LAS VEGAS -- One of the top Big Time playoff matchups Thursday afternoon at Durango High School was between the Juice All-Stars from New York City and the Mississippi Panthers, a Gulfport, Mississippi based team with players from Mississippi and New Orleans.

Much of the crowd was there to watch the All-Stars (most of them also play together as "Brooklyn Bridge" in other tournaments), which featured four players who had competed well at the adidas ABCD Camp (6-10 rising senior Chris Taft, Xaverian H.S./Brooklyn; 6-6 rising senior Elliah Karron Clark, Winchendon Prep/Mass.; 6-2 rising senior Ramel Bradley, Park West H.S./New York City; and 5-11 rising junior Sebastian Telfair, Lincoln H.S./Brooklyn). Whenever and wherever Juice plays, the focus tends to fall on Telfair, the often spectacular point guard who is widely considered the top rising junior in the country.

The Mississippi Panthers, in only their third year of existence, was pretty much an unknown to the large crowd watching the contest, though the Panthers had their share of moments at tournaments this spring in Texas and North Carolina.

Though none of their players made it to any of the major invitational camps (adidas ABCD or Nike), the Panthers had their own share of firepower in 6-2 rising senior combo guard Milton Collins (O.P. Walker H.S./New Orleans, La.), 6-5 rising senior swingman Ronnie Brewer (formerly listed with Fayetteville H.S. in Ark./listed at Provine H.S./Jackson, Miss.) and 6-8 postman Warren Jarvelle Scott (Abramson H.S./New Orleans, La.). Brewer, the son of former Arkansas Razorback and NBA player Ron Brewer, had been invited to Nike All-American Camp, but was a no-show in Indianapolis.

As expected, the game started off at a fast tempo with both teams trading baskets. And for the fans, at least in the first quarter, Telfair did not disappoint. He's at his best when he's looking to pass, looking to create for his teammates, and, simply, just looking. Telfair has, arguably, the best passing vision, regardless of class, of any point guard in the country. He can score too, whether its on takes to the bucket or with his long-range or fallaway jumper, but he's special when he's dishing the rock.

But Mississippi wasn't in awe of Brooklyn's finest, they also were bringing it. Panther starting point guard, 6-0 rising senior Bolester McCalabb (Abramson H.S./New Orleans, La.) and the 6-2 combo guard Collins, both were making big plays and pushing the tempo. Mississippi, by the middle of the first half, was up several baskets and surging. When Telfair wasn't able to finish several of his drives late in the half, Mississippi was able to extend their margin to double-digits, and led, 47-32, at halftime.

"That was our plan, offensively to take the ball in against Chris Taft and for our guards to pressure Telfair, to keep him in front of us," said Panthers coach Rob Tillman. "We knew that Telfair was the top guard in the country and we have plenty of respect for him. But that doesn't mean we were going to back down. We wanted to show what New Orleans and Mississippi kids could do.

"Bolester got into his face on defense and we also switched off later on him with Milton Collins," said Tillman. "I felt we neutralized him and controlled him as much as humanly possible. Telfair is a great player, but we got him to force some shots."

There wasn't any second half letup for Mississippi, who had all the momentum on their side. The final result was a 92-66 blowout with Collins and the big man inside, Scott, both leading the way with 19 points. McCalabb tallied 18 and the Panthers also got some very good outside shooting from 6-4 rising senior shooting guard Albert Weber (Higgins H.S./New Orleans, La.), who scored 13. It was a team effort for Tillman's crew, which also got 8 points apiece from Brewer and 6-5 rising senior Lamar Sanders (Hickory Platt H.S./Hickory Platt, Miss.) and 7 points from 6-5 rising junior Ernest Jones (St. Augustine H.S./New Orleans, La.).

Telfair, who went on to score 15 in the second half, finished the game as the leading scorer with 22, while his Juice teammate Bradley tallied 13.

"This was our biggest victory ever in the short history of our program," said Tillman a couple of hours after the game. "This is really going to help the recruiting of a number of our kids, especially someone like Bolester McCalebb and Milton Collins. It was a huge win for us. My cell phone has been ringing non-stop with people congratulating us and I've heard it's already made the internet."

While Mississippi was eliminated later on Thursday by Ft. Sooy-No Limit, but the afternoon win over Telfair and the Juice All-Stars is obviously a major building block for what appears to be one of the top young programs emerging in the South.

David Benezra and Mark Mayemura cover the national college basketball recruiting scene. E-mail at: hoopsusa@mindspring.com or call (818) 783-2244 or (818) 783-2212 for subscription information.