Ladera Ranch, CA – The G365 Kickoff event matched up some of the top ranked teams in the region for the second year in a row. The biggest matchup of the event took place on Monday, January 21 in the 14U division as Seven Days who are ranked at number 14 battled RC Bulls who are ranked higher at number 6 for the Championship. Down by 12 points in the beginning of the first half, Seven Days did not go down without a fight as they took the lead early in the second half and came out strong finishing the game with a 53-46 victory. Celebrating their win and earning an honorable mention is Tyler Hunt as their team’s MVP.
More highlighted teams and players:
- Fresno Swoosh 13U team suffered an early pool play defeat to Robert Horry’s appropriately named Big Shot team, however bounced back as the number three team on Championship Monday as they defeated Matt Barnes Elite in the Semis and Team Level Elite in the Championship game. Earning an honorable mention for Fresno Swoosh is the team’s MVP Marshel Sanders. Earning honorable mentions as All-Tourney honors go to Lawrence Rudolph for Team Level Elite, Ben Roseborough for Matt Barnes Elite, Andrew Perez for Big Shot, and Xavier Bowen for Matt Barnes Elite Red.
- OGP HQ Black 12U team had an impressive championship victory over IEBP Blue who are ranked at number 16. Earning an honorable mention for their team is Hudson Greer as MVP while Darrian Henry for A Team, Jakoi Lide for LV Heat, Sebastian Webb for Power Play and Evan Nayback for IEBP Blue rounded out the All-Tourney team.
- YouBall 11U team continued its powerful run as a Top 10 team by beating out Arizona’s UH Elite Black team who is currently ranked at number 11 in an overtime semi-final game thriller and again with G1 Elite in a 33-32 championship game nail biting victory. Earning an honorable mention for YouBall is the team’s MVP Christian Collins.
- The newly ranked number five G1 Elite 10U team overcame a competitive battle against Team Veritas to take home the 10U title. Earning an honorable mention for G1 Elite is the team’s MVP King Berry...but watch out, Team Veritas’ Kenneth Martinez also received All-Tourney honors and is indeed a must player to watch.
- OGP HQ Black 9U team played in the weekend’s most exciting game as they battled AZ Hoop Code in the championship game. Down by only two points with less than five seconds to go in the second half, OGP’s Christian Lusk settled in for 3 -pointer not only giving his team the lead, but the championship win that was well deserved.
- Hoop Is Life 8U kicked off 2019 where they left off taking home the 8U Championship once again.