memorial day ebo tournament

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SoCalHoops Recruiting News

Memorial Day Recap: BWBA vs.
Pump N' Run In Finals--(June 14, 2002)

Unfortunately, we couldn't be up in Fresno this past Memorial Day weekend for the EBO Tournament; we were at the Say No Classic League tryouts instead, which covered the same weekend, but we've got the next best thing, a report from Bob Gottlieb, who runs the Branch West program, aka BWBA. Bob wrote up his own short report about his Fresno tournament team with a few quick notes about how some of the top players performed. Before this report gets too old and stale (it's been sitting in our inbox all week), we want to pass it along for your consideration.

The EBO Tournament marked a milestone of sorts, in that a Pump N Run team finally won a tournament championship. Yes, we know it's hard to believe that with all the talent they've had over the years, this is the very first tournament title ever which the Pumps have won, but they'll take it any way they can get it. Of course, having David Padgett, Omar Wilkes, Alex Bausley, Scott Cutley, et. al., didn't hurt, but it's remarkable that this is the first Pump team we can recall in a long time that has predominantly featured mostly all SoCal-based players, with the exception of Padgett from Reno.

In any event, BWBA and Pump N Run squared off for the finals of the EBO tournament, and Pump won going away. Still, BWBA had some impressive wins and a few players really stood out. Here's Bob Gottlieb's report from the Memorial Day EBO Tournament:

Memorial Day Weekend was the setting for the EBO Mats Madness Tournament, the largest AAU tournament in California this spring. It had a number of different age brackets, but the 17 and under bracket featured most of the elite California travel teams. Double Pump sent its two top teams, IEBP had two, Oakland Slam N Jam sent its best, and Rockfish had three teams there. However, the surprise of the EBO Tourney was Branch West Basketball Academy's #1 showcase team. They won six straight games including wins over Elvert "Kool Aid" Perry's Inland team, an extremely tough LA Paladins team with Deric Clark who is headed to prep school in the east, and the highly talented EBO Juniors featuring the phenomenal freshman guard Dwayne Williams, who poured in 42 points in the quarterfinals, as well as hitting for eight three-pointers in the semifinals against vs. BWBA. EBO also feature a very talented 6'-7" rising star from Orlando (but you likely won't see him playing for EBO this summer due to the 100-mile rule, unless it's for an all-Florida EBO team).

Branch West fought its way to the finals where they lost by 16 points to a superb Pump N Run team that ran roughshod over the competition throughout the tournament. Pump N Run featured David Padgett, a 6'-11" rising senior center from Reno, Omar Wilkes and a number of other very talented players.

The finals was the third game of the day for BWBA (including a starting tip off at 9am on Monday morning), and it was the seventh game in three straight days of competition, and to say that BWBA was one tired team is an understatement. Unfortunately, BWBA simply did not have enough fuel left in the tank to really play Pump N Run very tough. The win in the finals marked the first time Pump N Run has ever beaten a Branch West team. Two years ago, BWBA beat Pump N Run in the finals of the Pump's Spring Tournament, and last spring, the Pump N Run team lost to Dominguez aka "The Hood" featuring Tyson Chandler.

Despite missing four starters who were unable to attend from the outstanding BWBA Showcase team that went to the Final Eight out of 72 teams in the Double Pump Easter Classic in Las Vegas in April, Branch West did manage to make it to the finals behind some spectacular play of Frank Robinson (6'-5" Sr. F/G) from Sylmar HS. Robinson had some terrific games where he displayed his athleticism and shooting skills, as well as a variety of jumpers and slam dunks. BWBA's backcourt was also stocked with other talent, including rising senior Avi Fogel, the 6'2" point guard Torrey Pines in San Diego, who played consistently well throughout the tournament. Torrey Pines teammate Josh Kramer (6'-8" Jr. G/F) also played well in the post as did Todd Martin (6'-8" Jr F) from Upland HS. Martin played very well and was one of the surprise standouts of the tournament, showing some nice post moves inside and good rebounding ability as well as a nice shooting touch out to three point range. Several scouting services in attendance were impressed enough with Martin's performance that he was ranked as one of the top 10 juniors in the tournament.

BWBA's real sleepers though in this tournament were largely guys who came in off the bench. Kevin Delafu (6'-1" Jr. PG/SG) from Troy HS played well, as did Barry Barnes (5'-8" So. G) from Long Beach Poly, who provided superior on-ball defense, as well as nice overall athleticism and toughness. Barnes also showed some ability to create his own shot, hitting some big jumpers when it counted. Buddy Bailey was also impressive for BWBA. Bailey (no relation to Kyle Bailey, also from Alaska who played with BWBA several years ago before signing with Santa Clara University) will play this summer with three other top players from Alaska for BWBA's "Alaska Team", including Ray Schafer, a 6'-11" Jr. C, and Chris Devine a 6'-8" banger, as well as 6'-1" outstanding point guard Mario Chalmers. None of these players was available for this tournament, but they will be in attendance at the Big Time as well as the Pump's "Best of Summer Tournament." Bailey came in as an unknown and proved to be a tough, hard-nosed defender, a first class shooter who also knew how to drive the baseline and draw fouls. He was chosen by Gottlieb as "Player of the Game" twice and often started the second half in each of BWBA's quarterfinal and semifinal wins. BWBA also featured Marcus Lewis, a 6'-7" sophomore forward (a rising junior) from Long Beach, who had a tremendous Easter Classic for BWBA in Las Vegas.

Missing from this tournament due to other commitments were a number of players who will help strengthen BWBA's No. 1 California team roster: Oustanding senior point guard David Gale (6'-1" Sr. PG), an all-CIF and all-State point guard who will be attending Brewster Academy, in Wolfeboro, NH, for a year of prep school, was committed to attend the Nike Say No Classic League tryouts, and Louis Darby (6'-6" Sr. G/F) from Sylmar HS also could not participate due to prior commitments, but both will be playing for BWBA this summer. Gale and Darby both had outstanding tournaments this past spring, competing for the Pump N Run Seniors in the Pump's Las Vegas Tournament, and coming within one point of beating the Southeast Raptors (aka Pump N Run Southeast), coached by Mark Komara and featuring junior Jackie Butler and sophomore Mike Williams, both elite high-major post prospects, as well as sophomore combo guard Glenn Miles, a big-time point guard prospect who could wind up in the ACC. Both Gale and Darby will compete this summer with BWBA's No. 1 California team, which will also feature Avi Fogel, Marcus Lewis, Frank Robinson, Mickey Gonzales (6'-7" rising Jr. F) from Sunny Hills, and brother Tony Gonzales (6'-6" rising Sr. G/F) from Sunny Hills, and several others.

Branch West will feature four teams on the summer circuit, with one from Alaska, and the other three featuring all California players due to the new NCAA regulations. This past week (June 10-14) Coach Gottlieb flew to Achorage and Fairbanks where he attended a team camp at the University of Alaska at Fairbanks, and also held a one day tryout in Anchorage for the last few remaining spots on his BWBA Alaska team.

Aside from the No. 1 BWBA California team, the other two teams still have a few spots remaining. Outstanding players interested in being considered should check out Gottlieb's website at www.branchwest.com or contact Bob at 714-997-0380.