The 2018 Hoops Showdown
The third annual Hoops Showdown showcase went down at the Bronx River Gym on May 5th this year. The much anticipated showcase brings together some of the best High School Basketball players from the New York Metro area and have them face off for bragging rights of being named the latest champion. In three years of its existence, The Hoops Showdown has had some pretty good alumni in their books including several division 1 players, McDonald’s All Americans and some soon to be professionals. The Hoops Showdown has a simple recipe for success that you simply cannot go wrong with, get the best players in the area and have Cha-Ching MC the game.
Ja’Quaye James sliced through the defense for a tough bucket. Photo Johnny Photography
This years event didn’t fall short of the expectations. Each year the showcase gets bigger and garners more attention. Year three would feature players such as Ant Nelson (Seton Hall), Bryce Wills (Stanford), Jose Perez (Gardner-Webb), Dana Tate (Rhode Island), Dashawn Davis and Ja’Quaye James (Undecided) to name a few. Everybody came out and competed until the final buzzer sounded and left everything on the court. With only a few seats available the gym quickly filled up. The teams were ready to go and the tension mounted until right before tip-off.
Ant Nelson sizing his opponent up. Nelson will be attending Seton Hall in the fall. Photo by Johnny Photography
The first game of the afternoon was a thriller. The game featured Seton Hall bound Ant Nelson vs Teaneck High School all time leading scorer Ja’Quaye James. Northeast Blasketball Club/Johnny Photograpy in red versus NJ HoopRecruit/6enshaw in blue. Both teams suited up quality players and it took two overtime sessions to decide the game. The game was full of highlights with James shredding defenders ankles then dishing to the open man for the dunk or Ant Nelson coming right back and slashing threw the defense for an acrobatic layup. At the end James and his Northeast Basketball club/Johnnie Photography sponsored team came out victorious. Head coach Skullgang Twin was his usual charismatic self and brought the best of of his team. They would face the winner of the next game in the championship.
Skullgang Twin with MC extraordinaire, Cha-Ching. He announced the game in one of his many alter egos. This day he channeled Bret “The Hitman” Hart. Photo Johnny Photography
The next game was really fun to watch. There were some heavy hitters playing and at the very least I knew the game would be exciting. The FBK/Road to Riches Squad faced off against 2Gz/I am Parkside. On the Road to Riches team you had Jose Perez, Dashawn Davis, Stephen Takyi and Jaylen Murray. The I am Parkside Team was not going to be an easy team to beat. They had Bryce Wills, Alejandro Vasquez and Alamir Dawes suiting up. I also heard whispers about an 8th grader named Dior Johnson who was the real deal. Rumor has it this kid is a pro prospect who is attending national champion Montverde in the fall. The game started out very fast with both teams not giving up any easy buckets. To start the second half things got a little chippy between teams and a scuffle almost broke out. Both teams were hungry for the win and even opposing coaches started trash talking. At the end it was the FBK/On the Road to Riches squad that proved to be too much. They held on to a narrow lead and put the game out of reach late.
University of Rhode Island bound Dana Tate suited up and put work in at the Hoops Showdown. Phot Johnny Photography
The Championship was set. Johnny Photography/ Northeast Basketball would take on FBK/Road to Riches for all the hardware, but most importantly, for bragging rights. For the NE Basketball club/Johnny Photography squad Ja’Quaye James seemed to be doing most of the heavy lifting. He was the team’s best players and was heavily involved in the teams offense, either by way of scoring or facilitating. On the other end the FBK/Road to Riches squad had a very balanced attack. Point Guard Jaylen Murray aka Juju was poised and played with a lot of confidence. The Cardinal Hayes guard controlled his teams offense and clamped down on defense when he needed to. He was vital down the stretch as FBK made a 4th quarter run to secure the title. For FBK Stephen Takyi also was unstoppable. He continuously slashed his way to the rim and converted on basket after basket. Takyi won MVP and was awarded with a very nice trophy for his collection.
Stanford bound Bryce Wills drives past Gardner-Webb bound Jose Perez. Both these guys are going to make an immediate impact on their respective college teams next year. Photo by Johnny Photography
The FBK/Road to Riches sponsored team we’re just too much for their competition to handle. They managed to win two highly competitive games and enjoyed celebrating their championship win on the court. Head coach Glasses was With that, the 2018 Hoops Showdown was in the books. Another successful chapter for the brand and I can’t wait until next year to see who will come out and play.
***All Photography including cover art by Johnny Photography