And then there were 8: Quarterfinal field set at Peach Jam

Jul. 24—NORTH AUGUSTA — The finish line is now clearly in sight at Peach Jam, where the quarterfinal field of eight is set following play Friday at Riverview Park Activities Center.

The Nike Elite Youth Basketball League's top-ranked 17U teams lived up to the hype this week, as all eight of the quarterfinalists are ranked within the top 12 of The Circuit's EYBL Top 25.

That includes top-ranked Meanstreets, which at 3-2 this week has the worst record of teams to advance. Meanstreets had its 22-game win streak snapped Wednesday, then lost again Friday afternoon but advanced by a razor-thin margin — its plus-14 point differential was two better than Drive Nation, giving Meanstreets the No. 2 seed from Pool B.

That sets up a quarterfinal matchup against 11th-ranked E1T1 United, which won Pool C after beating fifth-ranked NY Renaissance on Friday evening. That tied them atop the pool standings at 4-1, with E1T1 United taking the top spot thanks to a plus-48 point differential.

That matchup means a past Peach Jam champion will make it to at least the semifinals. Meanstreets won it in 2006 led by a superstar backcourt of Derrick Rose and Eric Gordon, and future pros D'Angelo Russell and Grayson Allen helped E1T1 to an undefeated title run in 2013.

NY Renaissance is matched up with No. 7 Team Durant, at 4-1 the winners of Pool B. Team Durant went 5-0 during last week's session in North Augusta, and only a surprising 30-point loss to UPLAY Canada spoiled a potential unbeaten two weeks.

That's still in play for fourth-ranked ProSkills, which won Pool A at 5-0 — the only team to go 5-0 this week — to extend its winning streak to 12 games. Up next in the quarterfinals is second-ranked Team Final, runners-up in Pool D at 4-1 and surely with revenge in mind — ProSkills beat Team Final 64-58 last week during the opening wave of Session I games in North Augusta.

The final quarterfinal matches the two teams with the biggest point differentials in the 24-team field. No. 12 New Heights Lightning locked up the top spot in Pool D with a 73-67 win over Team Final on Friday evening that pushed its total margin of victory to plus-49. No. 8 Brad Beal Elite also finished at 4-1 after suffering a 68-65 loss to ProSkills on Friday morning, but the team's point differential is still a league-best plus-52.

The four quarterfinals are scheduled for 9:30 a.m., with semifinal games scheduled for 5 and 7 p.m. to set up Sunday afternoon's championship game.