{"id":101812,"date":"2015-05-04T06:38:20","date_gmt":"2015-05-04T13:38:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bilcomprd.wpengine.com\/?p=101812"},"modified":"2023-03-21T14:04:12","modified_gmt":"2023-03-21T21:04:12","slug":"maker-leads-team-elite-to-win-at-2015-ballislife-all-american-game-recap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ballislife.com\/maker-leads-team-elite-to-win-at-2015-ballislife-all-american-game-recap\/","title":{"rendered":"Thon Maker & Skal Labissierre Win MVP Awards at the 5th Annual Ballislife All-American Game"},"content":{"rendered":"

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MVP Thon Maker and Malik Beasley lead Team Elite to a 113-110 victory over Team Future at the 2015 Ballislife All-American Game. Team Future makes a second half comeback only to have a last-second 3-point attempt fall short.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Long Beach, Calif. --<\/em> It looked like the 5th Annual Ballislife All-American Game<\/strong> presented by U.S. Army<\/em> was going to be one of those old-fashioned all-star games where one team doesn't get back in transition and gets blown out.<\/p>\n

It happened to Team Future, as Team Elite jumped out to a quick double-digit lead and grew its lead to as big as 26 points, 49-23, in the first half. In the second half, however, Team Future made a spirited comeback and eventually took the lead at 108-107 on a layup by Dwayne Bacon<\/strong> of Oak Hill Academy (Mouth of Wilson, Va.) with 1:03 remaining in the game. It actually took a 3-point lead, but Team Elite executed better down the stretch to pull out a 113-110 victory before a near capacity crowd and a live broadcast on CBS Sports Network at Long Beach (Calif.) City College.<\/p>\n

The clinching points came on a dunk by Thon Maker<\/strong> of Orangeville Prep (Mono, Ontario, Can.) off a pretty dish by Donovan Mitchell<\/strong> of Brewster Academy (Wolfeboro, N.H.). Team Future had the ball one final time with a chance to tie with 9.7 seconds remaining. Isaiah Briscoe<\/strong> of Roselle Catholic (Roselle, N.J.) fired a 3-pointer that was just long. The rebound caromed long and the ball ended up in the hands of Oregon-State bound Stevie Thompson Jr.<\/strong> of Bishop Montgomery (Torrance, Calif.), whose 3-pointer was short as the buzzer sounded.<\/p>\n

\"I just want to keep my eyes open and I enjoyed this opportunity to play,\" said Maker, who was named Team Elite MVP with 17 points (8-of-10 shooting), six rebounds and three blocked shots. \"I want to be myself and play the right way. Getting the win was also important.\"<\/p>\n

Also leading the winning team was Malik Beasley<\/strong> of St. Francis (Alpharetta, Ga.). The Florida St.-bound shooting guard finished with a game-high 22 points on 9-of-18 shooting.<\/p>\n

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Helping Team Future get back in the game from its 63-47 halftime deficit was Bacon -- another Leonard Hamilton recruit headed to Florida State. Bacon finished with 20 points, including 15 after intermission. Briscoe also had 20 points for Team Future.<\/p>\n

The game's most consistent player was Team Future's Skal Labissierre<\/strong> of Reach Your Dreams (Memphis, Tenn.). The 6-foot-11 Kentucky-bound forward had 16 points (eight in each half) and controlled the boards. He finished with 16 rebounds, with eight in the first half and eight in the second.<\/p>\n

\"We had to get out of the all-star game mentality after halftime,\" Labissierre said. \"It was a fun experience and a good way to go out.\"<\/p>\n

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\nFuture NBA lottery picks & 2014 Ballislife All-American Game Alums Kelly Oubre and Stanley Johnson assisting coach Dinos Trigonis in the huddle.<\/p>\n

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DUNK & 3-POINT CONTEST PRESENTED BY EASTBAY<\/h3>\n

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In a development that surprised no one who watched the practices leading up to Saturday's festivities, UNLV commit Derrick Jones<\/strong> of Archbishop Carrol (Radnor, Pa.) won the Ballislife Slam Dunk Contest presented by Eastbay<\/em> with three perfect score dunks of 50. Two of Jones' dunks were so fluid and spectacular the BIL judges didn't exactly know how to score them until they realized the crowd reaction. Jones defeated Mithcell in the final. Mitchell advanced with a combined score of 96 points on two dunks.<\/p>\n

Jones, one of the few players who was a legitimate gripe about not being selected for the McDonald's All-American Game, has no doubt he would have won the dunk contest in Chicago or at any other national all-star game.<\/p>\n

\"I don't lose too many dunk contests,\" said Jones, who hit a growth spurt in middle school and began dunking prior to the start of eighth grade. \"It's what I do.\"<\/p>\n

3 POINT CONTEST<\/strong><\/p>\n

Briscoe won the 3-Point Contest presented by Eastbay over Maker, who hit 8 out of 8 in a tie breaker to advance to the final round. Briscoe was confident, purposely not finishing the final two racks after taking the scoring lead in the first round with 11 points. In the final, Briscoe bested Maker on the last rack and said, \"I'm the best 3-point shooter in the country\" when interviewed after the contest.<\/p>\n