Peach Jam: Nightrydas 17s down Mac Irvin in pool-play opener
Nightrydas Elite (17s) hit the century mark in its pool-play opener Wednesday on Day 1 of the 2019 Nike Peach Jam.
The Florida-based program ran past Mac Irvin Fire, out of Illinois, 100-90, in North Augusta, S.C.
Twenty-four 17U teams qualified for Peach Jam. There are four pools (A-D) of six teams each. Pool D consists of Nightrydas (1-0), Indy Heat (1-0), Team WhyNot (1-0), Mac Irvin (0-1), All Ohio Red (0-1) and Vegas Elite (0-1).
Nightrydas plays Team WhyNot, out of California, at 9 a.m. Thursday during the NCAA Live Period and then faces All Ohio Red at 7:30 p.m. Thursday. Peach Jam runs through Sunday.
Here are Wednesday’s top performers from the Florida-based squad:
Scottie Barnes (2020), University School (Fla.)
Barnes (pictured, No. 1) is just back from winning a gold medal with Team USA at the 19U Worlds in Greece. The 6-foot-9 play-maker, who has led University School in Davie to two consecutive state championships and two trips to GEICO Nationals, canned 11-of-14 field-goal attempts on the way to a 28-point performance. The spirited Barnes was also second on the squad with 6 rebounds and he doled out 5 assists. Scottie had just 2 turnovers in 33 minutes. Nightrydas shot 34 of 67 as a team.
Isaiah Todd (2020), Trinity Academy (N.C).
The 6-10 forward, who trains in Florida, posted a double-double in Nightrydas’ opener with 22 points and 10 rebounds. Todd (pictured, No. 7) finished 6 of 11 from the floor and got to the free-throw line 13 times Wednesday evening, making 10. He also had a team-high 3 blocks. Todd talked about his approach and says he focuses on having fun and doing what is best for the team. “I take the advice of a lot of people, and the main thing that they preach is not to get too high, not to get too low,” he said. As for his recruitment, Todd said: “I feel like every school I’ve been talking to is at an equal level right now that are in my top 10.”
Kameron Woods (2020), Pinson Valley (Ala.)
The 6-foot Woods was one of three Nightrydas players to score at least 20 points. Woods drilled four 3-pointers and connected on 6-of-6 free-throw attempts en route to 20 points. He also had four assists. At the other end, Woods & Co. held Mac Irvin to 5-of-24 shooting from 3-point land.
Dudley Blackwell (2020), Huntington Prep (W. Va.)
The 6-6 Blackwell, who helped Fort Lauderdale Westminster Academy to back-to-back 4A state championships his freshman and sophomore seasons, had 8 points, 6 assists and 4 rebounds.
If you have high school or travel basketball news, you can reach Pat Lammer via Twitter at @PLamRecruiting or through e-mail at PatALammer@Gmail.com