Weekend AAU Recap

Lots of great action this weekend with most teams playing somewhere, CPHR was able to take in the games at The Cincinnati Knights Tournament and Queen City Prophets Classic. Pictures from both events are available on CPHR's FaceBook page, which is linked on the left hand column.

Keontae Brown was a force for the Knights 17u Gold team.

Spiece Run N Slam
(Fort Wayne, IN):

• All-Ohio Red: AOR continued their dominant spring by capturing 2/3 titles at one of the spring's top events. 
  • 15u: Won the championship.
  • 16u: Won the championship, while defeating All-Ohio Varsity in the semi's.
  • 17u: Lost in the round of 8 to Indiana Elite.
• OBC 16u: Lost in the round of 16 to Spiece Indy Heat.
• All-Ohio Purple: Lost in the round of 8 to the Michigan Mustangs.
• Shining Star Sports 16u Schaeffer: Lost in the semi's of the silver division.

Cincinnati Knights Tournament

• 

  Darrin Harris is one of the most improved '12 prospects.

  Cincinnati Knights 17u Gold: This was the first time that CPHR had gotten to see this whole team together in person and they are as good as the hype! All 9 of their players are able to make significant contributions for them on both ends of the floor. Semaj Christon and Keontae Brown (Dayton Dunbar) are great scorers, Mike Boyd and Ben Galemmo play their roles perfectly as guards, Paul Woodson and Mike Thipe give them athleticism and energy inside, while the Rossi twins from Franklin (who stand 6'6) and Mason's Darrin Harris provide matchup problems on the wings. The Knights rolled through this tourney undefeated, including a 30 point annihilation of All-Ohio Grey in the finals.
• All-Ohio Grey: Playing up an age group Grey was able to advance past some solid 17u teams before falling, handily, in the finals to Cincinnati Knights Gold. Top players this weekend included Gerry Green (Thurgood Marshall), Deontae Cole (Toledo Central Catholic), and Ricardo Smith (Toledo St. Johns). Tyonte Robertson, a '14 Aiken PG, showed significant improvement in his ability to play a true PG role while also scoring the ball in his return.

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  Antonio Campbell is a skilled 6'6 forward with potential.

  Cincinnati Knights 17u Black: Lost in the quarterfinals to Kingdom Elite after getting second in their pool. Top performers were Bubba Hill, Trey Dees, Randale Griffith, and St. Xavier '13 SF Cameron Dunn who is really making strides this spring. 
• Cincinnati Knights 14u: Captured the 15u title behind the play of superstar PG AJ Harris (Dayton Dunbar). Along the way they defeated the Knights 15u squad and a very solid Cincy Royals 15u team. The Knights also got contributions from big man Nate Fowler (Moeller) and Luke Kennard (Franklin).
• Antonio Campbell: The Kentucky Legends have a really solid player in Cincinnati native Antonio Campbell. A 6'6 PF and current sophomore at Cincinnati College Preparatory Academy, a small charter school downtown, Antonio can stretch the defense with his deadly three ball or go up and catch an alley-oop. He is an interesting under the radar prospect in this class.

Queen City Prophets Classic

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  Sterling Gilmore, one of '13 most crafty guards.

  The QCP classic matched Prophet teams against each other, on Saturday the 14u vs 15u, 15u vs 16u, 16u vs 17u, and 17u vs Prophet alumni games were all filled with talent. CPHR was only able to catch the 15u vs 16u game. 
  • The 15u team was severely undermanned with out star players Kevin Daniels and Ronnie Rousseau but still remained competitive behind the play of Taft SG Kenny Kaufman. Kenny would not be denied in this game against older competition as he scored several times from long distance; CPHR was impressed with the continued improvement that Kaufman is making with his decision making and ability to play under control. The other bright spot for the 15u squad was Isaiah Jones, the 8^th grade PG from Pleasant Ridge MS, who can really handle the ball against pressure and penetrate past his man.
  • The 16u team got solid play from it's guard unit; Tim Coleman, Sterling Gilmore, Deontae Bolling, and Nick Fredrick all were offensive forces in this game by hitting from deep and attacking the rim to set up teammates. Inside it was the play of Joe Cossins, Marquez Carpenter, and Cortez Adams that led the way with their physical play and finishing.

Wallace Prather Memorial Classic (Atlanta, GA):

• GameTime Magic 17u: Lost in the round of 16 to Minnesota Pump N Run but finished 3-2 overall against a very tough field, including an impressive win over the Atlanta Celtics who were the tournament hosts. GTM was led by Princeton '12 SG Malcolm Smith who averaged 20 ppg for the weekend.