Dudley, Bower Lead GOATs To Arizona Draft Tournament Quarterfinals

Christian Bower of GOATs Gilbert

Despite GOATs Gilbert being the two-seed in the Arizona Draft Tournament, as their 7-1 record trailed the one-seed Showtime PV’s undefeated 8-0 record in the regular season, there were plenty of people who considered them the favorites heading into the tournament. Some have gone as far as labeling them an “open team” or a “super team” as they are no doubt one of the most talented rosters ever assembled in an Arizona draft league.

The draft tournament has a way of surprising us however, and the ultra-talented GOATs Gilbert found themselves down 41-22 at halftime last night against Showtime SD. It’s surprising that they were trailing by 19 points at halftime, but it’s even more surprising that a team that averaged 116.3 points per game coming into this matchup (with every player averaging 10.3 points per game or more) only scored 22 in a half. Of course, intensity ramps up in the tournament and the effort on defense gets increased, but a team this offensively stacked should score more than 22 in a half.

They certainly did that in the second half, as they outscored Showtime SD 46-26 in the second half to escape a big upset by one point, winning 68-67.

The usual suspects came through for the GOATs, as Fred Dudley led the team in scoring with 19 points on 7-13 shooting from the field, adding five rebounds and four assists. Christian Bower wasn’t too far behind, scoring 16 points on 6-12 shooting from the field, adding five rebounds and five assists.

Anthony Snow led all scorers in the game, finishing with 22 points on 7-10 shooting from the field and a perfect 5-5 from deep in a losing effort.

GOATs Gilbert will now face 10-seed Kawhi Me A River on Sunday in the quarterfinals. We’ll be set to find out if this performance against Showtime SD was a blip on the radar or a sign of more struggles to come in later rounds.