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Boys basketball: Assault continues dominance, take title in Sin City
BY JUSTIN THOMAS, jthomas@acnpapers.com
The first-place trophies just keep rolling in for Texas Assault and its core of Marcus basketball players.
Months after the Marauders claimed the UIL 5A State Championship and mere weeks after Assault rolled to the title locally at the Great American Shootout in Duncanville, the squad was back at it in Las Vegas claiming yet another title by taking first at the adidas Super 64 on July 27.
It was the second consecutive season Assault has won in Vegas and the squad was powered by a second-consecutive MVP performance from Marcus Smart.
Assault also features local products Phil Forte (Marcus), Nick Banyard (Marcus), Ricky Roberts (Marcus), John Malone (Marcus) Holt Harmon (Plano West), Clarke Overlander (Argyle) and Taylor Luster (North Crowley), who each made significant contributions on their way to the title.
Forte provided his typical long-range touch, including a stretch during the tournament in which he converted 23-of-30 threes, before posting 20 points in the finals. Banyard knocked down a pair of threes of his own early in the second half of title game helping Assault overcome a 34-22 deficit before a bucket by Smart supplied the first lead at 51-50 with 16 minutes remaining. Assault wouldn't look back, pulling away over the rest of the half behind critical scoring and free throws from Smart, Forte and others.
Overlander, meanwhile, drew attention providing a block of Muhammad on a dunk attempt, while Harmon also demonstrated the ability to convert long-range shots.
The road to the title proved to be a challenging one as well for Assault, who were not bracketed in one of the "super pools" on the first two days despite winning the tournament last season.
But the tougher route proved to be no issue for Assault, who won all nine of their games during the tourney, including five over the final two days.
The Assault defeated Utah Pump-N-Run in the semifinals, 66-57, and also earned wins in the championship bracket over the Nor Cal Pharaohs (63-52), Urban DFW Elite (62-58), Double Pump Elite (78-56) and Las Vegas Prospects (89-75). Urban DFW Elite features Marcus player A.J. Luckey.
Assault weren't the only team making waves recently, however. The Super 64 also saw the Dallas Mustangs Blue claim the 17U Gold title, while Deron Williams Elite claimed the 17U Platinum Division title at the Las Vegas Fab 48.
Elite features The Colony's Kendall Jones and Antoine Burrell, as well as Prestonwood Christian's Austin Rettig and Plano East's Peyton Smith.
The squad won in the finals against the Monarchs (California), 78-70, and also earned wins in bracket play over the Bay Area Ballers, East Washington Elite, Florida Assault and Team Magic 17.
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