Saturday evening, six teams won their way into Sunday's Battle for Georgia in their respective age divisions. It was a day of fantastic games and players battling as much as they could. And the good news is that we expect even more on Sunday to crown the best teams in Georgia.
Saturday's Notes
- The best player that I saw today was AC Georgia 16U 2022 wing Josh Reed (Pictured). When I think of his playing style the word that comes to mind is physicality. He's incredibly strong and tough to keep from a straight line to the rim. He's improved a ton since he's come on the scene, and it'll be fun tracking his trajectory.
- The Georgia Stars 2023 group is a lot of fun. I wrote about Chase Clemmons yesterday, and today I came to the conclusion that his game aesthetically reminds me a lot of Sharife Cooper at the same age. He's smooth, he uses both hands extremely well, and he's never rattled.
- Bostic Next Level guard Preston Kent had an incredible day today with 27 and 26-point performances. He's really saucy and changes speeds extremely well. College coaches will definitely want to check him out. There's a place for him somewhere in the collegiate game.
- NME 2021 wing Claudell Harris Jr. hit some tough shots in huge moments today. It's pretty easy to see why Lamar and Idaho offered him recently. He'll gain more traction with Division I programs in the near future as well.
- Double Trouble 2022 guard Jameel Rideout was nearly unstoppable in the Qualifier Final. He plays with speed and he can fill up the scoresheet.
Sunday Preview
Battle for Georgia has become an incredible event over the past few years. This one will be no different, only there's more bragging rights and the desire to win will be higher than ever.
- Can a qualifier make a run? I think that they'll all make teams work really hard for a win. They're all hot right now and will have a hunger to continue winning.
- Last year's 16U and 15U MVP's will be in action again. Aim High's Robbie Armbrester was the MVP with Game Elite last year and TSF's Bruce Thornton was our 15U MVP. Can they repeat? Only time will tell. Last ye
- A 15U first round matchup between Freebandz Celtics and Georgia Stars? Sign me up. Great guard play propels both of these teams and we could likely look back on this in a couple years and remember the names that were involved.
- In 2019, we crowned an independent team, the Georgia Knights, as the 17U champions of the Peach State. Could another one do it in 2020? They will have some chances in every age group to have a team make a run.