By the time they took the floor to face the Houston Hoops in the finals of the Las Vegas Classic's top 17U division the Mac Irvin Fire had to have been exhausted. Having already played 11 games since their arrival in Vegas on Wednesday (seven in the LV Classic, three in The Eight and one in the Fab 48) their legs had logged a lot of minutes.
Watching them play, one would hardly know how much ball they had played during the week as they outlasted a determined Houston Hoops squad to win the title.
Big time players make big time plays when they matter most and that's exactly what five-star point guard
Jalen Brunson did. With the game on the line the rising senior smoked some threes, used his hesitation dribble moves to get into the lane and he converted on some high level finishes and passes around the rim. Basically, he did exactly what you would hope a big time point guard prospect would do and helped to will his team to a victory while scoring 16 of his team high 20 points down the stretch.
Brunson was certainly far from a one man show.
In the first half, shooting guard
Connor Cashaw -- Brunson's high school teammate at Lincolnshire (Ill.) Stevenson -- and small forward
Isaiah Moss helped to keep the Fire alive. Both three-star prospects have helped their recruiting tremendously this summer as they have popped onto high major radars and they showed why. Cashaw used his tremendous mid range game and wiry strength to make things happen while Moss blended outside shooting.
Also coming up big at various times for the Fire were Rivals150 players
Davon Dillard and
Edward Morrow. A three-star small forward, Dillard made some key toughness plays on the perimeter and in transition while four-star Morrow did the same on thing on the interior and still had tremendous energy after a week of fighting bigger players in the post as a slightly undersized power forward.
All summer long, five-star big man
Stephen Zimmerman has been adjusting his game. First he had to adjust to a new team when he moved over to playing with the Oakland Soldiers. Then, as his body has added bulk he's had to adjust his game to fit his physical changes. Playing in his hometown on Sunday, it seemed to have all come together for him.
A seven-footer who has always had a high level of skill, Zimmerman used to be a thin and gangly kid who moved very fluidly in the open court. As a result he could play a lot facing the rim and played more of a finesse game. Now, he has added a lot of strength (though he still needs more) and because of that he has developed into a guy who can play more of a power game around the rim.
It has taken some time, but Zimmerman looked the most comfortable he has with his stronger frame and his adjusted game of playing more inside and out. During a tough semifinal loss to the Houston Hoops he sprayed in mid range jumpers, posted up, made terrific passes and cleaned up around the rim as a rebounder.
Zimmerman looked very much worthy of his top 10 status in the class of 2015 on Sunday and his family confirmed some news. He now has five official visits set and in place.
Zimmerman will first visit
North Carolina on the weekend of October 4th. He will then visit
Kansas,
Kentucky and
UCLA over the next three weekends before finishing up his official visits with a trip to
Arizona on the weekend of November 7th. Hometown
UNLV and
Indiana also remain in the mix to land his services.