Deveroes Summer League: Playoffs--Semi-Final

SLATS 78, SuperiorCars.com 77

Incoming UC scoring sensation and soon-to-be media circus, Lance Stevenson was in the building at Woodward High School on Saturday, but remained in street clothes and on the bench. Nonetheless, fans were treated by a scoring outpour from another UC recruit, Sean Kilpatrick,who dropped 40 points in a one-point game against Superior in the semifinal round of the Deveroes Summer League Playoffs.

Kilpatrick caught fire early, racking up 28 first-half points, and kept SLATS in the game despite a cold-shooting first half by point guard Dion Dixon and a generally lethargic first-half effort from the Oak Tree, Yancy Gates.

Superior started five Division I players---Dante Jackson (Xavier), Anthony “Biggie” McLean (UC), Vince “Captain” Cook (Miami, OH), Jason Love (Xavier) and Deonta Vaughn (UC)---and looked like the better team for much of the game. But once Dixon settled down, and Gates woke up, SLATS gained the momentum late and edged out a great win.

The last two minutes was an intense, back-and-forth affair that saw Dante Jackson and his magical mustache drive hard for a basket plus the foul that put his team up five with 1:47 left.

With their backs against the wall, SLATS turned to outside shooting but from an unlikely source in center Yancy Gates who knocked down three second-half 3-pointers, including one in crunch-time to put his team up by one.

Superior reserve guard Armon Basset, hit a huge jumper to regain the lead by two points with under a minute to play, but then turned the ball over after a defensive stop on the next possession; a play that proved to seal their fate.

Kilpatrick then took the ball aggressively to the rim for the score and the foul and completed the three-point play, giving SLATS the lead.

Deonta Vaughn got off a good-looking three-point attempt with under five seconds left, but the shot rattled off and bounced out of bounds.

Observations:

Sean Kilpatrick flows with the game and puts up bunches of points naturally instead of dictating the pace and the ball like so many other players in this league. He moves very well without the ball and has a smooth, quick release that doesn't need much space to be effective. He plays solid face-up defense and rebounds well for a guard. Killa averaged 22.1 points for the season and was 20-51 from 3-point land.

Yancy Gates has shot from the outside almost exclusively in the last three games and has actually shown a bit of stroke from 18 feet and farther. It's unlikely Yancy will be encouraged to demonstrate this kind of shot selection during the college season, so he might as well show off his range in the DSL.

Dante Jackson plays some mean defense. Jackson disrupted Dixon in every facet of his game during the first half, and when he switched to Kilpatrick in the second, Killa appeared less deadly. Dante showed more intensity and seriousness than any other player that I've seen in this tournament. His shooting looks sharp and he clearly has the respect of his peers. Even Deonta Vaughn took a back seat to Jackson within the offense. I would look for Jackson and his Chris-Paul-stache to raise his game this upcoming season for X.