Bradley Beal Elite had one goal entering last weekend’s Nike EYBL Session 4 in Kansas City, and with a fantastic finish, BBE ensured they’ll have a place at Nike’s signature tournament this summer.

Terron Garrett buried a three with one tenth of a second left and the BBE 17U Boys completed an epic comeback in KC, defeating Team United 65-63. Bradley Beal Elite ended up winning their final three games after losing their first two, to clinch an automatic bid to Nike’s Peach Jam, July 13-21 in Augusta, South Carolina.

BBE 17U’s 3-2 record in Session 4 pushed them to 10-5 overall over the four sessions, earning one of nine automatic bids to Peach Jam. A loss to Team United would have put them in a tenuous position, but Garrett’s buzzer beater instead put them in with ease.

While Garrett’s shot helped to save the day, the story of the weekend for 17U was the play of Zyree Collins, who continued to raise his game, averaging 18.8 points, 2.6 assists and two steals per game. Collins knocked down nearly 60 percent of attempts from the field (35-of-59) and also buried 41 percent from deep (9-of-33).

BBE opened the weekend with a tough 56-53 defeat at the hands of Team Takeover. Garrett had his best game of the tournament in that one, tallying a team-high 14 points while Luke Walsh buried three triples. Walsh was outstanding from long range all weekend, knocking down better than 45 percent of his three-point attempts (11-of-24) while averaging 8.2 points per game.

Game 2 saw Collins go for 18 points and Tristian Ford added 14 points, but Oakland Soldiers came out on top 68-61. However, BBE bounced back later that same day as Ford posted a game-high 19 points on 8-of-13 shooting in a 72-62 win over Team Herro. Ford was the only other member of the 17U team to eclipse 10 ppg over the weekend (11.6). He also had three blocks and three assists in the win.

Collins added 18 points on 7-of-10 and Walsh knocked down three more triples to finish with 13 points.

The fourth game of the weekend saw Collins go off with one of the best games of his young career, piling up 26 points on 9-of-13 with five assists in a 70-66 victory over Team Durant.

Nicholas Randall had eight points and seven boards in the win and averaged 4.6 rebounds per game over the weekend.

The win over Team Durant gave BBE a chance to clinch their Peach Jam spot and some momentum going into the weekend finale against Team United, but they fell behind early and had to make a second half comeback just to give Garrett a chance for the three that booked their spot in South Carolina.

While 17U clinched Peach Jam, 16U continued their excellent 2024 season, winning both games they played in Kansas City by double digits.

On Saturday they scored a 83-71 win over Mac Irvin Fire behind 25 points from Jamison White and 22 from Jaylan Mitchell. JJ Andrews added 15 points and 13 rebounds in the win.

White turned heads by knocking down 10-of-14 from the field and getting to his spots all over the floor while Mitchell earned praise for his inside-out game and balance, and Andrews impressed with his ability to impact the game in a variety of ways while his teammates took on the scoring load.

It was a different cast of characters making the most impact in BBE 16U’s other win, an 81-66 triumph over Nightrydas Elite with Miika Muurinen scoring 22 points on 9-of-15 shooting and Trey Pearson adding 14 points.

Although BBE’s 15U squad came up empty in the win column in KC it wasn’t through lack of effort as Scottie Adkinson and Jimmy Mckinney, each averaged 16 points per game. Adkinson shot 53 percent from the field (18-of-34) and added 2.3 assists and 3.3 rebounds per game while Mckinney pulled down five boards per game.

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