LaMelo Ball Drops 56 Points in Big Ballers' Loss at Adidas Championships

The Big Ballers' run at the 2017 Adidas Championships came to an end with a 116-95 loss against Team Lillard Saturday, but LaMelo Ball went out with a bang by scoring 56 points.

This was the second game of the day for both teams. The Big Ballers reached the round of 16 with a 90-87 win over the Riverside Hawks. Team Lillard blew out the San Diego Allstars 56-22.

Team Lillard did seem to make a point of trying to frustrate Ball, with ESPN's Jeff Borzello calling it the "chippiest Big Baller game yet." They were "face-guarding him" and "getting into his body," and Borzello noted Ball received a technical foul.

Late in the second half, Team Lillard didn't take too kindly to what the Big Ballers defense was trying to do, via Overtime:

There were moments during the game when it was apparent Ball just wasn't feeling his shot, as evidenced by this attempt from three-point range:

Even with that miscue, Ball still finished with 56 points. That represents his best single-game output in this tournament, surpassing the 45 points he put up against College Bound Friday. The 15-year-old, who is already committed to UCLA as part of the 2019 class, leads all players in the tournament with an average of 36.5 points per game after Saturday's games.

This wasn't the ultimate ending Ball and the Big Ballers were hoping for, but he made his presence felt each day his team was on the court. He's still got two more years of development in high school and AAU showcases before showcasing his talents on one of college basketball's biggest stages.

Recruiting info courtesy of Scout.com unless otherwise noted.