The Granite State Jayhawks 17s bowed out in the second Championship round of the Nike Main Event here Saturday.
It was a spirited effort. In the early game, the Jayhawks knocked off the Wisconsin force by a dozen.
The Jayhawks, behind a red-hot Ben Bartoldus built a 20-point lead early, pretty sure it was 28-8, but this was no walk in the park.
Coach Mark Dunham rode the Bartoldus, Eric Deane and Will Bayliss trio hard, playing all 16 in the first half, and fatigue ended up taking its toll.
The lead evaporated to a two-point game, before Alex Stoyle of Goffstown flexed a little muscle with a nasty two-step dunk in traffic and Bartoldus and the boys played tough down the stretch.
The afternoon meeting with the Bay Area Ballers did not go so well.
After an even first half, the Jayhawks went cold and the Ballers, who are mainly players from St. Francis High in Northern California heated up.
The Ballers shot lights out, punching into the Jayhawks matchup zone and kicking for a parade of wide open threes.
Dunham had to go deep in this one and got great minutes off the bench from Ben Proulx, Alex LaRosa and the crew.
In the end, it just wasn’t enough.
I’ll have a wrap-up blog entry on the trip Sunday night that you won’t want to miss.
And beginning next Sunday, The Eagle-Tribune will go in depth on AAU hoops, what it entails
