Sundays at the Danny Rumph Classic are highlighted by the tournament’s semifinals as the final four teams battle it out for spots in Monday’s championship game. This year, there was an added twist to the Sunday festivities.
Before playoff action resumed, the Rumph debuted its first ever Women’s Prop Showcase, shining a spotlight on some of the best women’s talent to come out of the area as Philadelphia continues to prove it’s a town that cares about its women’s hoops.
Women’s Pro Showcase
Primetime Development was able to defeat For the Love of Basketball, 49-44, in a closely contested game behind a 13-point effort from former USC Trojans guard Aliyah Jeune.
There was plenty of talent on both sides of the court with Primetime Development featuring players from Hofstra and DePaul, William, while For the Love of Basketball featured many players from the host of the tournament, Community College of Philadelphia.
Game One
8EYE delivered the surprise of the day in Sunday’s action, replacing Philadelphia 76ers center Paul Reed with Dallas Mavericks guard Jordan “Jelly” Walker for their semifinal against Basketball Finders. As expected, Walker put on a show.
Jelly got off to a slow start, scoring eight points in the first half while some observers told him to pass the ball. They were singing a different song in the second half, though, when Walker scored 32 second-half points, and let it be known he heard what was being said.
Walker’s 40 points were enough to send 8EYE to tomorrow’s final with a 100-94 comeback victory.
Justin “Somebody’s Boss” Jaworski refused to go down without a fight, scoring 31 of his own.
Despite Jaworski’s efforts, Walker’s clutch shots down the stretch, including a 3-pointer with less than 15 seconds to go, effectively ended Basketball Finders’ hopes for a Rumph title.
Game Two
Playing without the dynamic duo of Bones Hyland and Eric Ayala, CheckRock had a tough task ahead to advance to Monday’s championship game, especially against LOE and the duo of Lamar Stevens and Tony Carr. Following a great 24-point first-half performance from Izaiah Brockington, LOE came back to win 105-85.
Carr and Stevens have been hot all tournament. Sunday was no different with Carr winning player of the game honors, scoring 28 points to Stevens ‘s 12.
Ahmad Gilbert even added to the statement win with 27 points to seal the deal.
