NORTH AUGUSTA – Mokan Elite defeated Team Takeover 53-52 to win the Nike Elite Youth Basketball League Peach Jam Championship on Sunday, July 24.
This marks Mokan Elite’s third Peach Jam Championship win in the last six years.
“Everything we did in practice and leading up to this, it paid off. Winning this, made it all worth it,” said Mokan Elite shooting guard Cameron Carr. “There is nothing like it, EYBL is definitely the best of the best and to be able to play with these guys and end up winning it all, that is a blessing.”
Mokan Elite went into the fourth quarter of the game ahead 42-33. A big 3-pointer by guard Trey Green put Mokan Elite ahead by ten with 4:10 remaining in the game.
Team Takeover brought the lead down to four points after a couple of defensive stops and quick buckets. Green once again would make a 3-pointer for Mokan Elite with 1:03 remaining to likely put the game out of reach.
Team Takeover continued to fight and brought the lead back down to four points with a 3-pointer by guard Darren Harris with 15.3 seconds remaining in the game. Takeover forced a turnover with 7.3 seconds remaining and Deshawn Harris-Smith made a three to put them down only one point. Mokan Elite would also miss both free throws, but 0.4 seconds remaining did not give Team Takeover enough time to get a shot off, causing the team to lose the tight battle.
“We had a great group of guys that all bought into our system and most importantly, all bought into each other,” said Mokan Elite Coach Rodney Perry.
Kayden Fish led Mokan Elite in scoring with 13 points. Green finished with nine points, five rebounds and six assists.
Harris-smith finished with 15 points, eight rebounds and five assists in the loss for Team Takeover.
Nightyrdras won the 15-under Peach Jam Championship against Drive Nation 63-39. Team Takeover took home the 16-under championship, defeating NY Rens 67-58.
Chris Rickerson is a staff reporter covering Columbia County government and general assignment topics for The Augusta Press. Reach him at chris@theaugustapress.com.
