by Alex Schwartz

The Boost Mobile Elite 24 Classic featured some of the best basketball players in the world, as there was even a top baller from outside of America, Tristan Thompson '10 who attends St. Benedict's (NJ). There was also a lot of local flavor in the game: Lance Stephenson '09 of Lincoln (NY), Durand Scott '09 of Rice (NY), Doron Lamb '10 formerly of Bishop Loughlin (NY), Maalik Wayns '09 of Roman Catholic (PA), Dion Waiters '10 who is from Pennsylvania and will likely be going to school at Life Center Academy (NJ), Dexter Strickland '09 of St. Patrick's (NJ), Dominic Cheek '09 of St. Anthony's (NJ), and the aforementioned Tristan Thompson '10 of St. Benedict's (NJ). Here's a rundown of the actual roster by team from the game:

Notes:
Bold= Co-MVP of Game
*= Alternate
**= Dunk Contest Champ

WHITE/THE GOAT
Number, Name, Class, Height, Position, High School, College
#0 Durand Scott, 2009, 6'4, Shooting Guard, Rice (NY), Uncommitted
#1 Lance Stephenson, 2009, 6'5, Shooting Guard, Lincoln (NY), Uncommitted
#2 Dion Waiters, 2010, 6'4, Shooting Guard, TBD, Syracuse*
#5 Brandon Knight, 2010, 6'3, Point Guard, Pine Crest (FL), Uncommitted
#6 Nolan Dennis, 2009, 6'6, Shooting Guard, Richland Hills North (TX), Memphis*
#8 Maalik Wayns, 2009, 6'1, Point Guard, Roman Catholic (PA), Villanova
#9 Dexter Strickland, 2009, 6'2, Combo Guard, St. Patrick's (NJ), North Carolina**
#10 Abdul Gaddy, 2009, 6'3, Point Guard, Bellarmine Prep (WA), Uncommitted
#21 Jeremy Tyler, 2010, 6'9, Power Forward/Center, San Diego (CA), Uncommitted
#32 Jared Sullinger, 2010, 6'8, Power Forward, Northland (OH), Ohio State
#43 Tristan Thompson, 2010, 6'9, Power Forward, St. Benedict's (NJ), Texas
#50 Erik Murphy, 2009, 6'10, Power Forward, St. Mark's (MA), Florida

BLUE/SKIP TO MY LOU
Number, Name, Class, Height, Position, High School, College
#0 Trae Golden, 2010, 6'2, Point Guard, McEachern (GA), Uncommitted
#1 Dominic Cheek, 2009, 6'5, Shooting Guard, St. Anthony's (NJ), Uncommitted
#2 Tony Wroten, Jr., 2011, 6'5, Shooting Guard, Garfield (WA), Uncommitted
#3 Kenny Boynton, 2009, 6'3, Combo Guard, American Heritage (FL), Uncommitted
#4 Derrick Favors, 2009, 6'9, Power Forward/Center, South Atlanta (GA), Uncommitted
#9 Doron Lamb, 2010, 6'4, Point Guard, Oak Hill Academy (VA), Uncommitted
#10 John Wall, 2009, 6'2, Point Guard, Word of God (NC), Uncommitted
#17 LaQuinton Ross, 2011, 6'8, Shooting Guard, Murrah (MS), Uncommitted
#21 Karron Johnson, 2009, 6'7, Power Forward, Mt. Zion Academy (NC), Uncommitted
#23 Jordan Hamilton, 2009, 6'7, Small Forward, Dominguez (CA), Uncommitted
#33 Ryan Kelly, 2009, 6'9, Power Forward, Ravenscroft (NC), Uncommitted
#50 Josh Smith, 2010, 6'10, Center, Kentwood (WA), Uncommitted

The Boost Mobile Elite 24 Classic began with a slam dunk contest, competed in by Dexter Strickland '09, Jeremy Tyler '10, Jordan Hamilton '09, and Dominic Cheek '09. Strickland and Hamilton advanced to the finals. Dexter was the top scorer in the initial round, as was also the best dunker in the championship, winning the inaugural Boost Mobile Elite 24 Slam Dunk Contest. About an hour after the completion of the dunk contest came the actual game, and it began with a bang!

Dexter Strickland, Brandon Knight, Tristan Thompson, Lance Stephenson, and Jeremy Tyler started for the White team, while Ryan Kelly, Derrick Favors, Dominic Cheek, Kenny Boynton, and John Wall were on the floor for the top for the Blue team. Cheek opened up the game's scoring and actually had a number of buckets in the first few minutes. It was Lance Stephenson, though, who immediately stole the show. Under two minutes into the game, "Born Ready" crossed up John Wall and banged in a trey, immediately getting the New York City crowd on his side at Rucker Park in Harlem. That led to the first of three one-on-one battles involving Stephenson, as it became a matchup at both ends between Stephenson and Wall. Lance won the back-and-forth competition, but it was not nearly as intense as his next two.

Near the end of the first half it became a Stephenson/Wroten, Jr. showdown. The battle was in some ways reminiscent of Stephenson challenging OJ Mayo '07, the all-everything prospect at the time who was two years above him, at a summer event four years ago. Wroten, Jr. and Stephenson went at it about three plays in a row on both ends of the floor. Although Lance probably ended up on top, Tony more than held his own. The rising sophomore fouled "Born Ready" once or twice, but did mangae to keep him in front of him most of the time. At one point, Wroten forced a turnover, and then turned around and started clapping in Lance's face, and the Big Apple born-and-raised Stephenson shook his head as he walked back down the court. It was clearly intense between the two, and was quite a show.

