2008 MBI Champions

The 2008 Mr. Basketball Invitational featured 32 prep boys all-star teams from 11 states from Arizona to Wisconsin. The Wisconsin Playground Warriors came out on top, going 8-0 en route to the Mr. Basketball Invitational title. Congrats to tournament MVP Kameron Cerroni, a 6-2 Jr., from Hamilton High School in Milwaukee, Wis.

Wisconsin wins Mr. BB crown

By CHRIS BASNETT, Hub Sports Writer

07/06/2008

KEARNEY — Bud Thomas got in foul trouble, and the Wisconsin Playground Warriors went to work.

With the Colorado Hawks’ leading scorer on the bench with four fouls, Wisconsin went on a 15-4 run to erase a seven-point deficit and win the championship of the Mr. Basketball Invitational 67-62 Sunday at the University of Nebraska at Kearney Health and Sports Center.

The Warriors are the third Wisconsin team in the last seven years to win the Mr. Basketball title.

But for much of the second half, it didn’t look like it would happen.

Wisconsin led by as many as nine early on before Thomas and Jeff Hampton got hot for Colorado.

The duo combined for 47 of Colorado’s 62 points and 15 of the team’s 26 rebounds.

Colorado outscored Wisconsin 32-19 over the last 10:30 of the first half, and led by seven with less than nine minutes left in the game when Thomas picked up his fourth foul.

Thomas, the third-leading scorer in the tournament at 21 points a game, finished with 23 points and 10 rebounds for Colorado.

Hampton finished with a game-high 24 point on 9-of-18 shooting for the Hawks.

But the rest of the team finished a combined 7-of-27 from the floor.

With Thomas on the bench, Wisconsin went on a 13-2 run in the next two and a half minutes to retake the lead.

Thomas came back in and scored six points in a 10-0 Colorado run to give the Hawks a 62-58 lead with 2:20 to go, but Wisconsin ended the game on a 9-0 run.

Wisconsin put four players in double figures, led by Kameron Cerroni’s 15 points. Chimakinda Kadima added 14 points while T.J. Bray and Brandon Pritzl each had 10.

Cerroni also had a team-high seven rebounds for Wisconsin, which hit 11 3-pointers and went 14-of-18 at the free throw line. Wisconsin outscored Colorado 47-12 from those two areas.

WISCONSIN 67, COLORADO 62

WISCONSIN — Derek Schell 2-4 0-0 6, Taylor Cameron 2-4 0-0 5, T.J. Bray 1-4 8-8 10, Kameron Cerroni 5-12 0-0 15, Brandon Pritzl 4-11 1-2 10, Chimakinda Kadima 6-12 0-0 14, Cal Reindl 0-2 2-2 2, Evan Anderson 1-3 3-4 5. Totals 21-52 14-18 67.

COLORADO — Louis Riley 0-7 0-0 0, Alexander Merriex 1-2 0-0 2, Andre Marquez 4-10 0-0 9, Billy Sprague 2-8 0-0 4, Jeff Hampton 9-18 1-2 24, Bud Thomas 10-14 3-4 23. Totals 26-59 4-6 62.

Halftime — Colorado 37, Wisconsin 33.

3-point goals — Wisconsin 11-27 (Cerroni 5-10, Kadima 2-5, Schell 2-3, Pritzl 1-4, Cameron 1-2, Bray 0-3), Colorado 6-16 (Hampton 5-7, Marquez 1-4, Riley 0-3, Merriex 0-1, Sprague 0-1). Rebounds — Wisconsin 36 (Cerroni 7), Colorado 26 (Thomas 10). Total Fouls — Wisconsin 11, Colorado 13. Fouled Out — None. Turnovers — Wisconsin 7, Colorado 3. Blocked Shots — Wisconsin 1 (Anderson), Colorado none.

Grade Ht. Player Hometown High School Tourn PPG
Jr 5-11 Derek Schell Waukesha, WI Catholic Memorial 9.4
Jr 6-4 Taylor Cameron Oshkosh, WI Oshkosh 5.4
Jr 6-3 T.J. Bray Waukesha, WI Catholic Memorial 9.5
Jr 6-2 Kameron Cerroni Milwaukee, WI Hamilton 17.6
Jr 6-2 Brandon Pritzl DePere, WI DePere 8.5
Jr 6-4 Chimankinda Kadima Milwaukee, WI Milwaukee Lutheran 12.0
Jr 6-6 Cal Reindl Manitowoc, WI Manitowoc Lincoln 4.8
Jr 6-11 Evan Anderson Eau Claire, WI Eau Claire North 9.9