A dramatic close to the Cream of the Crop Top 30 All-Star Game and a well-played Cream of the Crop Top 70 game capped a deep and talented 2024 Pangos All-East Frosh/Soph Camp at the NBN Sports Academy (Wilmington, Del.). A A slick guard and a powerful forward named co-MVPs among 240 campers.
The Pangos All-East Frosh/Soph Camp traditionally closes out the Pangos Frosh/Soph series of four camps each fall and usually is the camp with the most interior size. Among 240 participants from 15 states, plus the District of Columbia and Canada, this year was no different. There was at least 16 players 6-foot-8 and over and the one who had everyone talking at the conclusion of this year’s East camp was 7-foot sophomore (2027) Theophilous Edema of Cushing Academy (Ashburnham, Mass.).
In looked like the easy-going big was going to be the goat of the event after he missed a point-blank chippie two-hand lay-up near the end of regulation that would have given the Black jersey-wearing club the victory over the White jersey-wearing club in the Cream of the Crop Top 30 All-Star Game reserved for the camp’s best players.
The crowd assembled to close the camp let out a collective groan when the big fella missed the chippie to send the game into sudden death overtime (first basket wins) tied at 62-62. But at the end of the day, he ended up being the hero with his incredible display of determination to grab offensive rebounds to keep the possession with his team and thwart the white club’s offensive attack with an incredible display of blocked shots.
In the final minute of the contest, the rules stipulated automatic 1-and-1 free throws on a foul in order to keep the game moving and to let the players decide the play with their talent. For some unexplained reason, however, the referees decided there would be no shooting fouls in the sudden death and that a made basket would decide it. Predictably there was physical defense played and the white club had plenty of prime opportunities to seal the game, but Edema wouldn’t allow that to happen after his offensive mishap. He also rebounded the ball like a madman to keep his team’s offensive possessions alive, but it couldn’t convert either.
Edema, an upright big who goes after balls well outside his area but is a work in progress on the offensive end, blocked a series of shots during sudden death, including a few where he went high outside his regular defensive assignment. To give one an idea of his effort, Edema (a native of Nigeria) had three blocked shots in regulation, including one near the end, but ended the game with nine. He also had 11 rebounds, two steals and two baskets.
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