Iowa Pump N Run 17u Black finished the Proving Grounds tournament with a strong showing on Sunday winning the Gold Championship.
Proving Grounds, a Prep Hoops sponsored NCAA certified event took place April 27-29 in the Minneapolis area and was the third tournament for this squad on the season. Prep Hoops analyst and writer, T.J. Rushing had a lot of good things to say about this squad.
Gold 17U Semifinal — Iowa Pump N Run Black 57 vs Minnesota Heat-Ismail 51
"It was the first of two utterly impressive performances by this group of 2019 guys. A well-balanced group that has played together for many, many years, it’s clear that these guys genuinely like each-other and it certainly shows on the floor. Each guy knows where the other will be seemingly at all times, the chemistry is off the charts. That bond, paired with the different and varied skill-sets, makes this Pump team one of the better in Iowa. They led big early in this one, and things got dicey a bit in the second half before normalizing again late. Mason Porter, Carson Crile and Max Wilcox all impressed for Iowa." - T.J. Rushing
Gold 17U Championship — Iowa Pump N Run 56 vs Team 1848 47
"The guys from Green Bay, Wisconsin raced out to a 13-6 lead, and it seemed as though Pump N Run had met their match. But the much more disciplined Iowa squad stuck to their principles and eventually would take control. By halftime, after a 25-7 run, Pump N Run led 31-20. They would would maintain that big lead for most of the second half, although there was a brief period of time when it appeared the Wisconsin guys were going to take a second half lead. But then Max Wilcox, who was splendid all day, canned a huge 3, pushing the lead back to five with 2-minutes left, and Pump would cruise from there. New London’s Mason Porter led all scorers in this one with 15." - T.J. Rushing
Head Coach Duez Henderson liked what he saw on Sunday...
“When we guard the way we can and are disciplined to our system, we are very tough to play against. Our guys did a great job of guarding and forcing teams to find their 2nd and 3rd options...you are tough to score against when you do those things. We have a few different guys that played well offensively but Mason Porter was tough to guard all weekend. After missing the majority of the HS season he seems to have found his groove that makes him one of the better players in the state.
While we don’t measure success by wins/losses and championships, it was nice for the guys to put together a run and win the gold bracket. Looking forward to building from this weekend”
Congrats 17u Black!
