By Joe Chapman

The Georgia Cup IV started off strong with an action-packed Friday night. Here’s what I saw from day 1 at the Suwannee Sports Academy.

The night started off with a big time performance for Dominque Duke as he led A1 Elite to a 57-33 win over Hoops 360 in the 16U Division. 21 of Duke’s 23 points came in the first half as A1 Elite jumped out to a big lead early in the game and never looked back. Duke knocked down shots all game while also consistently getting to the rim when he needed to.

One court over, the Georgia Jazz put on a show and absolutely crushed Hoops 360, 73-10, in the 12U Division. Leading the way for the Jazz was Dominic Walker as he put up 22 in the win. Walker finished layup after layup while also occasionally stepping out to knock down the long ball. He did a great job setting the tone early as the Jazz completely dominated from start to finish.

Hector Rosario provided the heroics as he hit a game-winning layup with 9 seconds left to give the Gwinnett Hawks a 62-60 win over the Ballin Blazers. Rosario finished with 14 as he hit 4 3-pointers in the first quarter as well as the layup to seal the win. Leading the way for the Hawks was Jason Tunstall as he poured in 20 points in the win. Tunstall quieted many Blazers runs and was a calming presence all game for the Hawks.

In the final game of the night, Donald Parham put up 22 points to give Champions Chance a come-from-behind win over the Atlanta Timberwolves. The unsigned senior from Brookwood led the way in the second half comeback and knocked down 2 free throws in the final seconds to seal the win.