LaMelo Ball’s SPIRE Academy (Geneva, Ohio) season hasn’t been like most traditional high school campaigns. The ‘senior’ has played against other basketball factories across the country. He’s had breakout performances, shied away from on-court brawls and generally seemed to enjoy himself.
Now he’s competing in the ‘playoffs’, in the form of the Grind Session: High School World Championships. The event, held at Marshall County High School in Kentucky, pits private and independent schools, starting with SPIRE Academy’s Thursday matchup against Hillcrest Prep (Ariz.). For the second time in two weeks, SPIRE cruised past Hillcrest thanks in no small part to LaMelo’s offensive outburst.
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On Thursday, Ball exploded for 41 points, dished out jaw dropping assists and generally dominated the entire flow of SPIRE’s 102-67 rout of the Arizona squad.
Here’s just some of the gaudy highlights:
And, the coup de grace:
The win earns SPIRE a spot in the Grind Session Championships quarterfinals, which means Ball has at least one more prep game ahead of him, and probably more. That’s good news for everyone. Like him or hate him, you can’t deny that Ball is wildly entertaining.
