships. Before switching events, let's take a look at five big picture takeaways from Wednesday at the Peach Jam.</p>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">[player_tooltip player_id='1454289' first='Cooper' last='Flagg'] vs. [player_tooltip player_id='1301714' first='Cameron' last='Boozer']</h2>   <p>The primary rankings services have them split between #1 and #2, but it is definitely a consensus that [player_tooltip player_id='1454289' first='Cooper' last='Flagg'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1301714' first='Cameron' last='Boozer'], in some order, are the two best prospects in the Class of 2025. In fact, they just might be the two best prospects in all of high school basketball. On Wednesday morning, fans and NBA scouts alike were treated to a matchup between the Flagg twins and the Boozer twins to start Wednesday morning off. It is safe to say the contest lived up to the hype.</p>   <p>Nightrydas Elite 16u jumped out to an early advantage, but Maine Elite 16u got back in it and kept hanging around largely due to the versatility of Ace Flagg and the elite catch-and-shoot ability of Landon Clark. Those two took over the show at times despite all of the eyes being on the Cooper versus Cameron battle. Typically, the depth of the Nightrydas is what makes them so special, but on this morning that advantage went to Maine Elite. Alex Lloyd battled serious foul trouble and Benny Fragela was unable to connect from deep which left a lot on the Boozer's plate.</p>   <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1301714' first='Cameron' last='Boozer'] tried to mount a late comeback, and they cut it from double-figures down to six, but they could never get over the hump in the final minutes. Maine United went on to win 73-65. Ace Flagg led the way with 22 points and 11 rebounds while [player_tooltip player_id='1454289' first='Cooper' last='Flagg'] contributed 21 points, 10 rebounds, and 7 assists. He also came up with some massive defensive plays late in the ball game. 6'8" left-handed sharpshooter Landon Clark added 19 points on 5-8 shooting from three-point range.</p>   <p>For the Nightrydas, [player_tooltip player_id='1301714' first='Cameron' last='Boozer'] finished with 22 points and 12 rebounds while [player_tooltip player_id='1301788' first='Dante' last='Allen'] added 17 points.</p>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">[program_tooltip program_id='2078449' first='[program_tooltip program_id='2076910' first='Meanstreets' last='']' last=''] Outlasts UPlay in Overtime</h2>   <p>This was one of the most intense games I've seen this week so far at the Peach. It was a back-and-forth affair that had tensions high on both ends essentially from the opening tip. [program_tooltip program_id='2078449' first='[program_tooltip program_id='2076910' first='Meanstreets' last='']' last=''] held the advantage on the scoreboard through most of the game until the fourth quarter. Early on, [player_tooltip player_id='1157230' first='Morez' last='Johnson'] was doing his typically thing inside and [player_tooltip player_id='1157223' first='Nojus' last='Indrusaitis'] was showing off his perimeter skill. Indrusaitis finished the first quarter with a buzzer-beating three and then had one of the most poster-worthy dunks of the week in the second quarter. He truly can do a little bit of everything on the offensive end.</p>   <p>However, UPlay would not go away. They couldn't get anything to fall from three-point range, but they attacked the rim and finished at the free throw line. A late three-pointer from [player_tooltip player_id='1158204' first='K.J.' last='Windham'] though got the momentum back in [program_tooltip program_id='2078449' first='[program_tooltip program_id='2076910' first='Meanstreets' last='']' last=''] favor and then Johnson took over once again inside to eventually force overtime at 55-55.</p>   <p>It was more of the same in overtime as it was towards the end of regulation. [player_tooltip player_id='1157230' first='Morez' last='Johnson'] simply wasn't going to let [program_tooltip program_id='2078449' first='[program_tooltip program_id='2076910' first='Meanstreets' last='']' last=''] lose the game. The Illinois commit would end up with an incredible 26 points and 19 rebounds in the hard-fought victory. Iowa State bound [player_tooltip player_id='1157223' first='Nojus' last='Indrusaitis'] added 15 points and 7 rebounds while [player_tooltip player_id='1158204' first='K.J.' last='Windham'] rounded those in double-figures with 10 points.</p>   <p>Bashir Djeukam and Ishan Sharma each scored 17 points to lead the way in the loss for UPlay.</p>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Team Takeover Takes Down Paul George Elite</h2>   <p>In terms of pure talent and competitiveness it would be difficult to have found a better game through the first three days of the Peach Jam than this matchup between Team Takeover 17u and Paul George Elite 17u. It was all knotted up after one quarter until a late first half flurry from [player_tooltip player_id='1259620' first='Darren' last='Harris'] and some athletic plays from [player_tooltip player_id='1127309' first='Donavan' last='Freeman'] put Team Takeover on top 35-29 to end the half. From that point on in was just about maintaining the lead and not letting Paul George Elite to climb back in it.</p>   <p>Down the stretch, [player_tooltip player_id='986956' first='Jase' last='Richardson'] unleashed his dynamic playmaking ability to try and get Paul George on top. However, it just wasn't in the cards on Wednesday evening. Richardson finished with a game-high 22 points on impressive 7-11, 3-6, 5-7 shooting splits. Meanwhile, Gabriel Pickens added 11 points and 6 assists. The problem was that the rest of the PGE squad only made as many shots combined as Richardson and Pickens.