Inside Sports
With Earl Austin Jr.
The Anthony Bonner Summer Basketball League concludes this weekend with the semifinals and finals of the postseason tournament at Cardinal Ritter College Prep. Saturday’s semfinals will feature the Outlaws vs. Derrty Ent. at 2 p.m. followed by Home Grown vs. Noize City at 3:30 p.m.
The Outlaws featured a veteran crew led by former Saint Louis University stars Bonner, Erwin Claggett, former Mizzou standouts Julian Winfield and Corey Tate and prep standout DeAndre Gilmore of Cardinal Ritter. Derrty Ent. features a crew of former Vashon stars, led by Jimmy McKinney, Dwayne Polk, Nicholas Kern and Joel Shelton. Polk scored a game-high 28 points in his team’s first-round victory over Brooklyn.
In the second game, Home Grown takes on Noize City, the surprise team of the tournament. Noize City, the No. 8 seed, upset No. 1 seed and defending Bonner League champion St. Louis Stars last Saturday. Milan Pepper scored 26 points to lead Noize City. The team also features the league’s father-son team in Gerald Fulton and Gerald Fulton Jr. Gerald Sr. was a former standout at Riverview Gardens while Gerald Jr. just completed a standout football career at Hazelwood East.
Home Grown defeated the East St. Louis Ballers 65-63 on a last-second dunk by Jared Newsom, who spent the past few weeks playing with the Memphis Grizzlies’ summer league entry. Home Grown also features former SLU standouts Justin Tatum, Corey Frazier, John Redden as well as Antoine Vinson (Cardinal Ritter/Henderson St.) and Marlowe Currie (Gateway Tech/Southern Indiana).
The championship game will be held on Sunday at 2 p.m. at Cardinal Ritter.
*NBA Summer League Action – Former Cardinal Ritter and Duke University standout Chris Carrawell is playing with the Los Angeles Clippers entry in the NBA Summer League. Carrawell was the Most Valuable Player of the American Basketball Association in 2006 after leading the Rochester Razorsharks to the ABA title…Former Saint Louis University standout Marque Perry is playing for the Portland Trailblazers this summer. Perry spent the past season playing in Italy. Former Belleville East and Forest Park standout Jared Newson is playing for the Memphis Grizzlies in the Los Angeles Pro Summer League. Former University of Missouri standout Thomas Gardner is playing for the San Antonio Spurs summer entry.
*Jimmy Mac to Germany: Former Vashon High and Mizzou standout Jimmy McKinney has signed a contract to play professionally with the Deutsche Bank Skyliners of the German League. McKinney signed a two-year contract with the German club. McKinney finished his career as only one of four Mizzou players in history to have 1,100 points, 400 rebounds and 300 assists in his career.
*Camp Central: The St. Louis Games Foundation will put on its 5th Annual Basketball Camp for boys and girls (ages 7-14) at Forest Park Community College. The camp will run from July 31-August 4. Each day, the camp will run from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. The cost of the camp is $60, which includes breakfast, lunch and a t-shirt. For more information or to reserve a spot, call (314) 335-7462.
*The Harlem Globetrotters will hold a free agent camp on Aug. 18-19 in Edwardsville, Ill. The camp will be held at the Edwardsville YMCA (7348 Goshen Rd.) in the Mannie Jackson Gymnasium. Jackson, an Edwardsville native, is the Chairman and CEO of the Globetrotters. The cost of the camp is $150. For more information, call Chad Groth at (800) 641-1100 or go to the website, www.harlemglobetrotters.com. Players who are 18 years old and older, whose high school eligibility has expired are eligible to participate.