VAN COLEMAN
Van is one of the nation's premier recruiting experts. E-mail
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn.-- Friday night at the 2008 GameWornUniforms.com Champions Classic provided one of the biggest upsets of the year as the PattersonSchool, the nation's top rated prep school squad, was upset in a thriller.
The opening night at the GameWornUniforms.com Champions Classic may have started out as a typical first night of tourney action, but it changed into a real shocker, not even one that Tournament Director Wayne Otto could have ever envisioned, as Summit Prep (Calif.) knocked off the formerly undefeated PatersonSchool.
With that in mind, here's our look at the action from Freedom Hall on Friday night from the GameWornUniforms.com Champions Classic in Johnson City, Tenn.
Veritas Christian (N.C.) 58, Covenant Christian (Ga.) 54
The opener featured a number of foreign players who are prepping in the AtlanticCoast region. The game started with the both clubs feeling each other out as Veritas Christian went inside early and often to 7-foot Catalin Baciu (Clemson) and 6-foot-8 junior Sasa Borovnjak to take a 14-12 advantage at the end of the opening stanza. Covenant Christian bounced back in the second quarter behind 6-foot-5 William Yengue and 6-foot Darshtyn Baker to go on an 8-0 run midway through the second quarter taking a 31-28 lead into the locker room at the intermission. Covenant was lead by Baker with 14 points, while Yengue chipped in with 13 points. Veritas was led by Baciu with 11 points in the opening half.
The first couple minutes of the third quarter were all Veritas as they scored five quick points to take a 33-32 lead on Covenant as 5-foot-10 Devon Pickering and Baciu hit quick buckets. The two teams traded baskets the rest of the quarter and were knotted at 40-all at the end of three periods. Veritas took control early in the fourth period as Junior big man Sasa Borovnjak scored eight points in an 11-5 run to open a six point advantage, 51-45, with just under three minutes to play.Covenant Christian never cut it to under four points down the stretch as Veritas Christian held on to win a hard fought 58-54 decision over Covenant.
Veritas was led by Catalin Baciu with 17 points, while Borovnjak added 13 points and Devon Pickering chipped in with 12 points and 5-foot-10 Jon Ellington added 10 points in the win. Covenant Christian's top gun was Darshtyn Baker with a game high 18 points, while 6-foot-5 William Yengue and 6-foot-7 James Bamba added 15 and 12 points, respectively, for the Georgia squad.
This one looked to be a mis-match on paper, but as just about anyone who knows basketball will tell you, that's why we play the game! Early on it did follow the expected script as PattersonSchool jumped out to a 25-9 lead in the first half with just under 10 minutes to play. They were led in the early going by their dynamic guard duo of 6-foot-1 Courtney Fortson and 6-foot-1 Darius Johnson-Odom who combined for 10 points while sweet shooting 6-foot-3 wing man Kurt Fenderbosch chipped in with two long threes to lead the way. But no one told Nigel Ajere and his Summit Prep teammates that the game was over. As the athletic 6-foot-6 wing man dropped his first of three straight buckets to cut the lead to 27-15 with six minutes to play in the first stanza. Patterson seemed to be on the verge of shaking loose from Summit late in the half building the lead to 15 on two occasions before Ajere and 6-foot-1 point guard Daman Starring scored the final five points of the half to cut the Patterson margin to 10 (39-29) as the teams headed to the locker rooms.
Patterson was led by Johnson-Odom with 10 points in the opening half, while Fenderbosch added nine points. Three others, including Fortson, added four points. Summit Prep was led by Ajere with 11 points, while Daman Starring and 6-foot-5 Dane Suttle added six points each.
The second half started with Patterson widening their lead to 13, 46-33, just three minutes into the half behind a couple quick buckets by Johnson-Odom and 6-foot-3 Thaddeus Koroma. But Summit just wouldn't roll over and Patterson couldn't maintain the intensity needed to put the California Squad away. Summit Prep slowly began to chip away at the Patterson lead closing the gap to just six points, 59-53, with 10 minutes to play. It was beginning to look like Patterson had just let Summit hang around long enough that they were beginning to believe they could knock off the nation's No. 1 prep school squad.
No doubt, Nigel Ajere believed that as he led an 11-4 charge that gave Summit its first lead, 64-63, with 5:59 to play in the game. Five-foot-9 point guard Cameron Joyce tied it at 64-64 with a free throw, and then both clubs traded baskets for the next four minutes, as it was still knotted at 72-72 with 1:35 to play.
