Peach Jam Wrap Ups - CHAMPIONSHIPS BREAKDOWN

Championship Sunday at Peach Jam was nothing shy of its magical tradition, read and see how it played out.

NIKE EYBL E16 Championship BBE (74) vs CP3 (67)

The anticipated final day of Peach Jam was finally upon us, and commencing championship Sunday are the elites of E15, Brad Beal Elite vs Team CP3. Brad Beal Elite (BBE) entered in as the slight favorites, sustaining an undefeated record (4-0), entering in with one loss CP3 defeated its quarter and semi-final opponents by 7 points or more.

There were question marks surrounding Team BB3's leading scorer, Miikka Muurinen who the day before had to be carted off on a stretcher, due to a neck injury after a hard foul vs Team Durant. Despite the absences of Muurinen, BBE continued their success defeating semi's opponent, Pro SKills by 14 points. Guards Trey Pearson and JJ Andrews combined 49 points while shooting an efficient 80% or better from the free-throw line. However, his scary moment the day before Muurinen cracked the starting lineup in the E16 championship. Aside from the visible kinesiology tape on his neck, his play was untampered, shooting perfectly from the field in the first half.

The blistering start by Muurinen did not phase Team CP3, benefiting from great guard play and team defense the two respective teams were notted up 27 all heading into halftime. CP3's guards, Dionte Neal and Nathaniel Williams kept their team in the thick of things combining for 14 assists and 27 points. Coleman Cloer, the no.1 2026 player in North Carolina added 15 points and 5 rebounds. With the game tied 67 all with 48.8 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, CP3 succumbed to two untimely that led to their demise.

NIKE EYBL 17 Championship Night Rydas (71) vs Oakland Soldiers (62)

Cameron Boozer and the Nightrydas ride an elite defense to finish their quest for the first-ever three-peat in Nike EYBL history against the highly touted Oakland Soldiers. The Nightrydas held Oakland to just 36% from the field and finished with nine blocks. 

Cameron Boozer was the best player on the floor for the Nightrydas. Boozer finished with a double-double scoring 19 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. He missed just one shot from the field and was a go-to player on the offensive end. His most impressive moment came in the fourth quarter when it was a 66-60 game. Boozer went one-on-one against Tyran Stokes and finished with a tough layup against him giving the Nightrydas a much-needed cushion with 1:20 left in the game. It allowed the Nightrydas to pull away and seal the championship. 

Dybansta did all he could and kept the Oakland Soldiers in the game when they struggled to get it going offensively early on. He was a constant scoring punch. The Soldiers scored just 29 points through the first two quarters. Dybansta scored 25 points and single-handedly took over in the third quarter getting his team back in the game and cutting the double-digit deficit to just 55-51 heading into the fourth quarter. He remained aggressive on the attack but was 10-26 from the field and the Nightrydas weren’t going to let him beat them. 

Stokes finished with 22 points and nine rebounds and also had a tough day from the field shooting 8-19 from the field. Outside of the two stars, Oakland couldn’t muster up a lot of scoring from their other players. The only other player who finished in double figures was Christopher Nwuli who had 10. Dybansta and Stokes combined for 76% of the scoring on Sunday. 

Dante Allen led the Nightrydas in scoring with 21 points. Allen pushed the tempo and got out in transition for his buckets throughout the game. He also went 3-4 from three-point range and shot 62% from the field. 

Caleb Wilson was the most impressive player defensively in the game. He finished with six blocks on defense. On the individual level, he was tasked with switching and guarding Stokes and Dybansta. Dybansta is a prolific three-level scorer who is tough to stay in front of and stop. There were multiple times during the game where he defended him and altered his shot or sent it into the rafters. Every time I’ve seen Wilson he has improved a facet of his game and looks more and more comfortable among the best in the country. He proved on Sunday that he is a potential program changer at the next level.

Nightrydas had a great defensive plan set up against Oakland. They swarmed the paint with their length and athleticism and made Oakland stars take difficult contested shots. Some of it you can’t control because Stokes and Dybansta are just that good but the way they swarmed and sent different looks made it tough to get a beat on what they were doing. 

Both teams gave us a great battle in one of the best matchups you will see in AAU basketball where the stars were stars and the game came down to the end. 

NIKE EYBL E15 Championship AZ Unity (52) vs Team Why Not (53)

This game perfectly personified what Peach Jam is all about, Team Why Not, trailed AZ Unity by 11 points at halftime, while also finding themselves down 1 with 6 seconds in the fourth quarter and still miraculously won the game. How do you ask? Let me explain. Dylan Northcutt hit the biggest shot of the tournament making a half-court bank shot to answer Unity's Lorenzo Diamond three-pointer in dramatic fashion causing pandemonium. Northcutt's game-winning shot at half-court was his first and only three-point attempt for the game, he would finish the game with 7 points and 2 defensive rebounds.

Starting very slow offensively, the #6 offensive rated squad, Team Why Not shot a meager 31 percent from the field while going 0-5 from three. Better fortunes arose for Why Not leaning on their defense which flipped the script on AZ offense degrading their efficient 64 percent to 25 percent from the field. Aside from Lorenzo Diamond, Delton Prescott and Darius Washington found themselves in double figures also combining for 25 in the losing effort.

Imosing their will on the offensive boards Team Why Not ended the contest plus 10,13-3. Malcom Price led Why Not in points with 11. Price played a key factor in Why Not Making It to championship Sunday knocking down big shot after big shot, his biggest moment of the weekend occurred against Team Durant in the semi-finals when he tallied an efficient 16 points on 70 percent shooting.

Peach Jam has long been a pipeline of elite talent and is often where amateur athletes garner attention from high-major collegiate coaches and or increase the momentum surrounding their brands. So much so that previous players who are now NBA or top college stars come back annually to mentor tomorrow's stars. Approximately 55 percent of American-born players have played in Peach Jam.