Photos by Tevin Stinson
The winner of the 2015 Branded For Knowledge Basketball Classic, the Reagan Raiders, hold on to the tournament trophy following their 76-68 victory over rival
hit. Tabor on Tuesday, Dec. 15.
Reagan defeats Mt.
Tabor in Branded for
Knowledge title game
BY TEVIN STINSON
FOR THE CHRONICLE
When Bobby Kimbrough Jr. started the
Branded for Knowledge Basketball
Classic (BFK). one of his goals was to
make the tournament stand out among the
many other tournaments in the area.
"I know there are a lot of basketball
tournaments held in this area, but my goal
was to make the BFK bigger than all of
those." Kimbrough said.
If this year's event was any indication
of the future, it is safe to say BFK is well
on its way to becoming one of the premier
basketball tournaments in the area.
Kimbrough agrees.
"1 want this tournament to be like a
community. We want to reach the student
athletes outside of basketball," he said.
That's why we have the banquet to kick
off the tournament to let the kids know
there is life beyond basketball and that's
what makes this tournament better than the
others."
The three-day tournament welcomes
freshmen boys from various high schools
to learn the importance of teamwork and
strengthening their individual levels of
confidence while competing in a positive
atmosphere.
During the final round of games held at
Glenn High School, East Forsyth faced off
against Reynolds in the first match-up,
while Mt. Tabor took on a scrappy Reagan
team in the championship game.
Here's a summary of the final
round of action:
East Forsyth 60, Reynolds 54: What
began as a blowout quicldy turned into the
most exciting game of the evening. The
Eagles took an early lead in the first half
behind the three-point shooting of Jack
Eggleston and inside scoring and rebound
ing of Aaron Little.
At the start of the fourth quarter the
Eagles held a commanding 50-25 lead.
That's when the Demons turned up the
defensive pressure with a full court press
that forced East to commit multiple
turnovers.
Only allowing the Eagles to score four
points the entire quarter, Reynolds came
roaring back and forced overtime.
In the extra period, the Demons
seemed to run out of gas and the Eagles
were able to add six points to escape with
the victory.
Key contributors in the Demons come
back efforts were Devin Ingram, Treshawn
Plater, and Will Crowley.
Reagan 76, Mt. Tabor 68: In the much
anticipated championship game, Reagan
controlled the entire contest. At halftime.
the Raiders held a 30-20 lead.
Kaleb Lundy handled most of the scor
ing duties in the first half, scoring nine of
his 12 points in the first two quarters.
In the second half of the tournament,
MVP Clayton Crawford took over. After
only scoring four points in the first half,
Crawford finished the contest with 18
points.
Behind the scoring of Crawford and
others, at the start of the fourth quarter the
Raiders lead had grown to twenty points.
The Spartans did fight back and cut the
lead to six late in the final quarter of play
but the Raiders always seemed to be one
step ahead. ?
During the tournament, standout play
ers for the Spartans were Aaron Muse,
Andrew Muse and Bernard Miller.
With the 2015 Branded For
Knowledge Classic in the books, Chief
Operations Officer Denise A. Smith said
the BFK staff is already working on the
2016 tournament.
"We are always thinking of ways to
make the tournament better," she said.
"For the 2016 tournament we are looking
to adding more entertainment to the
event."
Smith mentioned that for next year's
tournament, she is pushing to include
cheerleaders as well.
BFK Classic Director of Operations
Monty Gray said the game of has a way of
teaching life lessons, and that is what the
tournament is all about.
"The one thing that we try to tell all our
kids is that you have to be disciplined. You
have to be disciplined to be a good basket
ball player, and to be successful in the
classroom," he said. "Those two go hand
in hand - that's what we try to instill in all
our participants."
Jac^EggleUonqft!as^orsynn^tocks down a three^ointerinthe third round
game of the Branded For Knowledge Basketball Classic on Tuesday Dec. IS at
Glenn High School.
Player of the
week
#1 Kiara
Colston, Bowie
StateCSo. G - 5-6,
Burtonsville, M.D.)
Kiara Colston
led the Lady
Bulldogs during
week five, averag
ing 16.7 ppg. 4.3
rebounds and 3.0
steals. She scored
20 or more points in
two of three games
and handed out 10
assists over three
games.
il
Newcomer of
the week
#12 Imani
Heggins, Elizabeth
City State
(Jr. G - 5-9,
Chesapeake. Va.)
Imani Heggins
scored double fig
ures in each of
ECSU's two road
victories last week
end. She finished
with 16 points in a
one-point win over
Barton College and
chipped in with 15
points in the Lady
Vikings' 79-68 vic
tory over The
Apprentice School.
Rookie of the
week
#11 Jalyn
Brown
(Fr, G - 5-5,
Williamston, N.C.)
Jalyn Brown
scored a season -
high 21 points
against The
Apprentice School
as the Lady
Vikings, who were
winless at the start
of the week, won
their first two
games with road
victories against
Barton College and
The Apprentice
School.
Coach of the
week
Laquanda
Dawkins, Elizabeth
City State
After an 0-5
start, Coach
Dawkins steered
the Lady Vikings to
a 2-0 record this
week with non-con
ference road wins
over Barton
College 63-62 and
The Apprentice
School 79-68.
Player of the week
#0 Keith Crawford,
St. Augustine's
(Senior, G. 6-0 -
Richmond. Va.)
Keith Crawford led
the Falcons with 21
points in a 73-67 victory
over Morris. He added
five rebounds in the
win. The senior guard
scored 10 consecutive
points during an 18-6
run to give the Falcons
the lead after trailing by
11 points in the second
half. He later clinched
the win on 4-for-4 free
throw shooting in the
final 27 seconds of the
game.
v
Newcomer of
the week
#22 Michael
Tyson,
Fayetteville State
(Junior, F, 6-7
- Kinston. N.C.)
Michael
Tyson led
Fayetteville State
to a 77-71 road
win over Claflin
with a game-high
29 points and
eight rebounds.
He shot an effi
cient 91 percent
(11-12) from the
field.
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Rookie of the
week
#12 Walter
Williams, Virginia
State
(Freshman, G,
6-4 - Richmond,
Va.)
Rookie Walter
Williams contin
ues to be a stand
out for the Trojans
after leading the
team with IS
points over the
VUU Panthers on
Dec. 6. Williams
currently leads
VSU, averaging
5.4 threes pointers
per game
Coach of the
week
Lonnie Blow
Jr., Virginia State
Head Coach
Lonnie Blow Jr.
led the Trojans to
their fourth con
secutive victory
over their 195
rivals, the VUU
Panthers. On Dec.
6, VSU took
down VUU with
a final score of
77-56. The
Trojans are cur
rently ranked No.
1 in the Northern
Division and tied
for first in the
conference.
I