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). The Nightrydas have been highly successful on the EYBL circuit the last three years thanks to the likes of Cameron Boozer, Cayden Boozer, Alexander Lloyd, Dante Allen, and D.J. Wimbley. Those guys have graduated to high-major D-I universities so a new era will be dawning for the Nighrydas. Let’s take a look at some notable numbers for the squad from the opening EYBL weekend.
17U
The group finished 1-2 this past weekend. A two-point win over Team United on opening night almost gets cancelled out by a two-point loss to the Indy Heat on Sunday. In between was a loss to Uplay Canada. Our neighbors to the north held the Nightrydas to just 35% from the field in that game, knocking down eight more shots from the field in the process. Against Indy Heat, the Nightrydas’ 10-4 advantage in free throws made is offset by going just 1-11 from deep while Indy Heat was 5-13.
Caleb Gaskins, a 6’8 junior at Columbus, is most definitely the alpha for this team. He opened the session up with a 23 point, 12 rebound effort. Gaskins had 24 and 8 against Uplay in Game Two. He was the target of Indy Heat’s defense in Game Three, scoring just 9 points on nine attempts and grabbing 9 rebounds. That is almost a double-double average for the weekend.
Marcellous Jackson, a 6’2 junior at Columbus, had some solid numbers this past weekend as well. Seven points and 10 assists to open up the weekend, followed by 10 points vs Uplay and 18 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists against Indy Heat.
16U
This squad was 1-2 on the weekend, getting a three-point win vs. Team Durant on the final day of the event. In Game One, Team Melo knocked down more threes and more free throws to win by eight despite both teams making the same number of field goals from the field. In the Game Two loss to the Utah Prospects, the Nightrydas had fourteen more shot attempts but made four less shots in the loss.
Quincy Douby, Jr., a 6’5 sophomore out of Miami True North, was a consistent double-digit scorer for the squad with games of 11, 11, and 16 points.
After a sub-par five point outing, Khanye Moss, a 6’0 sophomore at Hialeah Mater Lakes, got in a groove. He tallied 14 points, 6 assists, and 3 steals in Game Two and 15 points and another 6 assists in Game Three.
Jeremy Jenkins, a 6’8 sophomore from Miami Riviera Prep, was solid all weekend long. He had “just” seven points in Game One but grabbed a game high 15 rebounds. Game Two was a double-double of 11 points and 11 rebounds while in Game Three he posted 13 points and 6 rebounds.
Orlando Roche, a 6’1 sophomore from Miami Belen Jesuit, had some solid numbers in Game Two and Three. A four point outing in Game One was followed by team-high 18 in Game Two, thanks to 3-5 shooting from deep and 7-8 from the foul line. He added 10 points in the final game of the weekend, mostly from the foul line, going 8-9.
15U
It was a 1-2 weekend for this group but it could have just as easily been 3-0. A 92-88 loss to Utah Prospects in Game Two and 39-33 loss (uggh!) to Team Durant on Sunday were both close. In both losses the team shot under 40% from the field.
It is pretty much a three-headed monster for this squad. Josiah Brooks, a 6’2 8th grader from Hialeah Educational, King McFadden, a 6’2 freshman at Tocoi Creek near St. Augustine, and 6’7 Cayden Gaskins out of Melbourne Holy Trinity seemingly put up the majority of the numbers for the Nightrydas.
Brooks averaged 15 points a game, with a high of 24 points in Game Two. In Game Three, he added 6 rebounds and 5 steals.
McFadden wasn’t far behind at 12 points per game. He also had success in Game Two vs the Utah Prospects, going for 23 points as well as 12 rebounds. He was over 50% from the field for the three games.
Gaskin had games of 15, 20, and 7 for the team. He had a double-double in Game One, grabbing 10 rebounds to go along with those 15 points.