ChicagoHoops.com is the #1 High School Basketball, and College Basketball Recruiting Site in the state of Illinois.
Message Board
The ChicagoHoops.com Message Board is the place to talk basketball in the state of Illinois. No matter if you are looking to talk High School, College, Professional, Middle School or Girls basketball.....The ChicagoHoops.com Message Board is the place to be.
Message Board
The ChicagoHoops.com Message Board is the place to talk basketball in the state of Illinois. No matter if you are looking to talk High School, College, Professional, Middle School or Girls basketball.....The ChicagoHoops.com Message Board is the place to be.
Chicago Hoops
Lenzelle Smith Powers His Way To 34 Points, And Ron Steward Drops 23 En Route To Being Named League MVP As The Suns Top The Warriors To Win The Rising Stars Fall League Championship
Class of 2010 star Lenzelle Smith (Zion-Benton) scored 34 points, and Ron Steward (Zion-Benton) dropped in 23 points en route to being named league MVP as the Suns topped Navjot Singh (Mundelein) and Ben Brust (Mundelein) and the Warriors 88-83 to win it all in a thrilling title game at the Rising Stars Fall Basketball League presented by ChicagoHoops.com.
Steward, who came on strong over the course of the past three weeks for the Suns, scored 8 straight points during a decisive stretch of the second half to power the Suns to title. The Warriors led 60-59 ahead of Steward dropping 8 straight points in less than one minute to put the Suns ahead 67-60.
Smith, a 6-2 small forward, played equally strong for the Suns en route to powering his way to 34 points. Smith put the game away in the final minute after being fouled on a power bucket. He dropped the free throw to put his team up 86-80 to seal the title game victory.
Early on it looked like the game would be a blowout as the Suns opened the game with a 22-5 run. However, Ben Brust caught fire with points from everywhere on the floor as the Warriors closed to within 33-30. A Kenny Branch three-point basket gave the Warriors the lead at 40-39, and the Warriors led 42-41 at the break.
6-3 senior Navjot Singh powered the Warriors in the second half after Brust went down with an injury. Singh scored 21 of his 25 points in the second half as the Warriors boldly battled the Suns, but in the end the Warriors were unable to answer the onslaught from Steward and Smith who were not to be denied in their quest for the title.
The Suns defeated the Raptors 77-54 behind 24 points from Steward and 14 from Smith in the semifinals to advance to the title game. Meanwhile, the Warriors edged Cornell-bound Chris Wroblewski and the Nuggets 66-64 to move into the title tilt with Brust scoring 20 points, and Singh adding 18 points.
The Suns victory capped off a thrilling day of playoff basketball action. The upsets began in the second round with the Nuggets, powered by a 26-point effort from Josh Bartelstein, knocking off Lewis-bound Chris McClellan, Class of 2011 star Andre Henley (Chicago De La Salle) and the previously undefeated Grizzlies 63-58.
Rodney Clinkscales pushed the Raptors into the semifinals with a 68-66 win over the Mavs. Clinkscales dropped buzzer-beating runner after Tony Nixon (Seton Academy) sank a pair of free throws to tie the game with less than 10 seconds to play. The Suns defeated the Lakers in the quarterfinals 72-62 with Steward scoring 22 points and Smith adding 15 points to offset strong efforts from Gozie Umeadi and Josh Crittle of the Lakers.
