B2BN ‘Who Wants the Smoke?’ Standouts Part 1

Stockbridge, GA – B2BN hosted their annual ‘Who Wants the Smoke?’ tournament featuring middle and elementary school prospects from across the soutehast. Several prominent teams featured several intriguing young prospects throughout the two days. Two recaps will be split between the older age groups, focusing on 5th-8th grade teams.

By: Jennifer Brazelton

 

8th Grade Champions: B-Maze Elite UA

B-Maze Elite 2028 ended up going undefeated throughout the weekend, finishing the tournament 5-0. Impressive performances by Nicholas Smith (#5) and Ty Pace (#2), working together on a lot of high-low action and attacking at the rim. Nicholas Smith was my personal MVP in the 2028 class and for a big, truly understands the game and plays each possession with a high-motor. Smith was a force inside and finished a lot of his shots above the rim. Ty Pace stood out as a shifty guard that did well running the offense. Pace had no issues getting inside and cleaning up missed shots and fighting for loose balls. B-Maze Elite is going to be a tough team to beat in their class and features a deep bench that can backfill positions if needed.

 

7th Grade Champions: Jet Academy

Jet Academy went 5-0 in their run for the 7th grade championship. The MVP of the 2029 class was easily Joshua Sanders (right), at 6’7″ Sanders was making plays and moves that most high school bigs have trouble making. Jet Academy consisted of a deep bench to help propel them in the run including Shaheem Barbosa, Boston Sheppard, Zaiden Nelson (left), and Athens Davenport. Jet Academy stays in attack mode and has a lot of hard-nosed players that find their way to the basket and finish. Joshua Sanders was phenomenal around 15 feet from the basket, showing off his shooting ability and used his length to quickly get to the rim. Will be a fun team to track this AAU season. Nelson did a great job being a utility player; getting the ball up the court quickly and finding ways to score at all levels.

 

After serving on college coaching staffs and working at several universities in the Southeast, Jennifer Brazelton joined On the Radar Hoops as a National Evaluator in April 2022. She has been involved in the Georgia basketball community since 2015 and can be reached at JenniferRBrazelton@gmail.com or on Twitter @jenbrazeIton.