The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

WHILE his future programme - the Arizona Wildcats - gets set for NCAA postseason play, DeAndre Ayton ended his high school career with a championship title for his team.

In his final game for the Hillcrest Academy Bruins in Phoenix, Arizona, Ayton finished with 29 points and 22 rebounds to lead his team to a 70-61 win  over Gainsville Florida’s The Rock in the Grind Session World Championship.

After two previous losses to The Rock this season, Ayton and the Bruins managed to hold on to a 35-23 halftime lead and withstand a late charge en route to the win.

The Grind Session is a winter circuit of elite high school basketball events. The 2016-2017 season featured 15 events in the United States, Canada and here in the Bahamas at the “Sand Between Your Toes” Showcase. From late November to early March, over 125 games were played in the series.

All that is left in Ayton’s storied high school career are a pair of elite all-star showcases, the McDonald’s All-American Game and the Jordan Brand Classic.

Ayton, the consensus No.1 player in the class of 2017 and commit to the University of Arizona, will headline the 40th edition of the McDonald’s game to be hosted at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois, on May 29.

He follows current University of Texas guard and Harbour Island native LaShann Higgs, who was named to the girls’ roster in 2015, as the only Bahamians to achieve the honour.

Ayton received his honourary McDonald’s All-American jersey as the McDonald’s Hometown Heroes presented by American Family Insurance made its stop at his Hillcrest Academy campus last month.

The McDonald’s All-American Game is an All-Star game for American and Canadian boys and girls high-school basketball graduates. Consisting of the top players, each team plays a single exhibition game after the conclusion of the high-school basketball season, in an East vs West format.

Like Higgs, Ayton was also named to the roster for the Jordan Brand Classic, hosted April 14 at the Barclay’s Center in Brooklyn, New York.

The event follows a similar format to the aforementioned McDonald’s game, honouring the top seniors around the country.

Last Thursday, Ayton was honoured as part of the Jordan Brand Classic Senior Night Tour, also presented by American Family Insurance.

With his family on hand at the ceremony, DeAndre presented his mother, Andrea Ayton, with the American Family Insurance Dream Champion Award.