Originally appeared on Vype.com
A celebrity basketball game presented by Ikhor is an event you want to make sure you let your kids attend in the future.
Over the weekend, Ikhor hosted a free celebrity basketball game in the heart of 5th Ward at the legendary J Prince Gym.
In the celebrity game, you had neighborhood legends, collegiate players, and international superstars that all grew up from around the area representing Rap A Lot Records and 1501 Certified.
While Houston’s streetball legends like The Goat, Sir Isaac, and Konfuzion are names worthy to come out and see, the celebrity game was serving a deeper purpose than just watching superstars put on a show.
“This is all about getting the kids off the street,” William Fawell, founder of Ikhor said.
Being a Houston native, Fawell understands that if there are no free and positive activities in the community for kids to participate in, they can easily fall into trouble by hanging out in the streets.
The beauty in what the celebrity game was able to do is not just get younger kids to come in and watch the game, but it also gave high school athletes from around the city a chance to come in and compete against each other.
“It feels good to be a part of this,” Ronald Harleston, a guard from Madison High School said. “It’s nice for these superstars to come out and put on a free show for the kids.”
In addition to getting kids off the streets, the Ikhor celebrity game has an endless amount of career choices for the kids to be exposed to.
Once the kids enter the gym, they have a chance to take interest in everything that makes up the Ikhor brand such as photography, videography, fashion, and of course basketball.
While everyone may not be talented enough to play basketball in the future, getting kids to see a variety of career choices in their own community is something Fawell believes is extremely valuable to young minds.
“I believe the mind is a terrible thing to waste and it’s also the most powerful part of your body,” Fawell said. “It’s great for the kids to see the different things they can do because they’re the future.”
The word Ikhor (originally spelled Ichor) means the blood of the Greek gods which is something you can’t kill and as Fawell continues to grow Ikhor, he plans to not let anything kill his desire to inspire the minds of the future.
LJ Cryer matched a career high with 30 points, including two free throws with 14.2 seconds left, and No. 1 seed Houston held on to beat eighth-seeded Gonzaga 81-76 on Saturday night to reach the Sweet 16 for the sixth straight NCAA Tournament.
J'Wan Roberts added 18 points and Milos Uzan made two last free throws with 2.1 seconds left, giving the Cougars (32-4) their 15th consecutive win and pushing them into a regional semifinal against No. 4 seed Purdue on Friday night in Indianapolis.
Houston also ended Gonzaga's run of nine straight Sweet 16s, which had been the longest active streak in the nation.
“It's not just winning the game," Cougars coach Kelvin Sampson said. "It's beating a great program like Gonzaga.”
The Bulldogs (26-9) trailed 76-67 with just over 2 minutes to go when Graham Ike made two free throws to start their comeback bid, and most of it wound up coming at the foul line. And when Uzan turned the ball over and Khalif Battle made two free throws of his own, the Bulldogs had pulled to 77-76 with 21 seconds remaining.
Houston got the ball to Cryer, who was fouled, and he made both of his free throws to extend the lead. At the other end, Ja'Vier Francis stuffed Battle's tying 3-point try from the corner, and Uzan knocked down his foul shots to seal the win.
“Gonzaga is as good as anyone we've played all year,” Sampson said. “Had they been seeded somewhere else, that's a team that could have had a chance to get to the Elite Eight, or maybe the Final Four. They're that good.”
Ike finished with 27 points for the Bulldogs. Battle scored 17 and Ryan Nembhard had 10 points and 11 assists.
“It ended up being just a great, great basketball game, especially the way our guys fought their way back into it. I'm so proud of the way they hung with it,” Gonzaga coach Mark Few said. “Houston was everything and more than we thought it would be.”
Given that no program has won more games than Gonzaga and Houston over the past eight seasons, it seemed as if their second-round matchup in the Midwest Region would have been better suited for the second weekend.
Or even the Final Four, where the Bulldogs and Cougars were on opposite sides of the bracket in 2021.
Yet for much of the game, Houston looked every bit deserving of its No. 1 seed and Gonzaga its spot at No. 8. The Cougars asserted their physical dominance on the perennial West Coast power, while Cryer — the Big 12 player of the year — poured in 16 first-half points to give Houston a 35-27 lead at the break.
Roberts, who sprained his ankle in last week's conference tournament, took over in the second half. The winningest player in Cougars history began bullying his way for baskets, and that allowed the Cougars to maintain their lead.
Gonzaga made one final run down the stretch but could never overtake them.
Takeaways
Gonzaga was second nationally in scoring at 86.7 points per game, and surpassed that in an 89-68 rout of Georgia in the first round. But the Bulldogs finished short of that mark against Houston's trademark defense.
Houston was able to rest its stars during a lopsided win over SIU Edwardsville on Thursday. Those fresh legs seemed to pay off in the closing minutes Saturday, when Gonzaga was trying to climb back into the game.
Up next
The Cougars will play the Boilermakers for a spot in the Elite Eight.
Most Popular
SportsMap Emails
Are Awesome
Listen Live
