Maurice Sutton, a 6’11”, 210 lb center and 2008 IU prospect, put his skills on full display at the
Adidas May Classic tonight in Assembly Hall, as his Indiana Elite LNO team overcame a huge deficit to defeat the So Cal All-Stars, a team that features 6’9” twin towers David and Travis Wear, who are both headed to North Carolina in 2009.
Terone Johnson (23) led the offense for Indiana Elite LNO
Indiana Elite LNO looked slow and confused in the first quarter, committing numerous turnovers and quickly falling to a 10-0 deficit less than three minutes into the game. The So Cal All-Stars used a full court press to force LNO into bad passes, and pushed quickly in transition on offense. At that point Maurice Sutton was still in jeans and a white t-shirt. An early timeout helped only marginally, and So Cal extended the lead to 17-2, with LNO’s only points coming from a pair of free throws.
In the second quarter Maurice Sutton entered the game, and LNO’s offense started to slowly get into the rhythm, with
Terone Johnson, a 6’2”, 185 lb 2010 prospect and possible IU target leading the offense. The teams went into half with the score at 24-10 in favor of So Cal.
LNO continued to chip away at the lead, with the help of Sutton’s presence on both ends of the floor and some great drives from guard Matt Kinney. Sutton got to the basket on several occasions, grabbing offensive boards and getting both tip-ins and multiple one-handed dunks. He exhibited quick hands with a nice steal that resulted in a fastbreak layup and came up with a monstrous rejection as well. He also displayed a nice shooting touch and was always running the floor in transition. He had his hands full with the Wear twins, but he was still instrumental in the win.
Sutton quickly established himself in the post
By the end of the third quarter, LNO had knotted the game at 47-47. They preserved their momentum and closed out the 66-58 victory. “We were down, but we started getting into it in the second half,” said Sutton. “We gelled together, and we got it done.”
Other notable players included Eric Gordon’s younger brother Evan, and
Patrick Bade, a big man who has shown some interest in IU. So Cal also featured an IU recruit, 6’4”, 200 lb
Demetrius Walker, a 2009 prospect who is highly interested in IU.
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