Day One of the 33rd Annual Madisonville Dust Bowl Basketball Tournament took place on Friday, and if the day’s results are any indication, the city is in for an exciting weekend.
“We had good games tonight,” said Eric Logan, founder of Light of Chance, Inc., the non-profit organization hosting the event. “You want it to be competitive, that’s what people want to see, and I think (Friday night) delivered on that.”
The tournament attracted players from all levels of the game, making for quite the showcase of talent.
“I’ve got a week or two left until college, and I get to get out here and just play with my buddies and stuff,” said recent Webster County grad and incoming Bethel University freshman Cayden Edmonson.
“I was raised here, it’s where my family lives,” said D.J. Washington, a Browning Springs alum and member of the West Kentucky Community and Technical College basketball team. “My close friends throughout middle school asked me to play, so I decided to play with them.”
“It reminds me of Rucker Park,” said Albert Jackson, an Earlington native and University of Georgia alum who just finished a season in Argentina. “They have that same vibe and that same atmosphere. It’s the best Dust Bowl in Kentucky, and there’s no better atmosphere to play in, especially when it comes to street ball.”
Players took to the court under the lights as the night wore on, playing to the tune of non-stop music and an MC providing commentary throughout the contests.
The more casual format of the tournament allowed for games with less foul calls, less set plays, and more of a chance for the players to just play the game their way.
“(Webster) Coach (Jon) Newton, he loved me to be post only, and I like to try everything else to be able to get my college game better,” Edmonson said.
“You can talk a little smack, and out here you only get a technical,” Washington said. “They try to keep the game clean, but it’s just fun, it’s fun to go out and just play our game without having all the little rules and stuff.”
In the first game of the night, Edmonson’s team, the Splash Brothers, defeated the Locals 56-31, as Edmonson put up 11 points while Javin Goodrich led the team with 14.
“We’ve always got to win,” Edmonson said. “Just keep winning and we win it all, hopefully.”
In Game Two, Washington and Money Team defeated One Way by a close margin of 47-42, as Washington made some clutch free throws at the end to seal the victory.
“In the first half, we struggled hitting our free throws,” Washington said. “Since we started hitting our free throws, we had a way to come back in the game, we broke the lead down a little bit, started playing defense and finishing our shots.”
But the real highlight of the night was the final game, where Jackson and the defending champion, GH3, took on a team called the Young Kingz, which featured recent Madisonville-North Hopkins grad and incoming University of Evansville freshman Jaiveon Eaves.
The Kingz gave GH3 an unexpected run for their money, taking multiple double-digit leads on them and fighting them to a standstill at halftime.
The Kingz took a multi-basket lead into the final minute of the game, but against all odds, GH3 managed to get the win, 53-52, scoring two baskets in the final twenty seconds, including a put-back shot by Jackson after he missed two free throws.
“In my head, I was like, I missed the first one, we were down by three, so I felt like I had to miss the second one so we could have a chance at a rebound,” Jackson said. “Luckily, it bounced off the rim right, and bounced high enough, and I had time to go get the rebound, and it just worked out in our favor.”
The bulk of play is yet to come, as games are scheduled to start at 9 a.m. on Saturday and continue until 10 p.m., and expectations are that the competition is only going to get better from here.
“This is the smallest night, and we still had a really good crowd,” Logan said. “So it’s going to be another big weekend.”
“There’s a few more great teams, a few more great players,” Jackson said. “Anthony Hickey, played at LSU then went to Oklahoma State and played overseas also, this year he’ll be down with a team from Hopkinsville. JaQuan Lyle, from Evansville, that plays at Ohio State, he’s bringing a team down. So there’s going to be some good games, it’s going to be competitive, but I definitely would put my money on GH3.”
Jesse Mayfield-Sheehan
Messenger Sports Writer
jmayfield-sheehan@the-messenger.com