WESTFIELD, Ind.—The Fourth of July celebration is one of the summer’s top events for families and friends across America. This year the nation’s birthday served as a kickoff for the July NCAA Evaluation period and there wasn’t a more complete party than the one held just north of Indianapolis in the heartland of basketball country. The 16thannual USJN Premier Showcase offered up a rare “tripleheader” of action that provided athletes, recruiters and fans plenty of fireworks from start to finish. Combining the showcase itself with the highly regarded Nike Girl’s EYBL and the new 24 team Blue Star League provided something truly American, a melting pot of competition for every age and level.
The second round of the EYBL brought half of the field (16) to metropolitan Indianapolis once again to set the stage for Nike Nationals and the EYBL Championship in Chicago later this week. The other half of the league was just down the road in Louisville looking to position themselves for their own run at all the marbles in the Windy City.
When all was said and done in the Pacers Athletic Center Monday afternoon the Philadelphia Belles had run the table (5 – 0) claiming the Platinum championship hardware and offsetting a disappointing 2 and 4 effort back in April during the first round of play. Their path wasn’t easy as their average margin of victory over the course of those five wins was just 6.8 points per game. In the final they faced a young and dynamic Carolina Flames team that took them to the wire before falling 68 – 57. The Flames finished 3 and 2 in their own first round games back in Hampton, Virginia.
The Gold bracket crown went to Cy Fair who went 4 – 1 with their only loss coming by one to the Belles. Silver honors belong to Tree of Hope at 3 and 2 while the Bronze final went the way of Drive Nation as they overcame an 0 and 3 start in pool play to win their final two contests of the weekend. Scroll below for a banner and action shot of each of the 16 Indy EYBL teams and their results over the weekend. All 16 teams are already in Chicago with their Louisville counterparts looking forward to Wednesday’s first round of action in McCormick Place, North America’s largest convention center.
All Iowa Attack claimed the 16U bracket in Indianapolis getting by Exodus NYC in Monday’s final. To see complete results, stats, brackets and more from all the action in Indy as well as the schedule for Chicago, follow the link below to the Nike Girls EYBL website.
http://nikegirlseybl.com/#home-1
While the EYBL was battling for bragging rights and positioning for Chicago, the teams of the Blue Star League were battling with another round of their regular schedule in advance of Blue Star Nationals later this month in Washington, D.C. There was no trophy of bragging rights on the line this time around but the action was competitive and several teams are beginning to separate themselves from the crowd. The Michigan Mystics ran the table in their scheduled games while the Wisconsin Purple Aces and the Dayton Lady Hoopstars both finished the weekend with just one addition to the loss column. Indianapolis and the Premier Showcase was the last of four stops on the Leagues first schedule before the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center.
To see teams, standings and results from this round of play, follow the link below.
https://www.bluestartravelteams.com/teams
Of course the Premier Showcase also featured 232 teams from 29 different states and Canada. Check back later with Blue Star Media for coverage of some of the standouts from Westfield. The link below will take you to the post event page on the USJN website where you’ll find who was in the gym, pool all-star teams, results and more.
https://www.usjn.com/xtm_post_event_schools_new.php?which=582
