17-and under Championship: The North Carolina Gaters and Playaz Basketball Club were tied at 38-38 at the half. The second half would not be so kind to the Gaters. They would go on to get outscored 41-13 in the second half and the Playaz, a perennial AAU powerhouse, captured the title 79-51. Alex Galindo paced the Playaz with 24 points. For his efforts, Galindo was named the event’s MVP.
16-and-under Championship: This was going to be a good one no matter how you looked at it. The Playaz tipped against an even younger bunch from the D.C. Assault. In the end, Assault’s trio of guards was too much for the Playaz.
Assault held on for the 61-48 win and 8th grader Nolan Smith (pictured), a 6-1 guard with size 18 sneakers, was named the MVP.
15-and-under Championship: Boo Williams rolled the Roanoke Hawks and this one was never close. Boo Williams has Vernon “Big Ticket” Macklin, one of the country’s top freshman talents, but he wasn’t the guy who did the damage in the title game.
Swingman Marvell Powell (pictured) took it upon himself to be the man on Sunday.
Sunday Scoreboard
Quarterfinals (17s): Playaz def. CAS Warriors; NC Gaters def. East Coast Eagles; Baltimore Select White def. D.C. Hawks; Baltimore Select Orange def. Belmont Shores
Semifinals (17s): Playaz 91, Baltimore Select 77; NC Gaters 76, Baltimore Select White 58
Finals (17s): Playaz 79, Gaters 51.