Basketball Play Day

Event brings some big time talent

Campbell H.S. – Smyrna, GA

Georgia Pistols - Gold Head Coach Percy Gordon was pleased with the inaugural event.

The event brought out some of the top talent from all over the state of Georgia and a few of the top players from North and South Carolina. Some of the players included Candice Warthen and Shannon Smith from the 76er’s, Kris Puthoff-King and Jamie Carnes from Georgia Nike, Diamond Henderson and Moniqua Darby from Prime Time Elite, Brittnee Hazel and Brittany Johnson from FBC, Brittany Hodges and Celina Rodrigo from the GA Pistols.

9:00 Game

Georgia Nike Elite vs. Georgia Pistols – Gold

GA Nike Elite's Erin Hall is a nice looking player with a sweet stroke.

Right off the bat Georgia Nike Elite and the host Georgia Pistols – Gold squared off; what a way to start the morning. As you would expect it was a who’s, who’s of talent when these teams hit the floor. Let me give you a little taste:

Kris Puthoff-King (Milton), Jamie Carnes (Gainesville), Moneshia Simmons (Mill Creek), Chaney Means (GAC), Erin Hall (Wesleyan), Kayla Freeman (Madison County) all played for Nike Elite and missing from the team was Brittaney Jack (Peachtree Ridge) who was on vacation.

The Pistols, Dominique Wilson (l) and Celina Rodrigo (r) are both coming off outstanding freshmen season at their respective high schools; McEachern and Hillgrove.

The game was close all the way; a lay-up by King gave Nike Elite a 37-33 lead with 9:25 left in the game. The Pistols would respond getting a basket from Rodrigo to cut the lead to two.

Look for GA Nike Elite's Jamie Carnes to have an outstanding AAU season. Here she drives past Sarah Durdaller of the Pistols.

Once again the Pistols fought back cutting the lead to 41-39 with under a minute to play. With 13.6 seconds to go King scored to give her team a 44-39 lead and that pretty much sealed the deal. The Pistols would score again as time ran off the clock.

Erin Hall and Jamie Carnes paced Nike Elite scoring 9 and 8 points respectively.  Natasha Dixon and Erica Norwood led the Pistols with 10 and 8 points each.

The Final Score:
Georgia Nike Elite 44 – Georgia Pistols Gold 41

10:00 Game

FBC - Black (GA) vs. Peak Performance Elite - Price (GA)

FBC's Brittnee Hazel (l) and Alex (r) controlled the paint for most of the game.

FBC got out to a quick lead as guards Brittany Johnson and Judean Hanks led a fast-breaking attack; Alex (#34), who played big in the paint stepped outside and knocked down a long jumper to put FBC up 10-2.

PPE would get it going behind the scoring of Kaitlyn Dinkins and Katie Mallow as they cut the lead to 16-10.

But the story of the first half would was the inside play of Brittnee Hazel. Hazel who just completed an outstanding season for Loganville H.S. hit 2 of her game high 18 points as FBC took a 24-15 lead into the half.

PPE’s Larryqua “Reka” Hall holds off FBC's Brittany Johnson.

FBC’s lead disappeared when they stop pounding the ball inside but once they reverted back to that style of play they regained their lead. Hazel would score 10-second half points as FBC hung on for the victory.

The Final Score:
FBC 45 - Peak Performance Elite (Price) 40

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11:00 Game

GA/Lina 76ers vs. Prime Time Elite

If Shannon Smith (l) and Candice Warthen (r) stay together for the entire summer it's going to spell DOUBLE TROUBLE for a lot of teams.

Looking for some exciting guard play, well you need look no farther than this match-up that featured the likes of Diamond Henderson and Shaneqa (#1) from Prime Time and Candice Warthen, Shannon Smith and Sharnea Boykin from the 76er’s.

The game also featured some nice looking post and wing players like Prime Time’s Moniqua Darby and the 76’ers Jessica Morton, Kira Gordon and Kelsey Harris.

Henderson didn’t waste anytime letting everybody know that she could get to the basket and get her shot off anytime she wanted.

Diamond Henderson is truly a PRIMETIME performer.

After the first couple of time she did that the 76er’s playing for the first time as a team with a mixture of players from GA. SC and NC switched up and trapped her every time she acted like she wanted to drive to the basket. They held Henderson to just two first half free-throws.

