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One of the highlights of the Tournament of Champions every year is the dunk contest. High school athletes doing things you usually see during the NBA All-Star Weekend. It’s a show that the sold-out crowd at JQH Arena won’t forget anytime soon.
14 players in this year’s dunk contest, all getting a chance to show off their hops in front of the judges. A few of the judges included KY3’s Mark Spillane, Chad Plein and Missouri Sports Hall of Famer Ned Reynolds.
Forsyth’s Ryder Blevins went first, he makes the windmill dunk look too easy.
Later, Paul VI’s Blake Neal throws down a reverse slam. That gets him into the final round.
Catholic’s Evan Mayse lands a 360 dunk to advance as well.
Originally five players made it into the finals, but the crowd made it clear they wanted to see Ryder Blevins again as they chanted “FORSYTH, FORSYTH.”
So, Blevins advanced to the finals and kicked off the last round by bringing out his brothers.
“We didn’t practice it,” Ryder’s brother Gage Blevins said. “He just points to me in the stands and says, ‘Come out here, come out here,’ and I was like ‘Okay.’”
Ryder clears both his brothers and gets a perfect 60 from the judges.
Next, Sierra Canyon’s Jeremiah Nyarko takes off from about the free-throw line and slams it home.
However, this dunk contest would come down to a dunk off between Catholic’s Evan Mayse and Forsyth’s Ryder Blevins.
Blevins goes first and lands a big double pump dunk. A perfect 60 score again.
Then it was Mayse’s turn, getting the assist and jumping over one of the judges for the slam. He gets a 59, and Ryder Blevins is the 2022 Tournament of Champions Dunk Contest Champion.
“I was really nervous that’s for sure, I just wanted to go out there and do what I can and it all worked out in the end,” the Forsyth Junior said. “I didn’t expect it to be that packed and I was really nervous at first, but what did I have to lose so I just gave it my all.”
Blevins added that he wasn’t in the competition until he landed a reverse alley-oop a few weeks ago in a game, now he’s the Dunk Contest Champion.
