The Obama Eagles are your 2026 City League Champions as they take down Allderdice 64-58 in overtime to capture their first title since 2020.
Allderdice got off to a hot start behind junior, Keith Taylor, who was on fire from the jump in this one. He scored the first 8 points of the game for Dice with back to back triples and a floater. He had the Dragons up 8-1 early and looking like they were on their way to a 5th straight City League title.
Obama’s Jaden Colbert got the easy bucket off the steal and Naron Jackson II got the left hand lay to go shortly after to get the Eagles within three. Allderdice answered with two more threes, one from Markus Kuhn and another from Taylor to give him 11 points in the quarter and put the Dragons up 14-5.
Obama went to work in the post to get their next basket, but Taylor fired back with his fourth three of the quarter for Dice. After a three from Obama on the other end and a second-chance bucket from Dice, the Dragons had a 19-12 lead after the first quarter with Taylor leading the way with 14.
The Dragons and Eagles traded baskets to start the second with Keilyn Walden of Dice scoring on back to back drives and Eric James Jr. scoring on the take for Obama. James Jr. transferred into Obama midway through the year and has provided a huge lift for this team.
Long scored again in the post for Obama, but Dice still led 23-16 with just under six minutes to go in the first half. Taylor went to work again, stopping in the lane and getting the push shot to go to give the Dragons a 25-18 lead.
Rawlings scored on the drive for Obama to pull the Eagles within 5 midway through the second quarter. Walden scored again for Allderdice to give him 6 points in the quarter and give the Dragons a 27-20 lead with 3:45 to go in the first half.
Allderdice went over the foul limit with 2:10 to go in the second, but Obama really struggled from the line early in this one, missing both on two straight trips. James Jr. pushed the pace for Obama, going coast to coast for two and hitting a free throw soon after to make it a four point game late in the half, but Allderdice’s Keenu Brooks got on the board for two to put the Dragons up 29-23 at the break.
The three point barrage that Allderdice had going in the first didn’t carry into the second, but they still had a two-possession lead at the half, due in large part to 16 points from Keith Taylor.
Obama scored quickly to start the third quarter, but Taylor answered once again for Dice, going one for two from the line. After getting beat by the three ball early in the first half, Obama was playing their defense much further out in the second half, making sure Allderdice couldn’t continue to shoot the long ball.
It was a slow scoring start in the quarter for both teams, as neither could seem to put the ball through the hoop, scoring a combined 5 points in the first three plus minutes of the third.
Kuhn got Dice going midway through the quarter to give them a 33-26 lead, but James Jr. drove the length of the floor and found his teammate underneath for the dump off and easy basket for Obama.
Brooks scored on the fast break for the Dragons to give them a 35-28 lead, but on the subsequent defensive possession, Taylor picked up his fourth foul, forcing Head Coach, Devin Crummie, to move their high-point man to the bench.
Naron Jackson made two free throws and James Jr. made one to bring the Eagles within 4. With Taylor out of the game with four fouls, Brooks continued to be the aggressor for Dice, getting the and-1 to go and stretch the lead for the Dragons.
Zach Coffey scored late in the quarter for Dice, but James Jr. answered again with 1:41 to go in the third quarter. Brooks found Lukas Stead underneath for the final points of the quarter to put Dice up 41-34 heading into the fourth.
Eric James Jr. started the fourth quarter with a coast to coast drive and then an and-1 to cut the Dice lead to 41-40 early in the final quarter. The one point spread was the closest Obama had been since the start of the game.
With the game tightening up, Crummie was forced to bring Taylor back in. After a bucket for Coffey, Taylor scored again on the run out to give him 19 in the game and put Allderdice up 45-40 with 4:24 to go in the game.
Allderdice went over the foul limit with more than half of the quarter remaining, sending Jackson to the line. He hit one of two free throws and Eric James Jr. got a layup to go shortly after to cut the lead to just two with 3:30 left to play.
Taylor knocked down both at the line, but James Jr. got another and-1 to fall and the free throw to go to make it a one point game. He had 10 in the quarter for the Eagles, and you could feel the momentum in the gym beginning to shift toward Obama as the energy level in the building continued to rise.
Jackson got the floater to go for the Eagles to give them their first lead of the entire game with just two minutes to go. However, James Jr. would pick up his fifth foul and just like that, the Eagles would be without their leading scorer the rest of the game.
Stead hit both at the line to put Dice ahead 49-48. Dice got to the line again with Brooks draining two more to give the Dragons a 51-48 lead late in the game. Rawlings answered for Obama with the pullup jumper from the right side to get it back to one. Timeout Allderdice with 1:10 left to play and the ball up one.
Allderdice burned some clock and called timeout again with under a minute to go. They continued to drain time, but they turned it over with under 20 seconds left in the game. Obama missed the breakaway layup, but Jackson was there for the putback and got it to go to give them a 52-51 lead with 13.3 seconds left.
Brooks continued his strong second half as he drove to the basket and got it to go with time winding down. Both teams scrambled on the inbounds play in the final seconds of the game, which resulted in Jackson getting fouled with 3.4 seconds to go.
Jackson headed to the line with his team down one and a chance to win the game for Obama. With every person in the gym on their feet, Jackson missed the first. It was down to the final shot for Obama to tie the game and send it to overtime. Jackson stepped up calmly and laced it, tying the game at 53.
After the game, Jackson spoke to his mindset in that moment saying, “I was just thinking about those 5am workouts that I do. It’s got to be money”. Jackson didn’t score a ton in this one but he had two go ahead buckets and the game-tying free throws in that fourth quarter to give the Eagles 4 more minutes of life for a City League title.
Obama started the overtime period with a pull-up jumper. Rawlings stole the ball from Dice on their next possession, raced to the basket, and punched it. The Eagles had their largest lead of the game, up 57-53 in overtime.
The Dragons got to the free throw line again, making one of two and Taylor was able to score his 23rd point the next time down to bring them back within one.
Obama began to burn clock with the lead in OT, calling a timeout with 1:41 to go and up by one. Obama took it under a minute before forcing Dice to foul with 57 seconds left. Colbert stepped up to the line and sunk both to put Obama up 59-56.
Naron Jackson got the steal on the next possession and was quickly fouled. He split the free throws at the line giving Obama a 60-56 lead with 47 seconds left in OT.
Allderdice put up the three, but it was blocked and Obama was at the line again after getting fouled once more. Colbert hit two more free throws for the Eagles. He was clutch for them in overtime, going 4/4 from the line in the period.
Allderdice was fouled on their next three point attempt and made two of three to cut the Obama lead to 62-58 with just 13 seconds left. They fouled quickly and sent Obama back to the line in an effort to extend the game. The Eagles missed both at the line, but Jackson skied for the rebound and got fouled once again.
He headed back to the line with 8 seconds left and his team ahead by four. Jackson drained both to ice the game, and Obama went on to win 64-58, capturing their first City League title since 2020.
Eric James Jr. led the way for the Eagles, scoring 19 points in the game, including 10 in the fourth quarter. Naron Jackson II finished with 13, including several clutch buckets and free throws down the stretch. Taylor paced the Dragons in the loss with 23.
Obama Head Coach, Naron Jackson, spoke to the performance of his two star players after the game saying, “Naron controlled the tempo and got Eric the ball in spots where he could get loose. That’s what we planned to do. It was supposed to be an Eric James day, getting to the hoop and getting people in foul trouble, and it worked that way.”
Allderdice took down Obama twice during the regular season, but the Eagles got the last laugh this year. Naron Jackson II spoke about their mindset coming into this final game saying, “We expected it”.