VAN COLEMAN
Van is one of the nation's premier recruiting experts. E-mail
The Prime Time Shootout opened up on Friday Night with four of the nation's top squads facing off at the Lewis Brown Arena (RAC).
The Prime Time ShootoutDirector Jeff Hewitson has put together a monster match-up on the opening night of the Primetime Shootout as national powers No.3 St. Benedict's and No.13 St. Patrick's went head to head in the nightcap after No.1 St. Anthony's and perennial power No.11 Oak Hill Academy warmed the crowd up in the night's opening games.
Individually, Mike Rosario was on fire, draining threes and making his future Rutgers' fans buzz with his body control and reverses in the air to finish with a sweet kiss off the glass as he finished with 32 points.In game two, Brandon Jennings had a quiet 28 points and 9 assists, but missed a couple crowd pleasing dunks.In the nightcap, Samardo Samuels was stellar for St. Benedict's leading his club with 30 points, while super junior Dexter Strickland finished with 32 points in just three quarters of play.With that in mind, here's a look at Friday Nights action at the Primetime Shootout:
Friday Night Action:
Jersey City St. Anthony's (N.J.) 71 - Bel Air John Carroll (Md.) 33
This one was over early as the St. Anthony's Friars ran out to a 19-0 lead over the first 6:24 off the game, led 21-6 at the end of the first quarter, and then opened a 40-12 lead at the half way point of the second quarter.St. Anthony's left the court at the intermission in control, up 50-16 over John Carroll.The Friars were led by stellar 6-foot-2 combo guard Mike Rosario who put on a show in the opening stanza scoring 24 points, hitting 9-of-12 from the field including 4 of 6 from three.Six-foot-3 Tyshawn Taylor added 8 points in the first half for St. Anthony's.Six-foot-7 junior Isaiah Philmore led John Carroll with four points.
The second half started with a quick 5-0 run by Mike Rosario as opened up a 39-point bulge 55-16 before 6-foot-2 Ryan McQuaid hit his second three of the game to cut it to 55-19 with just over 5:30 to play in the quarter.Rosario's last shot of the game, a deep three form the wing made it 62-21 with 2:05 left in the third.St. Anthony's led 63-23 at the end of the quarter. Then they cleared the bench early in the fourth quarter to win a lopsided 71-33 decision over John Carroll.Mike Rosario finished the night with 32 points in just twenty minutes of action.He got solid support from Tyshawn Taylor who added 11 points.John Carroll was led by 6-foot-2 junior Erick Smith with seven points while Philmore and McQuaid added six points each.
Mouth of WilsonOakHillAcademy (Va.) 81 - Piscataway (N.J.) 39
The Oak hill squad jumped out to a quick 12-3 lead as Brandon Jennings and 6-foot-8 Danny Jennings combined for eight early points.Oak Hill extended the lead to thirteen, 20-7 at the end of the first quarter. But, Piscataway wasn't going to roll over in this one; as they played a physical brand of "D" in the second quarter to trade buckets with the Warriors over the first five minutes of the second quarter as Piscataway was only down 26-14.But, The Jennings boys combined for eight straight as Oak Hill went into the locker room up 34-16 over Piscataway.Byron Allen had ten points to share honors with Brandon Jennings who also had 10 points and 4 assists, while Danny Jennings added eight points in the half. 6-foot-6 Aaron Hush had seven points and 6-foot-5 sophomore Malcolm Griggs chipped in with six points.
The second half opened with Oak Hill going on a 15-4 run to open up a 49-20 advantage as the Jennings boys combined for eleven points. After that it was all Oak Hill as the Warriors led 58-23 at the end of third quarter, and cleared the bench in route to an 82-39 win over the host team from Piscataway.Brandon Jennings finished with 28 points and 9 assists, while Danny Jennings chipped in with 15 points.Byron Allen added 12 points in the win.Piscataway's top gun was John Griggs with 12 points, while Aaron hush finished with 10 points in the loss.
Newark St. Benedict's (N.J.) 68 - Elizabeth St. Patrick's (N.J.) 62
This one opened up, just like it was billed, as a war, with St. Patrick's jumping out to a 14-7 lead behind the shooting of 6-foot-6 Paris Bennett who scored nine points in the opening four minutes.After a media timeout the momentum swung back to St. Benedict's as the Grey Bees went to work attacking the hoop to score three quick buckets to pull to within one, 14-13, at the end of the quarter.The Celtics played without top ten junior, 6-foot-3 Dexter Strickland in the opening quarter who sat calmly next to the coaches for the opening eight minutes.
But, Strickland didn't take long to make his presence known, as he scored the first two times he touched the rock in the second quarter. But, it was St. Benedict's 6-foot-9 big man super Samardo Samuels who shifted the momentum to his squad scoring six points in an 11-3 run to give his club a 24-19 lead.But, Strickland scored four straight to close the gap to one, before missing his first shot of the quarter to close the half with his St. Patrick's squad down two, 28-26 at the end of the first half.
St. Benedict's was led by Samardo Samuels with 10 points, while his front court mate Greg Echenique added seven points in the half.St. Pat's top gun was Strickland with 10 points, while Paris Bennett, who didn't score in the second quarter, added nine points in the opening half.
The second half opened with Strickland knotting the game on a drive down the lane and a free throw at 29-all.But, St. Benedict's went on an 11-0 run over the next four minutes to go up 40-29 before 6-foot-5 freshman Michael Gilchrist converted an old fashioned three-point play to stop the bleeding at 40-32 with 2:30 to play in the third.But, St. Patrick's couldn't pull any closer as Samuels scored twice and hit a free throw to close the stanza with St. Benedict's holding a 47-38 advantage over the Celtics.
St. Patrick's cut the St. Benedict's lead to just six points, 53-47 as Dexter Strickland converted a bucket and two free throws with five minutes to play in the game.St. Patrick's called a timeout after recovering a Grey Bees errant pass.But, Strickland wasn't done as he scored eight straight points for St. Patrick's to pull the Celtics to within two 64-62 with 43-seconds to play.Mike Machado knocked down two big free throws for St. Benedict's with 34-seconds to play to give the Grey Bees a little breathing room at 66-62.The Celtics missed two key free throws, than fouled Myck Kabongo who hit both free throws to ice the victory 68-62 for St. Benedict's.
St. Benedict's was led by Samardo Samuels with 30 points and 7 rebounds, while Greg Echenique chipped in with 13 points.Dexter Strickland led all scorers with 32 points in just three quarters for the Celtics.
Saturday's Matchups at Sovereign Bank Arena in Trenton:
10:30 AM - Timber Creek (N.J.) vs. Academy of New Church (Penn.)
12:00 PM - HunSchool (N.J.) vs. St. Augustine (N.J.)
1:30 PM - Mount Vernon (N.Y.) vs. Roman Catholic (Penn.)
3:00 PM - American Christian (Penn.) vs. RancocasValley (N.J.)
4:30 PM - St. Benedict's (N.J.) vs. Our Savior New American (N.Y.)
6:00 PM - Chicago Whitney Young (Ill.) vs. Gretna Helen Cox (La.)
8:00 PM - NYC Rice (N.Y.) vs. Brooklyn Lincoln (N.Y.)
10:00 PM - St. Patrick's (N.J.) vs. OakHillAcademy (Va.)
I will be in Trenton on Saturday and Sunday to cover all the action at the 2008 Primetime Shootout, hope you enjoy our coverage of this great high school event, here at "Generation Next".
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