NORTH AUGUSTA, SC --- This was the battle of the best --- Florida commitment Brad Beal (6-4, 190, St. Louis, MO Chaminade Prep), who was the MVP of the FIBA 17-and-Under World Championships last week in Germany, and Kentucky commitment Michael Gilchrist (6-7, 190, Somerdale, NJ St. Patrick's), billed as the best rising senior in the country by at least three recruiting services. If you go by end results, score it a TKO for Beal, who scored 28 points including a clutch layup with 34.5 seconds to go to lead the St. Louis Eagles past Gilchrist and Philadelphia-based Team Final, 73-70, Thursday morning in the semifinals of the Nike Peach Jam at the Riverview Center.
While Beal was money down the stretch, Gilchrist came up short in the clutch, missing two of three free throws with 1.8 seconds left when he had a chance to tie the game at 72-72. Overall, Gilchrist had great numbers --- 26 points, 12 rebounds and four assists --- but he came up empty in the final three minutes when he was stripped of the ball twice, both times leading to layups by the Eagles, missed a chippie from five feet and then bricked at the foul line.
Beal got a layup with 1:44 when he tipped the ball away from Gilchrist into the hands of Roosevelt Jones (6-4, 210, O'Fallon, IL), who then flipped a nice lead pass that Beal tracked down for the score that put the Eagles ahead for good, 70-68.
Gilchrist was hot early the second half when he hit three shots in a row to take Team Final to a 45-38 lead but St. Louis battled back to tie the game at 47-47 on a three-ball by Beal with 10:10 to go. It was a three-ball by Beal with 5:53 to go that gave the Eagles their first lead since early in the first half at 59-58.
For St. Louis, it was a matter of quickness, great team defense and good passing that enabled the Eagles to overcome a serious height advantage by Team Final. Jones, a Butler commit who will be a wing guard in college, scored 17 points and hauled down nine rebounds while serving as the inside presence. He got help on the boards from Aaron Adeoye (6-6, 210, Marion, IL), who didn't score but grabbed nine rebounds and did an extraordinary defensive job on Team Final's Rakeem Christmas (6-9, 225, Philadelphia, PA Academy of the New Church), the tournament's shot blocking leader who finished with eight points, six rebounds and four blocked shots before fouling out in the final seconds.
Beal attributed the St. Louis win to teamwork and a never panic mentality.
"We've been playing together as a team for three years now so we all know each other and there aren't any surprises when we're out there," Beal said. "We know what we can and can't do and we don't panic when we're behind or playing taller teams. We've been there before so we know what to do. There wasn't any panic. We knew when we were down that we were coming back."
After his MVP performance for the gold medal-winning USA team in Germany, Beal said a championship Wednesday afternoon in the Peach Jam would be a fitting way to close out the week.
"Personal honors are great but nothing beats winning championships," he said. "That's what we came here to do. We made the semifinals last year. This year we came here to win it."
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There is a new big man on the Florida recruiting horizon. Surprisingly, the Gators are now a major player for Amir Williams (6-10, 220, Beverly Hills, MI Detroit Country Day), who plays on the Nike AAU circuit for Detroit-based The Family.
Williams has been in regular contact with the Florida coaching staff recently and he's indicated that the Gators have a legitimate chance to land him. Other big men that the Gators are after include Christmas, Johnny O'Bryant (6-10, 245, Cleveland, MS), Cody Zeller (6-10, 210 Washington, IN) and Mikael Hopkins (6-9, 215, Hyattsville, MD DeMatha Catholic).
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