Throwback Thursday: The Collin Sexton show in 2016
I've seen thousands of games at Suwanee Sports Academy over the years. Thousands.
And I’ve been asked hundreds of times “what is the best game you’ve ever seen at SSA?”. I love this question. Because most times, it varies. There are some locked in games in my memory banks. One such instance was the Collin Sexton vs. the World era.
The current Cleveland Cavalier was a must-see show with the Southern Stampede. At the 2016 Nike EYBL stop at Suwanee Sports Academy, Sexton and his team paired up against the Georgia Stars, a huge in-state and brand rival.
This game was as good as you hoped it would have been. We saw both teams play at the Bob Gibbons Tournament of Champions a season before as 16U teams. The Stars won. The Stampede wanted that run back.
At the EYBL game, the Stampede was down 10 with 2:09 to. Then Sexton got hot. He hit a layup and then a step back three pull up a three-pointer. Sexton gets fouled with less than 10 seconds to play and hits both free throws, tying the game at 71, forcing overtime.
With 3.1 seconds left to play in overtime, he pump-faked, putting his closing defender into the air and Sexton drilled left and hit the pull-up three to claim the win.
The game was the most entertaining game we hosted at Suwanee Sports Academy that spring weekend in 2016. I wrote this afterwards about the match-up:
For the Georgia hoopheads, the pairing of the Georgia Stars and Southern Stampede was a match-up that was destined to be played in Atlanta. And boy did this game deliver. The Stars came out strong in the first half thanks to the play of guard Davion Mitchell. Foul trouble and injuries made for a short rotation for the Stars, and the team played with four players on the floor for the final two minutes of regulation and overtime. Jamie Lewis made some huge plays down the stretch but Collin Sexton seemed to always have a response. Sexton almost always seems to have a response. He drilled a buzzer beater with a great shot fake and drilled a three in the right corner. Buzzer and ballgame. It was a one-possession game throughout and both teams were, for the most part, equally paired on the hardwood. The Stampede shot 27-63 from the floor while Stars shot 25-63 from the floor. It was wild, fun and entertaining from start to finish.
Our Carter Wilson was asked who was the most entertaining player from the weekend. Sexton was the call.
The most entertaining player of the weekend had to be Southern Stampede guard Collin Sexton. No matter who he plays, where he plays, or what he is faced with he just continues to get buckets and score the ball at a high level. That scoring ability plus his demeanor on the floor and tendency to come up big in the clutch makes for a fun guy to watch. He was probably the most talked about player of the weekend.
Sexton, a veteran of the Best of the South, Bob Gibbons Tournament of Champions and our Preview series, went on to play at Alabama for one season. He was a lottery pick by the Cleveland Cavaliers.
PREVIOUS THROWBACK THURSDAYS
Davion Mitchell at the Georgia Cup
Tyreke Key, Indiana State
Kane Williams, Georgia State
Jonathan Isaac, Orlando Magic
The Ja Morant Journey
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