LONG BEACH >> The fourth annual Ball Is Life High School All-American game returned to Long Beach on Saturday and brought together some of the best prep talent in the nation, not to mention a few local athletes.
The event, once again held at Long Beach City College’s Hall of Champions gym, featured area standouts like Compton’s Isaiah Bailey and Iziahiah Sweeney and St. John Bosco’s Daniel Hamilton.
Sweeney made the biggest splash of the locals by taking home the dunk contest and beating the likes of Stanley Johnson (Arizona commit), Isaac Copeland (Georgetown) and Bailey (Fresno State).
“I just came out trying to win. I’ve never lost a dunk contest so that wasn’t going to change today,” Sweeney said with a grin. “And it’s big to be able to represent Compton with all these national guys here and we came out on top.”
Sweeney’s windmill (which scored a perfect 50) and 360-degree two-handed dunkin the first two rounds helped propel him to the championship round with the best score of 98. Bailey was third with 94 points entering the final round.
In the final, Sweeney and the others competed against Sir Isaac, the high-flying professional dunker (who stands 5-feet-10). Isaac performed his dunk over the 6-foot-7 Johnson. But his dunks were more of a showcase as Sweeney cruised to the title with another perfect score.
Or did he?
“I let him have that one. I’m just playing,” Bailey said with a laugh. “But I didn’t care who took it between me and him when it got to the final round, as long as one of us took it home. Just being able to represent our school and that’s my boy, so it didn’t matter in the end.”
Johnson put on a dunk clinic in the first half of the all-star game, with five crowd-pleasing jams. The game featured high-flying attempts and passes that didn’t always connect that left the crowd in awe.
But Hamilton (8 points) and Bailey’s black squad built a 72-66 lead at the half after coming back from an eight-point deficit. But in the second half, Johnson (43 points, MVP honors) led a rally that resulted in a 103-101 lead with nine minutes left. The red squad never looked back en route to a 132-123 win.
Hamilton represented Bosco in the event’s opening entertainment, the three-point shooting contest. The Connecticut-bound senior got the crowd going with 10 successful 3-pointers. But black squad teammate Tyler Ulis (Kentucky) edged out the future Huskie with 12 made three’s in the first round. Both moved onto the final round, but Ulis hit another 12, with Hamilton sinking nine, to claim the crown, and set the tone for an entertaining night.
“It was real fun today, from the three-point shooting contest to the game,” Bailey said. “It was fun getting a chance to compete against some of the best players in the country from other high schools.”
