Atlanta team pockets Super 64 title

The adidas Super 64 championship game was just 1:14 old and only two points had been scored when Atlanta Celtics coach Jammar Stegall called a timeout.

History had shown Stegall that when the Celtics start slowly against Pump N Run Elite, the Celtics wind up paying dearly. But this game was too important to Stegall and his players, so he forced a break in the action to remind them of the need to communicate on defense.

Apparently, they got the message. The Celtics came out of the timeout and put together a 14-3 run to take control of the game and never looked back in a 75-64 win over Pump N Run in the Super 64 title game at Rancho High School.

"I told them if they talked to each other on defense, they would win the game," said Stegall, who went almost exclusively with a 1-2-2 zone defense with 6-foot-11-inch Chris Singleton at the top to stymie the Los Angeles-based Pump squad. "They beat us three times earlier, and each time it was with dribble penetration and kickouts. But with the big fella at the top, we took that away from them."

Singleton, Derrick Favors and Delwan Graham played well at both ends of the floor. In addition to spearheading the zone, Singleton had 15 points. Graham added 20 and Favors 17 as the Celtics avenged Monday's 88-74 loss to Pump N Run in pool play.

"I knew if we could shut them down we could beat them," said Singleton, named the tournament's outstanding player. "So I wasn't looking to score. But we were ready for this. That's all we talked about back home before we got to Vegas was making sure we came home with the ring."

Players don't get rings for winning the Super 64. But they do claim bragging rights for the rest of the summer, and that -- along with the small trophies and championship T-shirts the players received -- is acknowledgement enough for the Celtics.

They went 7-1 over the tournament's five days, including a 93-66 win over the Florida Rams and a 63-59 win over Indiana Elite earlier Thursday. They never let Pump N Run find an offensive rhythm and made sure Jrue Holiday, its sensational guard, didn't beat them.

Holiday had dominated earlier in the day with 27 points in Pump N Run's 91-76 win over the Las Vegas Prospects. But he was 2-for-11 from the floor in the title game and finished with only eight points.

Larry Drew and Jerimie Anderson scored 16 points apiece, but it wasn't enough to make up for Holiday's struggles.

The Las Vegas Prospects were short-handed against Pump N Run because of injuries to Jonathan Loyd (right knee) and Jason West (left hand). Anthony Marshall had a team-high 21 points, but the Prospects trailed 46-29 at halftime and by as many as 21 midway through the second half.

"We hung with them for a while, but that's a great team we played," said coach Anthony Brown, whose Prospects team finished 4-3. "We should have made it ugly early instead of trying to go up and down with them."