By Carlos Rodriguez |Staff writerNORTH AUGUSTA, S.C.—Nike hosted the 24th annual Peach Jam on July 10-14 at Riverview Park Activities Center, and only one team from Georgia, the AOT Running Rebels, competed in the 17-and-under portion.Coming into Peach Jam, AOT was one of the underdogs. They had finished the Nike Elite Youth Basketball League regular season with a 8-5 record in its second year on the 17-and-under circuit.The Rebels were led all season long by rising senior guards Brandon Boston Jr. and Sharife Cooper. Boston, a 6-foot-6 shooting guard out of Norcross High, is ranked seventh in the nation by ESPN, while Cooper, a 6-foot point guard out of McEachern, is ranked 20th. During the regular season, Boston averaged 22.7 points and grabbed 8.5 rebounds a game. Cooper averaged 25.5 points and dished out 8 assists per game.Boston is being recruited by Auburn, Duke, Florida, Oregon and Kentucky. Cooper, who is from Marietta, has yet to cut his list but has been offered by Auburn, Kentucky and Alabama, among others.When looking at schools, Cooper knows exactly what he‘s looking for.“Somewhere I can get better, get stronger,” Cooper said. “Somewhere where I can really just focus on basketball and school.”AOT also has an Evans native on their roster in Dylan Cardwell. He played his first two high school seasons at Evans before transferring his junior year to Oak Hill Academy in Mouth of Wilson, Va.During the regular season the 6-10 center played a huge role defensively for the Rebels, averaging 2.3 blocks per game.Over the past year, Cardwell’s recruitment has heated up. He’s picked up offers from schools such as UGA, Tennessee, UConn among others and has recently gained interest from Duke. “I want a coaching staff that can develop me a whole lot,” said Cardwell.Cardwell use to come watch Peach Jam games since he was young and was even a broom boy for three years.“I grew up around this,” Cardwell said. “It was great being around Peach Jam, and then next thing you know I’m playing in it.”In the Rebels' first game, they squared off with Woodz Elite a team out of Arkansas. AOT won a back-and-forth battle 84-81. In the win, Cooper finished with 28 points, nine assists and eight rebounds. Boston had 26 points and nine rebounds.“First game I saw everybody I used to go to school with,” Cardwell said. “I had butterflies but throughout the game it went away. It’s great playing in front of my community.”In its second game, AOT defeated Mokan Elite in tight contest 71-70. They handed Mokan their only loss at Peach Jam as Mokan would end up winning the championship on Sunday, July 14. In the win over the eventual champion, Cooper finished with 21 points and six assists while Boston added 19 and six rebounds.“We’ve really improved a whole lot on our defense,” said Cardwell after the win. “We’ve really expanded on defense as a unit.”AOT would go on to win two more games in pool play with a 95-87 win over Meanstreets and 91-76 win over Pro Skills improving to 4-0 and clinched their spot in the 17u Elite Eight for the first time program history.“We putting on for Georgia; we represent Georgia,” said Cooper.In the final game of pool play, the Rebels took on the defending champion Team Takeover. AOT coaches chose to rest star players Boston and Cooper to have them ready for the Elite Eight matchup. The Rebels would go on to lose 88-76. Despite the loss, guard Alyn Breed stepped up with a 32-point performance along with with seven rebounds and six assists.
On Saturday in the Elite Eight, AOT battled Boo Williams from Hampton, Va. It was close the whole game between AOT guards Boston and Cooper against Boo Williams guards Cam Thomas and Zion Harmon. Thirty-eight minutes of play wasn’t enough as the game headed into overtime tied at 87. In overtime, Harmon connected with forward Mark Williams on alley-oop layup to lift Boo Williams to a 93-91 win.Cardwell will be transferring from Oak Hill after one season and play with AOT teammate Cooper for the defending GHSA AAAAAAA state champion McEachern High.“Being closer to my grandfather, as well as player development,” said Cardwell on why he is making the move to McEachern.AOT finished Peach Jam with a 4-2 record. This marks their best finish in the two years they been on the circuit. Cooper averaged 24.6 points per game and 10 assists throughout peach jam while Boston averaged 23 points and 7.6 rebounds per game.
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