King James Action: Flat Elite 17u Advances to Silver Round

The Augusta Basketball Report is broadcasting live at our iHigh Portal from the King James Southern Exposure Tournament in North Augusta, SC.  The tournament is noteworthy because it features some of the best AAU teams in the southeast United States.  And this is the first of two "evaluation weekends," when college coaches can evaluate high school players during an AAU tournament.  In addition to the live streaming broadcast, we are "live tweeting" from our Twitter feed (@AugBball), and we are updating this site with highlights, news, and commentary.


Earlier, we shared the video highlights from the Flat Elite 17u team's Saturday morning victory.  The team proceeded to improve to 2-1 in pool play this afternoon, defeating the NC Courage and advancing to the Silver round in the 17u bracket.  Enjoy the highlights below.  As one spectator commented immediately after the game's conclusion: "those guys play hard and they play together.  They are fun to watch."

King James Southern Exposure: Flat Elite vs EYSF Panthers

The Augusta Basketball Report is broadcasting live at our iHigh Portal from the King James Southern Exposure Tournament in North Augusta, SC.  The tournament is noteworthy because it features some of the best AAU teams in the southeast United States.  And this is the first of two "evaluation weekends," when college coaches can evaluate high school players during an AAU tournament.  In addition to the live streaming broadcast, we are "live tweeting" from our Twitter feed (@AugBball), and we are updating this site with highlights, news, and commentary.

Flat Elite, a team consisting of many of the Augusta/North Augusta area's better players (see our preseason preview of the team), have had a fine start to the Spring/Summer AAU season.  After winning its pool in the Ice Breaker Invitational with a hard fought win over the formidable Southern Stampede 16u team, Flat Elite opened play in the King James Southern Exposure tournament with a loss at the buzzer.  But the team bounced back Saturday morning with an impressive win and we are currently watching the team battle the NC Courage for the right to advance to 2-1.  We will provide an update to Flat Elite's progress in its third game very soon!

Ice Breaker Bracket Play: SC Ravens Knock Out Flat Elite

The SC Ravens advanced to Sunday's round by defeating Flat Elite 64-57 in the first round of bracket play Saturday night.  Enjoy the highlights.

Live Ice Breaker Highlights: Flat Elite Defeats Stampede 16u

It is no secret that we ABR contributors are huge fans of the players and coaches of Flat Elite and the Southern Stampede 16u teams.  So we hated to know that, after each team started pool play with a 2-0 record, one of these teams had to lose its third and final pool game.  But the good news was always that each team will advance to bracket play.  So this game was always mostly about seeding, but probably at least partially about pride and bragging rights.

After establishing a 17-6 first quarter lead, Flat Elite yielded some of that advantage before halftime, and went to the break leading 27-23.  And after the Stampede tied the game at 57 late in the 4th quarter, TJ Shepperd's basket gave his Flat Elite team the win and the pool's first seed.

In addition to being an entertaining game, this matchup between a local team trying to prove itself (Flat Elite) and a regional powerhouse (Stampede 16u) will likely pay huge dividends to each group during the coming season.  The Southern Stampede proved they can come back from a significant deficit against an older team, and Flat Elite proved it can make the needed plays to beat a very talented team.

Enjoy the set of highlights below!

Flat Elite 1st Half Highlights

Flat Elite 2nd Half Highlights

Southern Stampede 16u Full Game Highlights

Live Ice Breaker Highlights: Flat Elite vs Team TMP

Flat Elite vs Team TMP Highlights

Kevin Rish's "Flat Elite" squad just defeated Team TMP to go to 2-0 in pool play.  The team's next opponent is coach Michael Stokes' Southern Stampede 16u team.  Both coaches call Augusta home, and many of the teams' players (all of Flat Elite's) live in the greater Augusta, Georgia, area.  The teams will play to decide which team will become the first place team out of that pool.

Enjoy the highlights of Flat Elite's victory (above).  The team is very deep at all positions, and Flat Elite has hurt teams both from deep and in the paint.  Also, click on the video below to see ABR's interview with coach Kevin Rish last night after the team's first victory of the tournament.

Interview with Flat Elite Coach Kevin Rish

Live Ice Breaker Highlights: Flat Elite 17u

Flat Elite, a 17u team (previewed here) just defeated the Carolina Raptors 82-34 in its opening game 17u pool play.  Donte Wright (Silver Bluff) led all scorers with 19 points.  Matt Miller (Augusta Eagles) scored 12, Austin Crown (Augusta Eagles) contributed 10, and Connor Sigrist (Greenbrier) chipped in 10.  The team, which consists exclusively of area players from Georgia and South Carolina, next plays Saturday at 12:15 versus Team TMP on Riverview's #4 court.

Enjoy the highlights (below) of Flat Elite's opening game victory.

Donta Wright and Co. light it up for Flat Elite

#IceBreaker Preview: Flat Elite 17u

Coach Kevin Rish is optimistic about his second season coaching the Flat Elite 17 & Under AAU team.  His players live in and around the greater Augusta, area, with many coming from just across the border in North Augusta, South Carolina.  Players from Georgia include forwards Jacob Buchanan (Evans) and Connor Sigrist (Greenbrier), as well as Augusta Eagles guards Austin Crown, Matt Miller, and Dominic Brown.  South Carolina is represented well by guards TJ Sheppard (North Augusta) and Karon Wright (Silver Bluff), and forwards Tavarez Hall and Kenny Finley, who both attend North Augusta High School.  This weekend's Ice Breaker Invitational will be the first time that the team is at full strength.  The team will play Friday and Saturday at Riverview Park in North Augusta.  ABR will provide live coverage of Flat Elite as a part of its comprehensive coverage of the 2012 Ice Breaker Invitational.

#IceBreaker Preview:  Flat Elite 17u