ROCK HILL, S.C. — The grassroots programs from New England didn’t leave South Carolina with any championship hardware, but they certainly brought some memories with them.
The Adidas 3SSB Palmetto Road Championships – annually one of the biggest grassroots events in the country – featured some of the nation’s top talent, and locally, New England’s representatives made a national splash.
BABC and Mass Rivals – New England’s two Adidas programs and two of the region’s premier grassroots staples – each had the gyms at the Rock Hill Sports & Event Center buzzing during the week. From big individual performances, clutch heroics, highlight dunks and even buzzer-beaters, New England made plenty of noise.
Here are five memorable moments for the New England squads at the Adidas 3SSB Championships.
Ladanion Payne’s game-winner
Mass Rivals’ 16U team won two play-in games – including one on Thursday morning – to advance to the championship bracket, and it looked like their run may have some lost legs on Thursday afternoon in the first round against ETG, when they trailed by double digits at one point and were down by six with less than four minutes left despite some valiant rallies. But they certainly weren’t dead. Vin Pastore’s group fought – aided by the hot shooting of Josh Roux (Andover, Mass.) – and tied the game with 30 seconds to go on Wiji Dak’s (Bedford, N.H.) bucket. After a defensive stop, Rivals called timeout with a few seconds remaining and drew up a play for Ladanion Payne (Boston, Mass.), who found daylight down the baseline to the basket and put in a go-ahead uncontested layup for the 60-58 lead with one second remaining.
ETG’s ensuing shot was no good and Rivals – which had five players from the 2028 class on its roster – found itself as one of the final 16 teams in the 16U bracket, a terrific accomplishment for such a young group, overcoming adversity against a good team in their second game of the day. It was an exciting moment for Pastore.
Xavier McCall’s game-winning sequence
The week started with a bang for BABC’s 15U team, which held off New World for a dramatic 57-54 victory to advance to the round of 16. Xavier McCall (Belchertown, Mass.), an incoming freshman at MacDuffie playing up for BABC, had his fingerprints all over the win in the final seconds. BABC led by one with 19 seconds to go when New World missed two free throws, and McCall grabbed a huge defensive rebound. On the next defensive possession, BABC still led by one when McCall swatted away a go-ahead shot at the rim. BABC made two free throws the other way and survived New World’s last-second prayer.
Marcus Magloire’s signature performance
Pastore has excitement building from the youth within his program, and not only because of the 16U team. His 15U group went a strong 3-2 at the 3SSB Championships, including a breakout performance from Marcus Magloire (Danvers, Mass.) in their 76-50 victory over Northwest Drip. The 6-foot-1 guard from St. John’s Prep went off with one of the best stat lines produced by anyone at last week’s tournament at any age division, finishing with 39 points, 13 rebounds, five assists and four steals in the win, including going 16-for-22 from the field with four 3-pointers. Court 7 was buzzing late on Friday night as his Rivals teammates from the other divisions stuck around to celebrate the performance. Keep an eye on Magloire, who had a strong freshman season at St. John’s Prep.
RECAP: 7 takeaways as New England made noise at Adidas 3SSB Championships
Abdou Toure’s absurd alley-oop finish
Those who follow the New England hoops scene closely know about the talents of Abdou Toure (West Haven, Conn.), who’s a freakish athlete. Now, if they didn’t already, the rest of the country should have a better idea. The BABC wing threw down one of the best dunks of the week in their round of 16 win over Southern Assault that was a 10/10 on the difficulty scale. In the latter stages of the second half, Alex Egbuonu (Nashua, N.H.) found himself in transition around half-court when he dared to try something; he saw Toure roaming towards the basket and threw him an alley. The bold decision paid off. The pass was a little behind Toure, but he adjusted in mid-air, snared the ball with one hand and flushed it with authority. The level of athleticism and hand-eye coordination to finish that play was absurd. It would have easily earned a 50 on my dunk contest score card.
Alex Egbuonu ➡️ Abdou Toure
Insane alley-oop from @thebabc’s two Top 50 stars.
(via shotbykeys/IG) pic.twitter.com/BSUQBr6Zwr
— Steve Hewitt (@steve_hewitt) July 11, 2025
Amir Jenkins’ game-tying buzzer-beater
BABC was playing from behind for the majority of the game in its 17U quarterfinal game against D1 Minnesota, and trailed by 17 at one point in the first half. But Amir Jenkins (Worcester, Mass.) – who finished with a team-high 28 points – never gave in and led an incredible comeback. BABC trailed by five in the final minute, then by three with six seconds left as D1 Minnesota inbounded the ball. It looked a little hopeless for BABC – they would likely have to foul and go down two possessions. But then they made the play they needed. Chase Geremia (Madison, Conn.) took a perfect route for a steal on the inbounds play. He passed it ahead to Tahlan Pettway (Worcester, Mass.), who took five dribbles up the left sideline before being picked up by a second defender with under three seconds left. In stride, he found Jenkins all alone in the corner and he made no mistake as he calmly drained a buzzer-beating triple to send the game to overtime.
Jenkins’ teammates, including both watching from the bench, raced on to the court to mob him. It was an electric scene inside the arena. BABC ultimately lost, 80-77, in overtime, but it was still a surreal moment. Jenkins, who committed to West Virginia the week before, chose to continue playing with BABC in their pursuit of a championship and showed why he’s the type of winner and big-time performer that he is.
