With only a few short weeks remaining in the 2023 travel basketball season, a few Ohio-based teams were still in action, as they prepare for various national tournaments. The class of 2032 saw 3 teams in our Buckeye Prep Power Rankings participating in the Under Armour Summer Blast in Cincinnati. The #1 ranked Buckeye Prep Hoopsters, #9 Cincinnati Royals and Honorable Mention Ohio Elite Basketball (OEB) matched up in this season ending event.
For the weekend, Buckeye Prep went undefeated in route to their 7th championship of the season, with wins over the Canadian-based Staggs Red (47-19), Cincinnati Royals (45-15), Staggs Red (78-8) and OEB (49-13). Although Buckeye Prep enjoyed balance scoring throughout the weekend, leading scorers were Jordan Taylor and David Jonson III, with a notable standout performance by Cale Ivery, who dropped a career-high 16 points in the semi-final game. Although it’s clear Buckeye Prep can put up big numbers in any given game, the true strength of this team is their defense! If you can handle their full-court pressure, it’s still very difficult to find driving lanes. Next up for Buckeye Prep is the ultra-competitive Ballin On The Beach event in Fort Lauderdale, FL, where they hope to build on their 50-8 overall season record!
Ohio Elite Basketball has continued to improve over the course of the season and their run to the championship game solidified their improvement. Case in point, OEB took down the #9 ranked Cincinnati Royals with relative ease in the semi-finals, and led the Royals by almost 20 points at some point in the game. Although the Royals would mount somewhat of a comeback, OEB held own to get the win and a spot in the championship game. Based on this weekend’s results, OEB will now move into the top 10 in our rankings.
