WS Chronicle

Photos by Tevin Stinson

The winner of the 2015 Branded For Knowledge Basketball Classic, the Reagan Raiders, hold on to the tournament trophy following their 76-68 victory over rival Mt. Tabor on Tuesday, Dec. 15.

By Tevin Stinson

For The Chronicle

When Bobby Kimbrough Jr. started the Branded for Knowledge Basketball Classic (BFK), one of his goals was to make the tournament stand out among the many other tournaments in the area.

“I know there are a lot of basketball tournaments held in this area, but my goal was to make the BFK bigger than all of those.” Kimbrough said.

If this year’s event was any indication of the future, it is safe to say BFK is well on its way to becoming one of the premier basketball tournaments in the area.

Kimbrough agrees.

“I want this tournament to be like a community. We want to reach the student athletes outside of basketball,” he said. “That’s why we have the banquet to kick off the tournament to let the kids know there is life beyond basketball and that’s what makes this tournament better than the others.”

The three-day tournament welcomes freshmen boys from various high schools to learn the importance of teamwork and strengthening their individual levels of confidence while competing in a positive atmosphere.

During the final round of games held at Glenn High School, East Forsyth faced off against Reynolds in the first match-up, while Mt. Tabor took on a scrappy Reagan team in the championship game.

Here’s a summary of the final round of action:

East Forsyth 60, Reynolds 54: What began as a blowout quickly turned into the most exciting game of the evening. The Eagles took an early lead in the first half behind the three-point shooting of Jack Eggleston and inside scoring and rebounding of Aaron Little.

At the start of the fourth quarter the Eagles held a commanding 50-25 lead. That’s when the Demons turned up the defensive pressure with a full court press that forced East to commit multiple turnovers.

Only allowing the Eagles to score four points the entire quarter, Reynolds came roaring back and forced overtime.

In the extra period, the Demons seemed to run out of gas and the Eagles were able to add six points to escape with the victory.

Key contributors in the Demons come-back efforts were Devin Ingram, Treshawn Plater, and Will Crowley.

Reagan 76, Mt. Tabor 68: In the much-anticipated championship game, Reagan controlled the entire contest. At halftime, the Raiders held a 30-20 lead.

Kaleb Lundy handled most of the scoring duties in the first half, scoring nine of his 12 points in the first two quarters.

In the second half of the tournament, MVP Clayton Crawford took over. After only scoring four points in the first half, Crawford finished the contest with 18 points.

Behind the scoring of Crawford and others, at the start of the fourth quarter the Raiders lead had grown to twenty points.

The Spartans did fight back and cut the lead to six late in the final quarter of play but the Raiders always seemed to be one step ahead.

During the tournament, standout players for the Spartans were Aaron Muse, Andrew Muse and Bernard Miller.

With the 2015 Branded For Knowledge Classic in the books, Chief Operations Officer Denise A. Smith said the BFK staff is already working on the 2016 tournament.

“We are always thinking of ways to make the tournament better,” she said. “For the 2016 tournament we are looking to adding more entertainment to the event.”

Smith mentioned that for next year’s tournament, she is pushing to include cheerleaders as well.

BFK Classic Director of Operations Monty Gray said the game of has a way of teaching life lessons, and that is what the tournament is all about.

“The one thing that we try to tell all our kids is that you have to be disciplined. You have to be disciplined to be a good basketball player, and to be successful in the classroom,” he said. “Those two go hand in hand – that’s what we try to instill in all our participants.”