Maryland 3D wins Big Shots tourney in S.C.
Marty Lipinski's Maryland 3D 17-and-under basketball team was down a few players heading into last week's Big Shots AAU tournament in Myrtle Beach, but you'd never know it based on the results.
With three class of 2013 players called up for the South Carolina trip, Maryland 3D cruised to the tournament championship game, topping the Texas Cagers in double overtime for the title.
“We never had any practices,” said Lipinski, whose team won six games in three days, culminating with Friday night’s championship. “The organization is pretty much the same thing throughout the age groups. We do that so kids can move between groups and not miss a beat. We were strong right from the very beginning.”
3D was led by Greg Brown (Archbishop Spalding), Lavon Long (Mount St. Joseph), Joe Eads (Centennial), Yannick Zanfack (St. Maria Goretti) and Connor Lipinski (Annapolis Area Christian). The team also received contributions from point guard Grant Harris (Miller School, Severn native), point guard B.J. Durham (Marriotts Ridge) and shooting guard Taylor Leabhart (AACS).
Brown led 3D in scoring during the tournament at 13 points per game. Lipinski said the 6-foot-1 combo guard is being recruited by Boston University, Old Dominion and Radford.
What pushed 3D over the top, Lipinski said, was the team’s size advantage. Eads, “a big, strong inside guy,” is about 6-7, as is Mount St. Joseph’s Long. The two rising juniors made the most of their call-up to the 17-and-under squad.
“Lavon is a big-time player,” Lipinski said. “That evened it up. That leveled the playing field right there. … He averaged about 10 points a game. But he was just a physical guy inside. … He was just a different factor for us on the boards.”
Eads has received some low-major Division I interest. Long already claims offers from Dayton and VCU, with James Madison, Massachusetts, Northeastern, Robert Morris, St. Joseph’s and Virginia Tech expressing interest. Lipinski said Flyers coach Archie Miller was in the stands scouting Long during 3D’s last game.
Zanfack, a 6-foot-5 wing, averaged 10 points and shot the ball “very well” for 3D. Connor Lipinski – Marty’s son – averaged about 10 points and five assists. The 5-10 point guard is being recruited by the Citadel, Mount St. Mary’s and Navy. He and Brown were named co-MVPs.
Marty Lipinski said several coaches told him they were impressed with the discipline and unselfishness with which 3D played. Lipinski, who has coached for the 3D organization since 1999, said he appreciated the well-balanced composition of his team.
“It was just nice to just pull up the young kids that wanted to win and prove themselves,” Lipinski said. “They wanted to do it. They wanted to go to Myrtle Beach.”
Handout photo of Maryland 3D courtesy of Marty Lipinski.