At halftime, the score was a bit of a shock, with the White squad leading 62-56. Just one day earlier the team had been blow out by 30 in the scrimmage, but that day, the team did not have Lance Stephenson or Tristan Thompson on the floor. The game was tight, and it was exciting to watch. The crowd was really getting into it. Maalik Wayns and Lance Stephenson became fan favorites and all but stole the show. John Wall was also great in the first half.

In the second half, some other players stepped up as well, including Dexter Strickland, Derrick Favors, Josh Smith, and Durand Scott. The Blue squad slowly cut the lead down, and eventually took the advantage in the affair. The main show though, was Lance Stephenson versus Dominic Cheek. Stephenson got Cheek with a spin move in the Empire State/Garden State showdown, got to the rack, was fouled by Cheek, hit his shot and completed the three-point play. Cheek played it off smiling, having fun. At the other end the St. Anthony's star did get some payback, as he banked in a three right in Lance's grill. Coming down the floor after that, "Born Ready" clearly called for an iso, leading his teammate Dexter Strickland to put on a smile as he cut out of the lane. Again the New Yorker got to the rack on a spin move, scored, as was fouled. Cheek smiled yet again, and this time Lance missed his free throw. The battle resumed when the ballers got back down the court, and Cheek drove right by Lance, going left, easily getting to the hole, laying the ball up and in, and getting fouled. He converted his free throw, making it 6-5 Cheek in the matchup. Stephenson got to the hole the next time down the floor, but missed, yet was fouled and hit both shots from the stripe to go up 7-6 in the showdown. Although Stephenson did have one more point, he did have an extra attempt to outshine his opponent. Cheek ended up winning the war, as his Blue team ended the 40-minute contest with a 135-121 win, in what was the lowest scoring and first non-single-digit point differential in the Elite 24 Classic's brief history. John Wall and Dominic Cheek were the MVP winners for the victors, scoring 10 and 23 points respectively. Wall's 10 points are misleading, as he had a fantastic game and was dominant from start to finish. For the White squad, Lance Stephenson and Maalik Wayns were the MVP selections, dropping 29 and 10 apiece. Much like Wall, Wayns had a great game and his point total does not show how well he played.
Here's a rundown of point totals by team in the Elite 24 Classic, and the ranking I gave each baller from the game:

WHITE/THE GOAT
#0 Durand Scott '09- 15 points, #11 ranked
#1 Lance Stephenson '09- 29 points, #2 ranked
#2 Dion Waiters '10- 8 points, #12 ranked
#5 Brandon Knight '10- 12 points, #8 ranked
#6 Nolan Dennis '09- 4 points, unranked
#8 Maalik Wayns '09- 10 points, #7 ranked
#9 Dexter Strickland '09- 17 points, #5 ranked
#10 Abdul Gaddy '09- 0 points, unranked
#21 Jeremy Tyler '10- 8 points, #15 ranked
#32 Jared Sullinger '10- 6 points, #20 ranked
#43 Tristan Thompson '10- 4 points, unranked
#50 Erik Murphy '09- 9 points, #17 ranked

BLUE/SKIP TO MY LOU
#0 Trae Golden '10- 5 points, #19 ranked
#1 Dominic Cheek '09- 23 points, #3 ranked
#2 Tony Wroten, Jr. '11- 4 points, #13 ranked
#3 Kenny Boynton '09- 16 points, #9 ranked
#4 Derrick Favors '09- 16 points, #4 ranked
#9 Doron Lamb '10- 25 points, #6 ranked
#10 John Wall '09- 10 points, #1 ranked
#17 LaQuinton Ross '11- 9 points, #16 ranked
#21 Karron Johnson '09- 4 points, #18 ranked
#23 Jordan Hamilton '09- 13 points, #10 ranked
#33 Ryan Kelly '09- 2 points, unranked
#50 Josh Smith '10- 11 points, #14 ranked

Here are some interesting notes from the point totals:

- Half of the players, 12 of them, scored in double-digits. Seven of them were on the Blue team and five were on the White team.

- There were three players with 20+ points: Doron Lamb (25) and Dominic Cheek (23) for Blue and Lance Stephenson (29) for White.

- Two of the game's MVPs, John Wall and Maalik Wayns, only had 10 points apiece.

- Both class of 2011 ballers, Tony Wroten, Jr. and LaQuinton Ross, each had under 10 points, with four and nine respectively.

- Although all-star games are generally not for big men, two them, both on the Blue team, had 10+ points. Derrick Favors had 16 points and Josh Smith had 11.

Some of the big basketball names in attendance were the following: Nate Robinson of the New York Knicks; Kyle Neptune, who played at Lehigh at now coaches at Bishop Loughlin (NY); Paris Bennett '09 of St. Patrick's (NJ); Chris Fouch '08, formerly of Rice (NY), who is heading to Drexel next year; Kevin Parrom '09 of South Kent (CT); Jimmy Salmon, the director of the Playaz Basketetball Club (NJ) AAU program; Aaron Brown '10 of St. Benedict's (NJ); Tobias Harris '10 from Long Island; Lamont Halsey, the AAU coach of Dexter Strickland with Team New Jersey ABC; and Myck Kabongo '11 of St. Benedict's (NJ).

Note- photo is from http://scouthoops.scout.com/.