Boys’ basketball: Running into a Wall
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A championship-caliber game was played this evening in the Reebok Summer Championships in the Las Vegas area.
Too bad it was only the Round of 16.
Highly touted point guard John Wall and North Carolina-based D-One Sports pulled out a thrilling 62-60 victory over Inland Reebok I at Foothill High after rallying from a seven-point halftime deficit.
Quddus Bello’s flying putback dunk with two seconds left was the difference. Inland Reebok’s subsequent full-court inbounds pass went out of bounds, securing the victory for D-One and propelling it to a quarterfinal game Saturday morning.
Inland Reebok was the final remaining team from Southern California in the tournament.
After a strong first-half performance, Inland Reebok’s Michael Snaer didn’t do much in the final 16 minutes, though he buried a clutch pull-up jumper to tie the score at 60-all with 50 seconds to play.
In the early going, the 6-foot-5 shooting guard from Moreno Valley Rancho Verde High displayed a tremendous ability to finish around the basket and score in traffic. He also showed a propensity for shooting NBA-range three-pointers, a few of which were well off the mark and taken at inopportune times.
Nonetheless, a North Carolina assistant coach who was in attendance to watch Wall and D-One forward Ryan Kelly stopped by press row to inquire about Snaer, who finished with a game-high 30 points.
Wall, who had 23 points, also impressed with his speed, blowing past multiple defenders on one coast-to-coast layup. The 6-4 guard from Raleigh (N.C.) Word of God Christian Academy also made an acrobatic spin move on a drive early in the second half.
And unlike Snaer, Wall survived to play another day.
--Ben Bolch