Happy Tuesday, everyone! I hope you all had a safe and restful Labor Day weekend.

It’s officially back-to-school season, but we still have some major unfinished business at the Dyckman Basketball Tournament. On Friday, we witnessed an electric tripleheader of Boys HS playoff action. On Saturday, Dyckman hosted the "King of the Court" 3-on-3 tournament, where the winning squad earned an all-inclusive trip to Melbourne, Australia, to compete in the world finals!

If you know the coaches on these sidelines, you knew the intensity was going to be at maximum capacity from the opening tip.

The Rim Rockers struck first, opening up a 16-8 lead eight minutes into the game. Gabe Phillips led the charge with 10 first-half points to give Rim Rockers a 29-25 advantage at halftime.

Death Row completely flipped the script in the second half, storming back to build a double-digit lead. Their dynamic young duo of Lamont Green and Amari Almodovar took over, pouring in 15 and 9 second-half points, respectively.

Trailing 60-49 at the 4:06 mark, Coach Tony Wade and the Rim Rockers refused to lay down. Melo Mojeed followed up an unbelievable four-point play with a game-tying three-pointer with just 2.9 seconds remaining, capping a furious 21-10 run to send us into overtime!

In the extra period, however, Rim Rockers simply had no answer for Lamont Green, who scored 8 of Death Row's 10 overtime points to seal the victory.

On paper, this matchup between the defending champion Road to Riches and winless Team Gator shouldn't have been close. But you still have to play the game, and Team Gator came out looking like the hungrier squad. Behind Jahlil Owusu’s 9 first-half points, Gator took a 27-25 edge into the break.

Road to Riches finally woke up in the second half—specifically Kamari Whyte, who went on an absolute tear, scoring 22 of his game-high 28 points after halftime. He got key help from Skye Ragoo, who added 13 points (10 in the second half).

Road to Riches built a 12-point cushion with one minute remaining, but careless play by the bench unit allowed Team Gator to mount a frantic late comeback. Leading 69-66 with three seconds left, Road to Riches turned the ball over on the inbound pass, giving Team Gator one last shot to tie it. Fortunately for the champs, Gator's final three-point attempt didn't hit rim, and Road to Riches survived to advance.

The nightcap between top-seeded LPAC and two-time champion OTN turned into an instant classic.

LPAC’s trio of Brice Yancey (11 points), Amadou Barry (10 points), and Larry Jenkins (7 points) combined for 27 of LPAC’s 32 first-half points. For OTN, Najay Bess carried the offensive load with 13 first-half points as OTN trailed 32-29 at the break.

In the second half, LPAC stretched their lead to eight, but OTN stayed within striking distance, even reclaiming the lead briefly down the stretch. Trailing 50-47 with eight seconds left and having to go the length of the floor, OTN got the ball to Bess, who buried a cold-blooded corner three at the buzzer to send the game into overtime!

In the first overtime period, both squads went scoreless over the final minute. Deadlocked at 56 with six seconds on the clock, OTN had a chance to win it, but their last-second three-point heave missed the mark, sending us into double overtime.

In double OT, Amadou Barry scored the lone field goal for LPAC, and Brice Yancey sank 1-of-2 from the charity stripe with three seconds left to give LPAC a 59-56 lead. OTN had one final opportunity to force a third overtime, but their desperation three fell short as time expired.

Tonight, we wrap up our Elite Eight matchups at the Red Carpet of Streetball:

As always, thank you for tapping into the Dyckman Dispatch! 🗞️

-Miguel signing out, Peace ✌️