Nike’s EYBL had its first session this past weekend in Mesa, Arizona, just outside of Phoenix.  The EYBL does an excellent job of providing full box scores for all three age groups (17U, 16U, and 15U).  Let’s take a look at some notable numbers for the Florida Rebels.

17U

The Rebels got off to a good start with a 79-65 win Friday against Pro Skills out of Texas.  It helps when you shoot 28 for 58 from the floor overall (48.3%) despite going just 3-14 from behind the arc.  That would come back to bite them in the remaining two games, a 71-62 loss to Team Thad and a 70-63 setback to Bradley Beal Elite. In both of those contests, the Rebels shot less than 25% from behind the arc.  Also hurting the cause was getting outrebounded significantly in both contests: 49-30 vs Team Thad and 50-41 vs BBE.

There were certainly some bright spots player-wise for the Rebels.  The backcourt of 6’0 sophomore Cayden Daughtry (Calvary Christian) and 6’6 junior Landyn Colyer (OTE) averaged a combined 31 ppg.  Daughtry led the way with 18 ppg with a high of 27 vs. Team Thad.  Colyer averaged just a shade over 13 ppg.  Jaxon Richardson (Columbus), a 6’6 junior, had a stellar 22 point/8 rebound outing vs. Pro Skills but defenses quickly honed in on him the next two games.

16U

This group finished 3-0 this past weekend.  It was as if they were playing “regional” opponents this weekend.  The Rebels defeated the GA Stars 82-71 in Game One, Jet Academy, also out of Georgia, 71-57 in Game 2 and the AL Fusion 98-65 in their final game of the weekend.  The defense was stifling as they held each opponent under 40% shooting overall and outrebounded each victim by double-digits.  The Rebels also shot greater than 50% from the field overall in each contest.  If one wants to quibble a bit on the performance from the weekend, two of the three contests found the Rebels committing in the area of 25 turnovers, not a sustainable number for success.

By all accounts, Oneal Delancy had a very good weekend.  The 6’4 sophomore from St. Petersburg Gibbs averaged 18 points and 6 rebounds a contest.  On top of that, Delancy tallied nearly 8 assists per contest compared to just over 2 turnovers per game.

Carson Crawford, a 6’6 sophomore at Fleming Island, was also a consistent scorer for the team this weekend.  Games of 15, 14, and 19 points respectively average out to 16 points a contest while shooting nearly 70%(!) overall from the field.  Crawford also averaged 8 rebounds a contest for the weekend.

Ahmed Mustapha (6’7) and Nijaun Harris (6’4) also had some solid individual moments. Mustapha, a sophomore out of Kissimmee Life Academy, had a pair of double figure scoring games and added a double-double in the final contest.  Harris, a freshman out of St. Petersburg HS, also had a pair of double-figure scoring outputs.

15U

If was a tough weekend for the youngsters, finishing 0-3 to the GA Stars, Jet Academy, and AL Fusion.  The opponents shot 46% or better from the field overall in each contest, while in two of the three games the Rebels shot below 40% overall.  In the one game they outshot the opponent, the AL Fusion had nine more offensive rebounds and fourteen more shot attempts.

Branden Sharpe, a 6’5 freshman from Fort Lauderdale Westminster Academy and Josiah Gillard, a 5’11 freshman from Lake Minneola were the offensive catalysts for the team.  Sharpe, after a slow game one of just five points, tallied 26 in game two and 20 in game three to average 17 ppg for the weekend.  Sharpe also grabbed 8 boards a game.  Gillard had 18 points opening night, struggled in game two with just five points before bouncing back to finish with 10 points the final day of the event.