Georgia Cup I: Middle School Championships
14U CHAMPIONSHIP
The Hollywood Stars beat SBC 64-57 to win the 14u and under division of the Georgia Cup I tournament on Sunday.
The player of the day was Khristian Clark, who lead his team with 28 points in dominant fashion. Clark was all over the court, assisting some of his other teammates when he wasn't scoring. Hitting six threes is no easy task but he made it appear as such. The 2021 guard has good size that he used to bully his way in the paint after some landing some of his outside shots. Khristian rebounded, played solid defense and made some great decisions with the ball in his hands. He looks the part of an "upcoming story starter" here at the Georgia Cup.
McCaleb McBride also scorched the nets from deep with a trio of 3s. McCaleb was one of the players that consistently looked for open spaces around the arc as he would routinely get off quality looks. Some of his other points came after he caused some turnovers with his energetic defense. McBride had an arsenal of moves at his disposal which he displayed on his way to a total of 14 points. - Tai Young
13U BLACK CHAMPIONSHIP
The Georgia State Warriors and Promise Elite squared off for the 13U Black Championship game this afternoon. Braylin Giddens, Brandon Rechsteiner, and David Hansraj all came out on fire for the Warriors, hitting two 3s each. Promise Elite got some buckets beyond the arc early as well, as Cade Simmons hit four from deep. Jonathan Taylor managed to put up nine in the first half for PE as well, but the Warriors led by eight at the break. The second half was all about Warriors big man Jackson Head as he scored nine of his thirteen after the half and grabbed ten boards, finishing with a nice double-double. The Warriors wouldn’t relinquish the lead again in the game. David Hansraj finished with 11 points and 3 boards in the win, while both Cade Simmons and Jonathan Taylor put up 13 points for Promise Elite in the loss. - Bre Singleton
13U ORANGE CHAMPIONSHIP
Georgia Stars 2024 won the 13U Orange championship with a 50-43 win over Warner Robins All-Stars on Sunday afternoon.
The game was a battle of the Stars guards and the size of the Warner Robins squad. In the end, the ever-aggressive Stars squad won out.
The Georgia Stars were led by Micah Tucker scored 19 points. CJ Hyland scored 13. Warner Robins were paced by Victor Burley, who scored 17 points. Devin Kersh scored 9. - Justin Young
12U CHAMPIONSHIP
Dekyon Taylor came ready to play for the Statesboro Warriors in the 12U Championship game. He put up eight points before the half but couldn’t find much help offensively as only one other player registered points in the half. Malik Hinton, point guard for the Celtics led his team with seven points before the half and showed a nice command over the game. The Celtics’ size told the story in the second half of play. Long and lanky Randy Smith played the point in a stifling 1-3-1 defense and didn’t allow very much scoring for the Warriors. David Clark exploded in the second half for the Celtics, putting up 14 of his 16 points and grabbing eight boards. Randy Smith finished with eight points and six rebounds as the Celtics pulled away late in the third quarter and eventually sealed the win. - Bre Singleton