KANSAS CITY – After many impressive performances on day one of the Nike EYBL (Elite Youth Basketball League), more fans, spectators, and coaches crowded the Hy-Vee Arena for day two of competition.
Day two was not just any ordinary day of competition, however. Whenever an NBA All-Star sits courtside at your game, the only option is to show off your skillset and produce.
On court one at 5:00 pm, Carmelo Anthony would be escorted to a courtside seat to view his sponsored grassroots program, Team Melo (Baltimore), take on Team Takeover out of Washington DC.
Team Takeover would jump out the gate early, living up to their name by scoring 12 consecutive points, including back-to-back three-pointers from Darren Harris to open a quick 17-7 lead three minutes into the first quarter.
A Jeremiah Quigley bank-shot three-pointer from the wing to give Team Takeover a 13-point lead caused Anthony to throw his arms in the air from the surprise of seeing the ball fall through the nets, which caused Team Melo to retaliate in the best way possible.
“Boom” is what spectators would hear from the Team Melo bench after Robert Davis and Carlton Carrington knocked down five three-pointers through seven possessions to shift the momentum to frustrate the Team Takeover bench, forcing a timeout to be called as the ten-point chipped away to four points, 29-25.
An intense Team Takeover huddle made the guys wake up and rewiden the gap to a 12-point halftime lead, 39-27.
Team Takeover opened the second half intending to expand their lead more by scoring on two straight possessions, but Carrington was not going for it. Isolated on the left-wing, Carrington called for a Gavin Walsh screen as he sized up his defender before coming off the screen as tight as he could to get to the top of the key, letting his shot fly to knock down the long two-pointer.
Down by eight, Mason So grabbed the rebound from a missed DeShawn Harris-Smith three-pointer to push the rock the other direction. Advancing the ball ahead to Carrington, who filled in the left lane up-court, penetrated towards the rim to kick the ball out to a Davis spotted up at the wing ready-to-shoot resulting in a trey ball to bring the lead within five, 48-43.
Team Melo did a great job on the defensive end in the fourth quarter to hold Team Takeover to 11 points to their 16, but the game-changer came down to free throws.
Down by two with a minute-and-a-half to go, the ball found its way in Carrington’s hands at the wing. He would drive the ball downhill to take a floater outside the lane to draw a foul, giving him two shots with a chance to knot things up at 58.
Missing both free throws with the possession in Team Takeover’s hands, Jayden Ross drew a foul away from the ball on the defensive end to force a turnover, giving Team Melo control.
Letting the ball roll to keep as much time as possible in the clock, So picked the ball up at court to swing to Ross on the wing before setting a screen for Carrington for a wide-open three at the top of the key.
Ross, crashing the boards, drew another loose ball foul, this time being rewarded with a trip to the free-throw line with two shots. However, Ross would miss both free throws and another chance to tie things up, which could’ve been a potential lead change if both Carrington and Ross sunk all four.
Team Melo fell short by one point to Team Takeover, 62-61.
Carrington led Team Melo in scoring with 21 points and seven rebounds.
Patrick Ngongba and Harris each had 14 points for Team Takeover, with Ngongba grabbing 11 rebounds in the victory over Team Melo.
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