Hate to be a constant Debbie Downer, but there is no SAC Holiday Tournament this season.
Bleh.
If you didn’t see recently, I decided to start a series on what an actual tournament would look like if it were taking place. You can read about the possible seeding of the tournament and what the seeds would have been based on the Sagarin Ratings as I kicked off this series.
Coming this week, I will break down both the girls and boys tournament with my predictions on how the games and the brackets would have played out. Do you disagree? I sure hope so.
But today is easy, it is the extras. The extras don’t really exist right now. These are things, as you can read in my series launch, I think the SAC Holiday Tournament should add to kind of spice up the three-day event.
SLAM DUNK CONTEST
In the opening column of this series, Bounce picked out four contestants for this contest: Luke Goode of Homestead, Elijah Brown of Snider, Nick Thompson of Bishop Luers and Khamani Smith of Northrop.
This is one of the simplest events to pick in my mind. I am in charge here so I am picking out the dunk contest judging panel of five. Those judges will be our own Coach Keith Edmonds, Always 100’s Vernard Hollins, Wayne athletic director Gary Raber as the host AD, Concordia Lutheran alum/professional player DJ McCall and referee James Payne.
That said, let’s look at the dunkers.
Round 1 is fun, but simplistic. Thompson and Smith are incredibly athletic but the uniqueness of their dunking level is something that remains to be seen. I think they put up solid efforts but they are going to be the low scorers in the opening round and be eliminated.
The finals will see Luke Goode getting crafty and be the one to come up with some wacky ideas. I’d like to think he will get some guys involved in this, maybe a dunk over Fletcher Loyer? Elijah Brown on the other hand is going to be able to throw down some super-athletic slams. I’d personally like to see Brown take a handoff from Aidan Lambert and go between the legs with it. If you haven’t seen Brown go yet, the sophomore is kind of an athletic freak.
Two different dunkers, this would be fun but in the end, Bounce says that Elijah Brown of Snider wins the inaugural slam dunk contest.
Ya know, in theory.
GIRLS THREE POINT CONTEST
GIRLS THREE-POINT CONTESTANTS: Emily Parrett, Carroll; Maggie Keinsley, Homestead; Grace Hedtke, Concordia Lutheran; Olivia Smith, South Side; Destini Craig, Snider; Delaney Bailey, Bishop Luers; Amanda Thatcher, Northrop; Lexi Linder, Bishop Dwenger; Emilia Diaz, Wayne; Alivia Jones, North Side
With one player per team, we get shooting with the top two from the first round advancing to the finals to square off. This isn’t the NBA. No money balls, just five balls on each of the five racks. Who can hit the most of their 25 shots? We’ll give you 75 seconds because we care. And yes, because Gary Raber cares about timing, we will have players shooting on both ends of the court at once during the first round.
The opening round is a close one on the girls side. In the end, Emily Parrett’s 14 points and Delaney Bailey’s 15 points just miss out on getting to the finals as Olivia Smith and Grace Hedtke each hit 16 and advance to the finals.
The girls three-point shooting final round starts fast as Smith hits 16 shots again and Hedtke falls short, hitting just 13 in the final round.
Olivia Smith of South Side wins the girls three-point contest.
BOYS THREE POINT CONTEST
BOYS THREE-POINT CONTESTANTS: Fletcher Loyer, Homestead; Cody Burkey, Carroll; Karson Jenkins, Snider; Luke Speckhard, Concordia Lutheran; Naylon Thompson, Bishop Luers; Brenden Lytle, Bishop Dwenger; Jayden Schmenk, Northrop; Ryan Collins, North Side; Jernard Freeman, Wayne; Austin Jordan, South Side
You’ve by now read the rules in the girls three-point contest and no change on the boys side. But expect a barnburner with some of the area’s best shooters with each team again have a representative.
Ryan Collins is going to turn some heads here, hitting 16 shots but falling short of the top four as Austin Jordan hits 16 and Karson Jenkins hits 18. But they too won’t make it to the finals as Fletcher Loyer and Cody Burkey each hit 20 first-round shots.
In the finals, we have a real shootout where Burkey opens with 17 hits and that seems insurmountable. Then Loyer happens again and the area newbie makes the most of his first SAC Holiday Tournament experience with 21 hits in the finals. Is he the best three-point shooter in tournament history? You’ll have to see what he does in the actual….theoretical tournament.
Check back later this week as we break down how we see the tournament going, had it actually happened.
These opinions represent those of Bounce and Outside the Huddle. No opinions expressed on Outside the Huddle represent those of any of our advertisers. Follow Bounce on Twitter at Bounce_OTH
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