Warthen who is as quick as a cat has that same type of explosive ability and she was able to display that scoring on a couple of sweet moves to give the 76er’s a 9-6 lead.

Darby displayed a lot of tenaciousness and agility as she camped out in the paint. She would score five points, as Prime Time cut the 76er’s lead to 19-15 heading into the half.

The second half turned into a real “Show Time” exhibition as Henderson, Smith and Warthen put on a show.

Henderson would score 14 of her team’s 27-second half points on an array of shots to keep Prime Time close. Warthen continued to display her skills with a couple of more baskets.

Morton who is a silky smooth forward out of Augusta, GA scored on a sweet move and knocked down a jumper from the top of the key to give the 76er’s a 35-32 lead.

The 76er's Jessica Morton goes behind her back to elude a PT defender.

Trailing 43-42 with just a few tics left on the clock Prime Time had a chance to win the game but the 76er’s pressure forced them to take their last shot from near mid-court that was way short as they held on for an exciting victory.

The Final Score:
GA/Lina 76er’s 43 – Prime Time Elite 42

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12:00 Game

Club Fury vs. Peak Performance Elite

Ashlee (l) and Golday (r) led Club Fury to victory.

The game between Club Fury and Peak Performance Elite was a low scoring affair that saw Club Fury get an outstanding first half performance from Ashlee (#12), who has a nice all-round game. She handles the ball well and can create her own shot. Ashlee also has a nice stroke that was evident by the 2 three-pointers she drilled to help her team take a 19-17 lead heading into the half.

PPE reserve Sarah Graf gave her team a left when she nailed a big 3-pointer.

PPE got a big lift from reserves Sarah Graf and Amber Reeves; Reeves would hit a pair of free-throws and Graf would knock down a three-pointer to give PPE a 25-24 lead with 10:56 left to play in the game.

Club Fury point guard Golday (#5) played big down the stretch connecting on 4 of 4 free-throws and using her ball-handling skills to keep the ball away from PPE as they held on for a tough win.

The Final Score:
Club Fury 36 – Peak Performance 31

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1:00 Game

GA/Lina 76er’s vs. Georgia Nike Elite

Candice Warthen goes up for 2 of her game high 17 points.

A change in schedule ended up matching the two teams that everybody wanted to see as the 76er’s and Georgia Nike Elite squared off.

Nike Elite started off fast getting baskets from Jamie Carnes, Kris King and Erin Hall to take a 7-2 lead.

You could still sense that the 76er’s were still trying to figure out their rolls having played just their second game together as they fell further behind. 

Kira Gordon (l) and Madison Scott (r) had a pretty good battle going on in the paint.

Chaney Means and Kayla Freeman both played very well in the first half; Means hit a jumper and Freeman scored on a lay-up as Nike Elite increased their lead to 14-2 with 13:46 to play in the first half.

The 76er’s slowly go into a rhythm as Candice Warthen scored to cut the lead to 16-7.

Nike Elite’s dominance continued behind the inside play of Madison Scott and Moneshia Simmons. Hall would score a couple of more baskets as Nike Elite took a 28-15 lead into the half.

In the second half the 76er’s turned things around on both ends of the court. Warthen, Shannon Smith and Kelsey Harris began to get to the basket; each scored as they cut the lead to 30-25.

The rebounding of the 76er’s Kira Gordon and White (#32) also played a big role in the 76er’s turnaround.

The 76er's Kelsey Harris is fouled by Aja Sorrells as she goes up for this shot.

The last few minutes of the game was like a championship game as both teams really got after it.

Smith would give the 76er’s a 44-40 lead with just under 4:00 minutes to play. Nike Elite would battle back to tie the game at 44-44.

Kayla Freeman helped Nike Elite get off to a great start with this lay-up.

Candice Warthen scored a game high 17 points to pace the 76er’s. Shannon Smith added 13 and Kelsey Harris added 7.

Erin Hall scored 7 points to pace Nike Elite, Kayla Freeman, Moneshia Simmons and Aja Sorrells each finished with 6 points.

The Final Score:
GA/Lina 76er’s 57 – Georgia Nike Elite 44

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2:00 Game (Game recap on the way)

3:00 Game (Game recap on the way)