</p>   <p>Team Takeover was led by Duke commit [player_tooltip player_id='1259620' first='Darren' last='Harris'] with 20 points. His efficiency from the field, 7-11, 3-6, 3-3 made him look like a prospect that should be ranked much higher by the national services. At 6'6" he has excellent size on the wing as well. Syracuse bound [player_tooltip player_id='1127309' first='Donavan' last='Freeman'] used his freakishly athletic 6'9" frame to scored 18 points and corral 9 rebounds. Finally, Isaiah Abraham rounded out the double-figure scoring with 13 points.</p>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Exciting Win For [program_tooltip program_id='2076927' first='Indy' last='Heat'] 15u</h2>   <p>Admittedly, when it comes to the state of Indiana it big events like this, I am a homer. By the end of this game on Wednesday night I was living and dying with every play because I wanted my [program_tooltip program_id='2076927' first='Indy' last='Heat'] guys to pull out a victory. Luckily, they did just that thanks to some late game heroics.</p>   <p>On Tuesday night, [program_tooltip program_id='2076927' first='Indy' last='Heat'] 15u simply ran into a much better team in MoKan Elite. However, on Wednesday night, their issue early on was that they were not playing well. They scored just 23 points in the first half while struggling to get anything to fall and trailed by 11 points at the break. All Ohio 15u would lead by as many as 12 points towards the midpoint of the second half before the comeback began.</p>   <p>First, it was [player_tooltip player_id='1560945' first='Dezhon' last='Hall'] (Tindley H.S. 2026) who knocked in a pull-up three near the top of the key. Then, [player_tooltip player_id='1729136' first='Brennan' last='Miller'] (Lawrence North H.S. 2026) had a big time finish off of an out of bounds under play. Finally, [player_tooltip player_id='1705937' first='Marcus' last='Johnson'] was fouled on a three-point attempt and converted two of three free throws. That cut the [program_tooltip program_id='2076927' first='Indy' last='Heat'] deficit down to three points with just over six minutes remaining. For quite a while though that was as close as they could get. Two super athletic finishes on back-to-back possessions got them over the hump to tie the game at 58 with two minutes left to play. With 17.5 seconds, [player_tooltip player_id='1561435' first='Julien' last='Smith'] (Mt. Vernon Fortville H.S. 2026) drove to the rack and found Miller for a layup that gave [program_tooltip program_id='2076927' first='Indy' last='Heat'] 65-64 lead. All Ohio still had an answer in them though.</p>   <p>A speeding drive to the basket resulted in a layup with just over six seconds remaining that reclaimed a 66-65 advantage for All Ohio. With no timeouts, [program_tooltip program_id='2076927' first='Indy' last='Heat'] had to quickly take the ball out and rush up the floor. [player_tooltip player_id='1705937' first='Marcus' last='Johnson'] made an excellent unselfish play to throw the ball ahead around midcourt to a streaking [player_tooltip player_id='1552625' first='E.J.' last='Hazelett'] (Franklin Central H.. 2026) who was fouled on a layup attempt with just 0.4 seconds left. The 6'7" lefty calmly sunk both free throws to secure a 67-66 win.</p>   <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1705937' first='Marcus' last='Johnson'] led the way with 16 points. [player_tooltip player_id='1560945' first='Dezhon' last='Hall'] (Tindley H.S. 2026) added 13 points, [player_tooltip player_id='1729136' first='Brennan' last='Miller'] (Lawrence North H.S. 2026) had 11 points, & [player_tooltip player_id='1552625' first='E.J.' last='Hazelett'] (Franklin Central H.S. 2026) finished with 10 including the game-winning FT's.</p>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Top Performers</h2>   <ul> <li>Class of 2025 point guard [player_tooltip player_id='1437537' first='Darius' last='Acuff'] scored 20 points to go with 5 rebounds and 8 assists in a win for The Family 17u.</li> </ul>   <ul> <li>Georgetown commit [player_tooltip player_id='1213553' first='Thomas' last='Sorber'] went for 17 points and 11 rebounds in a win for Team Final 17u.</li> </ul>   <ul> <li>Three-star forward [player_tooltip player_id='1217197' first='Chris' last='McDermott'] scored 32 points and pulled down 15 rebounds in a win for JL3 17u.</li> </ul>   <ul> <li>JL3 17u point guard [player_tooltip player_id='1216535' first='Ashton' last='Simmons'] posted a triple-double of 20 points, 11 rebounds, and 14 assists in their win over NH Lightning.</li> </ul>   <ul> <li>Wisconsin commit [player_tooltip player_id='1284147' first='Jack' last='Robison'] scored 26 points for Howard Pulley 17u in their win over Kingdom Hoops.</li> </ul>   <ul> <li>[player_tooltip player_id='1488143' first='Mikey' last='Lewis'] continued his strong weekend scoring 30 points in the Oakland Soldiers win over Georgia Stars.</li> </ul>

Another day of basketball is in the books from the annual Peach Jam in North Augusta, South Carolina. Starting Thursday, college coaches will be able to attend as a live evaluation period begins. That will bring a newfound buzz to an already electric atmosphere at the Riverview Activities Center. I've had boots on the ground at the Peach Jam since Monday, but will now be making the drive to Rock Hill, South Carolina to cover the 3SSB Championships. Before switching events, let's take a look at five big picture takeaways from Wednesday at the Peach Jam.