U S Basketball
Delvon Roe tallied a game-high 33 points to help USA Blue reach Sunday morning's gold medal game. (Photo: Steven Maikoski)
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (June 23, 2007) – The USA Red (4-0) continued its march toward the 2007 USA Basketball Youth Development Festival gold medal with a 158-123 dismantling of Brazil (0-4) in semifinal play Saturday evening, while the USA Blue (2-2) advanced to the gold medal contest as well after fighting off the USA White (2-2) 122-113 in the other semifinal. USA Red and USA Blue will meet in Sunday morning's (8:30 .a.m MDT) gold medal game, while USA White will face Brazil in the bronze medal game (8:15 a.m. MDT).
The Red earned its fourth consecutive win in impressive style as eight of its 10 players reached double figures in scoring, led by Lance Stephenson's (Lincoln H.S. / Brooklyn, N.Y.) 30 points and Devin Ebanks' (St. Thomas More H.S., Conn / Queens, N.Y.) 25 points.
Blue fended off several late White rallies to take the 122-113 win. Delvon Roe (St. Edward H.S. / Lakewood, Ohio) tallied a game high 33 points to pace the Blue, while Korie Lucious (Pius XI H.S. / Milwaukee, Wis.) was credited with 27 in the loss.
The Youth Development Festival, which runs June 20-24, is being contested at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo.
USA Blue 122, USA White 113
The USA White Team made its second furious comeback in six hours against the USA Blue Team, but unlike the morning session when the White battled back from 23-point third quarter deficit to steal the win, USA Blue fought off the White and earned a 122-113 victory on Saturday night.
With White still trailing 96-80 entering the final period, Blue expanded its lead 99-80 off of a Roe 3-pointer. As it had done hours earlier, the White came racing back and, behind six points from Dexter Strickland (St. Patrick’s H.S. / Elizabeth, N.J.) and five from Greg Monroe (Helen Cox H.S. / Gretna, La.), orchestrated a 24-10 run that cut the Blue lead to 109-104 with 5:05 to play.
By that time Blue guard Jrue Holiday (Campbell Hall H.S. / Chatsworth, Calif.) had seen enough. Holiday saved seven of his 20 points for the final five minutes to help insure a Blue victory.
Lucious’ 3-pointer at the 1:59 mark pulled the White within six, 117-111, but a high-flying dunk from DeMarcus Cousins (Erwin H.S. / Birmingham, Ala.) squelched the White’s comeback hopes and returned Blue’s advantage to eight points and sealed the outcome.
USA Red 158, Brazil 123
After a first-quarter fight from the overmatched, No. 4-seed Brazil squad, USA Red put on a dazzling display of athleticism and cruised to a lopsided 158-123 victory to advance to Sunday’s gold medal contest.
Brazil kept USA Red within striking distance in the first 12 minutes as Vitor Benite sank three 3-pointers and Brazil tallied 11 second chance points to keep the USA Red advantage to just eight, 31-23, after the first 12 minutes.
From there, it was all USA Red. Two made free throws by Ed Davis (Benedictine H.S. / Richmond, Va.) at the 11:05 mark in the second period kicked off a enormous 48-point second quarter for USA Red that left no doubt about the game’s outcome, and by halftime, the USA Red Team was up 79-54 with every team member on the board.
The second half of action was more of the same, and the USA Red lead was 123-87 after three quarters and the Red went on to stretch its lead to its largest margin of 49 points after Drew Gordon (Archbishop Mitty / San Jose, Calif.) threw down a dunk with 6:57 remaining in the fourth quarter.
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