Gibbons Day 2 Notebook from Justin Byerly
Day two is in the books at The Bob Gibbons Tournament of Champions. Let's just get right to it and take a look at some of the standouts from the day.
Upward Stars Upstate Pull Upset
Keenan Wilkins has been winning for a long time. Let's go back a few years ago, he led Hendersonville High School to the state 2-A championship game against one of the all-time best programs in North Carolina prep history, Farmville Central. This past high school season, Wilkins led Christ School to a NCISAA 4-A state title (their first in almost 15 seasons) now playing on the travel club Upward Stars Upstate, Wilkins scored 31 points in their win over 1 of 1 Rare, one of the top teams in the region and some might say country. Wilkins is just a guy that knows how to win and he can score the basketball. Upward Stars Upstate advance to the Final 8 in the Brandon Ingram bracket.
The Lake Show
The Mint Hill Lakers are off to a 3-0 start here at The Bob Gibbons and have advanced to the Final Eight of the Zion Williamson bracket. Jake Benham and TJ Hardy who scored 21 points in their first game of the tournament against Upward Stars Carolina, have been having a solid weekend for Glenn Bynum's program out of Charlotte, North Carolina. Tomorrow in the Final Eight they face PC Ballers for a chance to advance in their bracket. Jake Benham is the younger brother of new High Point University guard Trae Benham.
Tigers Advance to Final 8
A couple of things that we can count on at The Bob Gibbons; some good basketball being played on a Saturday at Suwanee Sports Academy and we can count on the Tennessee Tigers advancing to Sunday. They did it again in the 17-and-under bracket and they did it by winning by a lot. In their first game of the day, they beat Team New York, 51-19 with a balanced scoring effort led by Maddox Routh with 14 points in the win. In their second-round game, Chip Smith's squad came away with a 57-33 win over Play with Heart. Tomorrow they will face Florida Pro in the third-round.
Team Swish Produces
This Lee Scruggs coached squad always competes. Even with 6 or 7 guys this weekend during the event, Team Swish gave it their all. I thought that big man Devin Brafford had a really strong morning game. He scored 23 points in their win 63-41 win over AE5 Gold. Their second round game against Upward Stars 3SSB came down to the final possession with the Upward Stars program advancing with a 61-56 win. What is nice about this program is that Scruggs gets his guys to compete every time they step on the floor. They play together and they run a system. A system that works for them. For the weekend, Team Swish is 2-1 and have a chance tomorrow morning to finish the event at 3-1.
Hello My Name Is...
This is my first time seeing 2025 guard Devin Sims and I left thinking we have a guy that can play at the next level. The explosion that the 6-foot-5 guard has is something we don't come across all the time and the Durham, North Carolina bred prospect can attack that rim. Ferociously. He was a lot of fun to watch for Team Push in their game against another group of high-flying guys led by 2025 prospect Bryson Tiller.
