The Best Game I Saw at The Grassroots Showcase
LOUISVILLE, KY - Team Thad vs Phenom U - This was probably the best game of the weekend in terms of talent on the floor, fans watching, The Mixtape Mafia on hand and best of all, coming down to the wire. Imagine being in a convention center with 55 courts going on around you and your game is 10-12 people deep around the court. This is what it looked like for this game on Saturday. This was high-level travel basketball at it’s best in front of a lot of fans in a town that loves it’s basketball.
Both programs are full of Division I talent and both play on the top circuit’s in the country. Both teams traded baskets in the first-half with Team Thad’s Chandler Jackson leading the way with 12 points at the break. He scored off of drives to the basket and made some mid-range jumpers to keep the game tight. 6-foot-8 forward Solomon Washington also led Team Thad in the first half, scoring 7 points but made the biggest impact on the defensive end where he corralled rebounds and altered shots. Washington’s phone is going to be ringing a lot over the next few months with college coaches on the other end.
For Phenom University, Andrew Rhode kept the game close by making five, three-pointers in the first-half. Seth Trimble was the difference maker in the second half. Former North Carolina standout JP Tokoto’s younger brother was “in his bag” as the young kid’s say. The guard who was recently offered by Indiana, scored 18 points in the second half and finished with 20 for the game.His last points, with just seconds left in the game came off of a full-court length drive when he took off just inside the foul-line and hung in the air to finish with an acrobatic lay-up with the foul to take a one-point lead after the free-throw and secure the win. Team Thad had a chance at the end to get a shot off but it was disrupted and Phenom took a win away from the Memphis-based EYBL squad. - Justin Byerly
