The Varsity and ninth grade boys basketball teams competed in the 2018 NTBA National Championship Tournament last week in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. This is the ninth grade recap.
In game one against the Loudon Xtreme, the boys got off to a slow start. Dre Eason led the team with 11 points and 6 rebounds while the rest of the team was relatively silent. The Wildcats dropped game one 65-37.
The second game proved to be the turnaround point for Dunn. Dalen Thompson led the team with 14 points while Jamari Amerson and Zydarius McDougald both added 12. The team also combined for 28 rebounds in the effort. The Wildcats come away with a 66-49 victory over Born Star Ballers.
Dunn kicked their game up a notch in game 3 against the VA Warriors. Ramsey Jones led the team by a mile with 28 points and several triples. Thompson added 17 with 6 boards to give the Wildcats an impressive 72-61 victory.
The Wildcats keep the momentum going into their fourth match-up of the tournament. Jones once again led all scorers with 27 points with Amerson right behind him at 26. Thompson added 18 points while Eason did work on the glass with 11 boards. Dunn becomes the first team of the tournament to put up 90 points with a 90-71 drubbing of the Beach City Ballers.
Game five puts the Wildcats on a four-game win streak against the Culpepper Heat. Jones contributes 19 points while Thompson drops another 15 to give Dunn a 55-34 win heading into the semifinals.
The semifinal match-up proved to be the team’s most impressive scoring output of the tournament. Jones led the team in scoring for the fourth straight game with 28 points while Zydarius McDougald backed him up with 26 of his own. Jaden Geddie and Amerson added 14 and 11 points respectively while Eason was once again a rebounding monster with 14. Dunn defeated the Carolina Magic with a convincing 94-64 dismantling.
The tournament ended in a tough and disappointing game seven. Amerson led the team with 11 points while McDougald nearly earned a double-double with 9 points and 10 rebounds. The Wildcats come up short against DMGA 49-43. The team finished a respectable 5-2 in tournament play.
Back row: Head Coach Vince Marshall Jr., Xavier Harris, Dre Eason, Dalen Thompson, Coach Hope Johnson. Middle row: Ramsey Jones, Kashen Cooke, Zydarius McDougald, Jaden Geddie, Cohen Walker. Front row: Amari Baggett, Jamari Anderson, Jaydn McNeill, Luke Frailey.
