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Five champions were crowned at Ninth Grade Academy on Sunday as the Dwight Harris Boys Club Basketball League came to a close.

The first game featured the 8u all-star game, as the two teams were divided into blue and gold jerseys.

It was a hard-fought game throughout and the game ended in a 23-23 tie, meaning that both teams ended up being champions.

Bryce Brown led the blue team in scoring with 14 points and Tyler McGarrah led the gold team with seven.

The second game of the day featured the 11u boys’ championship game between Kansas and UCONN. Kansas used their defensive pressure and jumped out to an early 8-0 lead and were up by as much as 20 points at one point. However, the UCONN team mounted a furious comeback and would go on to win by the score of 43-36.

Zacharih Jackson led the UCONN team in scoring with 20 points and Steven Kearse led the Kansas team with 22 points.

The third game of the day featured the 9-13 girls championship between LSU and Duke. It was a hard-fought; low-scoring game, but the LSU team came out on top with a 24-18 victory. Taliyah Williams led LSU in scoring with eight points and Nyla Hudson led Duke in scoring with seven.

The next game featured the boys’ 14u championship game between Duke and Kansas. The Duke team jumped out to a 13-2 lead early and the Blue Devils were able to set the tone the rest of the way, as they would go on to win by the score of 44-31. Jalon Solomon led the Duke team in scoring with 15 points and Te’rell Sims led the Kansas team in scoring with 13 points.

The next game featured the 17u boys’ championship between UCONN and Baylor. This game was close during the first half, but the Huskies were able to pull away in the second half and went on to win by the score of 73-65.

Javoris Scott led the UCONN team in scoring with 20 points and Michael Terry had 25 to lead Baylor.

The final game of the day was the championship game of the 18-28 adult age group between North Carolina and Macon County. This game featured former local high school and college standouts including former Americus-Sumter and Campbell University standout Joshua Lusane.

The game was a back-and-forth affair in the first half, but the North Carolina team pulled away in the second half and went on to claim the championship by the score of 74-63.

The Dwight Harris Boys Club Basketball League was started back in 2011 by Dwight Harris for the purpose of providing a positive alternative for the youth of Sumter County so that young people would have a place to compete and have fun playing basketball during the summer months as opposed to being on the streets at night. According to records from the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office, crime amongst the youth during the summer months has decreased as a result of the formation of this league.