July 27, 2024
By Morgan Wenger
Tournament Director

The J-Town Ballers and Parents Just Don’t Understand entered bracket play in the Junior Division as the top two seeds after soundly defeating everyone in their paths. Hot Shots earned their chance at upsetting Parents Just Don’t Understand by grinding out a tough 28-21 quarterfinal win against Better Life Coffee. Kason Leach (10 points) and Cooper Froelich (8 points) led the way for Hot Shots, while Ashton Gherian (11 points) and Elijah Heatwole (10 points) carried the scoring load for Better Life Coffee. Parents Just Don’t Understand wasted little time in dispatching Hot Shots 30-8 in the semifinals behind the prolific shooting of Derrick Perryman (16 points) and the high-level guard play of Grayson Bates (11 points).

The other side of the bracket looked very similar. Behind Everett Hudson (10 points) and Alex St Clair (nine points, three three-pointers), Triple Threat defeated CMBC 23-16 for their second straight win heading into the semifinals. Emerson Cross and Camden McBeth scored six points each for CMBC in the loss. J-Town Ballers, with their sights set on the championship matchup with Parents Just Don’t Understand, ended matters quickly by defeating Triple Threat 30-10 in the semifinals. Brode Baugher and Hudson Brightbill led a balanced attack for J-Town Ballers with eight points apiece, while Trey Lowden connected on two three pointers as part of his eight point total to lead Triple Threat.

Parents Just Don't Understand's Derrick Perryman protects the ball against J-Town Ballers' Brode Baugher

This set the stage for the most dramatic championship game of this year’s tournament. Parents Just Don’t Understand started the game off similar to every other game they had played up to that point. Derrick Perryman, Grayson Bates, and Jordan Davies each hit three pointers early on to forge their team to a big lead. J-Town Ballers, facing their first real adversity of the day, started whittling away at their deficit. Even with J-Town finding their footing, it looked as if Parents Just Don’t Understand simply had too much firepower. Derrick Perryman (13 points) was scoring at all levels as he had been doing all day long. Chris Blalock (8 points) was also very effective for Parents Just Don’t Understand. Trusting their balanced attack and constant ball and body movement on offense, J-Town Ballers started to find some cracks in the Parents Just Don’t Understand defense as the game headed towards the stretch run. The consistent play of Drew Saliola (14 points) and Brode Baugher (10 points) tied the game up at 29. After stopping Parents Just Don’t Understand on defense, J-Town swung the ball around the perimeter and Drew Saliola quick triggered a championship clinching three pointer over the outstretched hand of Derrick Perryman from the right wing to set off a wild celebration with his teammates.

J-Town Ballers (Drew Saliola, Carter Stickley, Brode Baugher, and Hudson Brightbill)

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