This set up a wild ending, as Summit went up three, 75-72, on an old fashioned three point play by 6-foot-9 Konner Veteto (UC Riverside) with just 29 seconds to play. Patterson came right back with 6-foot-2 Irish import Scott Kinevane knocking down a deep three to tie it at 75-75 with just 15 seconds to play. Summit came down and set up a play to go inside, but had to settle for a runner on the baseline that missed and in the scramble for the rebound, the officials saw a foul and blew the whistle with two seconds left on the clock. The crowd booed and the Patterson bench went crazy, but Nigel Ajere made one of two to put Summit on top, 76-75. Patterson made a long inbounds pass to Courtney Fortson who put up a long three that bounced off the rim. He went to the floor from hard contact from a Summit Prep player, but officials didn't call the foul. The undefeated season ended as Patterson dropped to 33-1, and the Summit Prep players celebrated what had to be their biggest win to date.
Summit Prep was led by Ajere with 23 points and unofficially 12 rebounds. He was also the winner of the Dunk Contest. He received solid support from 6-foot-6 Dane Suttle with 15 points and Veteto, who chipped in with 12 points in the win.
Patterson's top gun was Darius Johnson-Odomm who finished the night with 21 points, while 6-foot-9 Matt Simpkins (Memphis) added 14 points and Kurt Fenderbosch ended the night with 11 points. It was the job that Daman Starring and company did for Summit in the second half on Courtney Fortson (Arkansas), holding him to just nine points, and that served as the key to the win.
OakHillAcademy (Va.) 95, Eduard Mont Petit (Que.) 74
The nightcap looked to be another mismatch as OakHillAcademy went up against Eduard Mont Petit Collegiate from Montreal, Canada. But it wasn't that easy for the Oak Hill Warriors as the final score might indicate. It was tied at 9-9 in the early going before 6-foot-2 sophomore Byron Allen and 6-foot-7 Junior Glenn Bryant led a 12-0 run, combining for 10 points to give Oak Hill its first commanding lead at 21-9 over Mont Petit. But the squad from Quebec didn't succumb to the Oak Hill pressure, righting the ship and ending the first quarter down, 27-17, to Oak Hill.
The second quarter started with 6-foot-4 Stanley Guillaume and 6-foot-5 Samuel Emond leading a 9-0 run to cut the Oak Hill lead to just one, 27-26, with 5:58 to play in the second period. Oak Hill called timeout, as Coach Steve Smith needed to get his team refocused. It was time for Brandon Jennings (No. 1 rated senior/Arizona commit) to step up and recharge his team, and that he did, leading the Warriors on a 13-5 tear over the next three minutes to go back up 10, then they headed into the locker room up, 46-36, at the intermission. Jennings led Oak Hill with 17 points, while Bryant chipped in 10 points in the first half. Mont Petit was led by Emond with nine points in the opening half.
The third period was close early as Oak Hill was up, 55-44, with five minutes to play when Brandon Jennings led a 9-0 run to open a 64-44 lead, but Mont Petit didn't fold. The Canadian squad behind two baskets, 6-foot-2 Yannick Libai fought back to cut the lead to 13 at the end of three quarters. Mont Petit got the crowd buzzing earl in the fourth quarter, as back-to-back buckets by 5-foot-11 Winshell Noelvil and Libai cut the lead to single digits, 71-62, with just under six minutes to play.
But unlike Summit Prep in the previous game, Mont Petit couldn't find a way to create its own miracle, as Jennings and his teammates took over from that point on to win a harder-than-expected 95-74 victory over a stubborn, yet competitive Eduard Mont Petit squad.
Oak Hill was led by Jennings with 40 points and 8 assists, although he did struggle from outside the arc, only hitting 1-of-7 threes. He received solid support from Bryant, who added 16 points, while Pe'shon Howard and Keith Gallon added 10 points each.
Mont Petit was led by Samuel Edmond with 18 points, while 6-foot-3 Nicolas Dahito and Libai added 11 points each and Guillaume chipped in with 10 points in the loss.
We will be back with more coverage from the finals of the 2008 GameWornUniforms.com ChampionsClassic on Saturday night in Johnson City, Tenn., right here at"Generation Next."
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