In October 2021, PAL hosted a High School School Fall Classic Basketball Tournament. The Spartan Pride (2-1) defeated Real Deal (4-0) 68-50, in the championship game on October 26th.
Here are the highlights of the Pride's run to the championship:
Real Deal (4-0) entered the playoffs as the top seed and faced off against Family 1st (0-4). Behind Jamir Smiths 30 point effort, Real Deal was able to advance to the semi-finals with a 69-48 win. Spartan Pride (3-1) (the #2 seed) easily defeated 7th seeded The Gate (1-3) by a score of 58-16. Jaylin Simmons led all scorers with 20 points.
In the 4-seed vs 5-seed match-up, both Life Empowered and Harlem Panthers entered the game with the same record (2-2). In a highly contested game, Life Empowered was able to edge Harlem Panthers. The Semi-Finals featured a forfeit and a great match up. Spartan Pride earned a 51-44 victory over B5, led by Ryan Hudson 14 points. Due to forfeit, Real Deal advanced to the Championships to play Spartan Pride.
In a most exciting game, the #2 seeded Spartan Pride upset the top-seed Real Deal by a score of 68-50. After a tough first half, Spartan Pride were able to jump out to a big second half, behind the efforts of Game MVP Jaylin Simmons who scored 15 points.
