August 8, 2020
By Morgan Wenger
Tournament Director

White Shirts returned to defend their undefeated title from 2019 in the Top Dawg division. Their 2019 performance was one of the most dominant in tournament history as they did not have one game closer than six points. After some early round challenges, this year would end up being a coronation of the defending champions as they ran away from the rest of the field and created additional anecdotes for their dominance.

Paper Chasers drew the defending champions in the first round and gave them their biggest challenge of the day.  Dalton Bolon opened the scoring with a three pointer for White Shirts, but the tournament newcomers proved early and often that they were in this game for the long haul. More specifically, Nathan Holik and Tyson Gibson were trying to shoot their team to victory. Gibson nailed four bombs from long range to keep his team attached. Holik scored from inside and out to provide balance for the squad. In the end, White Shirts were just too much as they pulled away down the stretch for a 30-24 win. Dalton Bolon was unstoppable as he scored 16 points to lead the winners. Gibson led the way for Paper Chasers with 12 points.

The talented New Jack team entered the field as the most likely team to knock off the defending champions. Like White Shirts, they found themselves in a first round battle right away with Details. Jalen Wenger was scoring all over the court, and his three-point shot gave Details a 26-22 lead late in the game. New Jack, behind the dominant play of Tyrell Edmiston, was able to survive the scare by pulling out a 30-26 win. Wenger led Details with 19 points in defeat, while Edmiston hit two three pointers as part of his team high 16 points for New Jack.

Tune Squad was the next victim for White Shirts. The defending champions seemed as if their first-round game served as a wake-up call. Their precision passing, cutting, and shooting exposition was on full display from the start in this game as they gave Tune Squad a rude introduction to the tournament with a 30-8 shellacking. Justin Miller led the way in this round for White Shirts with 15 points as his team advanced to the winner’s bracket finals.

In what looked to be a certain preview of the championship series, New Jack and White Shirts locked horns in the winner’s bracket championship game. The game went back and forth in the early stages as both teams seemed to be feeling each other out. As the game wore on, Dalton Bolon emerged as an unstoppable force for White Shirts. Bolon was in perpetual motion whether he had the ball or not, and his teammates continued to set him up as he broke free from his defender. Bolon hit three from long range and added several other baskets on his way to a virtuoso, 21-point performance. CJ Simmons led the way for New Jack with six points in the 30-18 defeat.

With White Shirts now waiting for an opponent in the championship series, it was time for the loser’s and elimination brackets to determine their opponent. Details secured their first win of the day by outdueling Paper Chasers by a 30-15 tally. Jalen Wenger led the way for the winners with 14 points and received help from Jaden Schlabach (8 points) and Braylon Wenger (6 points). Nathan Holik led the way for Paper Chasers with seven points. Details met more resistance in the next round against Tune Squad, but still ended up with another victory. Jalen Wenger made six three pointers on his way to a 26-point explosion that catapulted his team to a 30-23 win. Adam Piciacchia connected on three long balls on his way to 11 points to lead Tune Squad. This set up a rematch from a tight winner’s bracket game between Details and New Jack. Once again, Details jumped out in front behind the hot shooting of Jalen Wenger and took a 22-20 lead as the game entered its final stages. As they had done earlier in the tournament, the veteran New Jack squad turned to Tyrell Edmiston to come back and win the game 30-22. Edmiston led his team with 11 points while Corey Thomas added nine for the winners. Jalen Wenger led Details with 15 points in defeat.

This left three teams down to their last chance in the dreaded elimination bracket. Tune Squad showed that they had no intention of being the first team eliminated as they dispatched Paper Chasers 30-9 behind a 16-point outburst from Phil Ellis. They continued their solid play by avenging their earlier loss to Details. Tune Squad overcame an early 16-6 deficit to eliminate Details 30-21. Cody Seiler did the heavy lifting for Tune Squad in this game. Seiler was just too much to overcome for the young Details team; scoring 13 points in the game to overcome a 10-point effort from Jalen Wenger. This set up Tune Squad with a chance to advance to the championship series against New Jack. New Jack put together perhaps their best performance of the day by taking Tune Squad apart by a 30-20 count. Tyrell Edmiston looked primed for the championship series as he dominated Tune Squad inside and out on his way to a game high 15 points. Phil Ellis finished off a solid day leading Tune Squad with nine points. CJ Simmons added 10 points for New Jack.

With momentum from the previous game in tow, New Jack looked to be hitting their stride in the first part of Game 1 of the best of three championship series. Tyrell Edmiston was scoring inside while CJ Simmons scored from the perimeter. New Jack, however, could not solve the biggest problem in the Top Dawg division for the last two years; stopping Dalton Bolon. Bolon seemed to pick up steam as the game went on, shooting an incredibly high percentage both inside and outside the three-point arc. He scored 17 points as White Shirts pulled away for a 30-18 win.

As they had done last year against the Canton Ballers, White Shirts did not take their foot off the gas one bit in Game 2. They were simply playing at a different speed than their opponent in this game. Everyone got into the act for White Shirts as they stormed their way to the most lopsided championship series game in tournament history with a 30-6 win. Dalton Bolon secured his second consecutive tournament MVP trophy by leading his team with 12 points. JoVohn Morrow and Justin Miller added eight points each in the finale while Marcus Ernst added a basket to complete the scoring. White Shirts became only the second team in tournament history to win back to back titles.

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