National Prep Showcase - Day One

2008 Top 100s Devin Ebanks (Indiana), Terrence Jennings (Louisville) and Chris Braswell (Georgetown) start seasons

Nov. 17, 2007



 
 

By Van Coleman

CSTV.com & Hoopmasters.com

 



 Van Coleman

Van is one of the nation's premier recruiting experts.
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The National Prep School Showcase tipped off today at UMass-Lowell and a number of players put up big numbers as the teams struggled to shake early season jitters.

 

We will be bringing you all the action from the Costello Athletic Center in Lowell, Mass. this weekend.  We had a number of games that weren't decided until the final minutes, including the two primetime games in the evening session. 

 


 

 

With that in mind here's our look at the opening day's top action at the National Prep School Showcase:

 

Massanutten Military, Va. 73 - St. Thomas More, Conn. 63

 

The opener started out close as both clubs traded buckets in the early going, as St. Thomas More jumped to an early 11-9 lead just five minutes into the first half.  But, Massanutten came right back with a 9-2 run midway through the stanza to open up a 29-17 lead with just over three minutes to play in the half, behind five points by 6-foot-3 Aaron Austin, and cruised into the locker room up 31-21 at the intermission.

 

The second half began with more of the same as Massanutten ran their lead to 48-29 before St. Thomas More finally got on track and employed a scramble press that cut it to just six points at 62-56 with 3:30 to go in the game.  But, Massanutten made 6-of-8 free throws down the stretch and survived 73-63 over St. Thomas More.

 

The top scorer in the opener for Massanutten was 6-foot-3 Aaron Austin who finished with 26 points and an impressive nine assists.  He's really solid and should be for the backcourt at Radford.  He got solid support from 6-foot-8 Drake commit Wendell Faines, who finished with 16 points and seven boards.  Six-foot-3 Carl Hauke chipped in with eight points.

 

St. Thomas More was led by Indiana signee, 6-foot-9 Devin Ebanks who finished with a game high 27 points and pulled down 10 boards.  He received help up front from 6-foot-7 T.J. Robinson who finished with 13 points and a game high 13 rebounds.  But, they didn't get much help on the perimeter on "O" and came up short in the opener at the National Prep Showcase.

 

Notre Dame Prep, Mass. 75 - Fork Union Military, Va. 71

 

This one started out slowly as both teams struggled on the offensive end of the court.  Jumpers weren't falling most of the first stanza.

 

Notre Dame Prep broke open a 25-all tie in the last minute of play behind 6-foot-9 Terrence Jennings and 6-foot-7 James Southerland to finish the half with six straight points to head to the locker room up 31-25 over Fork Union.

 

The second half started with a run by Fork Union that erased the half-time deficit, to open up a 54-44 lead with 9:20 to play.  At that point, Notre Dame Prep's head coach Ryan Hurd had seen enough. He called time out and everything seemed to change for Notre Dame.  The went into a full court press that caused four quick Fork Union turnovers and sparked a 14-2 run to go up 58-54 with 7:32 to play in the game.  Fork Union tied it again at 62-all, but Notre Dame's 6-foot-5 combo guard Kim English took over to lead them to a 75-71 win hitting two Key threes down the stretch.

 

The Notre Dame Prep squad was led by the aforementioned Missouri signee Kim English who finished with 21 points.  He got solid support up front from 6-foot-9 Terrence Jennings, Louisville signee, who finished with 12 points and pulled down 15 boards.  In the backcourt, another Louisville commit in 6-foot-3 Melquan Bolding added 13 points and 7 boards.

 

Fork Union's top gun was 6-foot-2 Dominic Stafford-King who finished with 19 points, but only hit 3-12 from beyond the arc.  He got solid support from 6-foot-1 Jason Dawson and 6-foot-3 Anthony Ervin who both chipped in 9 points each.

 

Summit Prep, Calif. 74 - Maine Central Institute, Maine 59

 

The first half began with Summit taking an early 17-8 lead behind the play of 6-foot-6 wing Nigel Ajere and 6-foot-3 point Daman Starring. But, Maine Central chipped away at the lead throughout the rest of the first half to tie it 31-all at the half. The comeback was led by the three-point shooting of 6-foot-3 Lucas Rieff, who hit three treys down the stretch.

 

The second half was all Summit Prep as they went on a 26-9 tear to go up 57-40, then coasted to the finish to win a 74-59 decision over Maine Central. 

 

Summit Prep was led by Ajere who finished with 11 points and 12 boards, 6-foot-11 Kyle Barone who added 11 points as well, and 6-foot-5 wing Dane Suttle who chipped in with 10 points. 

 

Maine Central's top scorer was Lucas Rieff who finished with 12 points, while he got solid support from 6-foot-9 Svetoslav Chertinov and 6-6 Van Dellenback-Oulette, who both finished with 10 points each.

 

Winchendon School, Mass. 83 - Hargrave Military, Va. 73

 

This was to feature a battle of heavyweights in Winchendon and Hargrave Military, but Winchendon was without their 7-foot-2 post man John Riek-Suas who twisted his knee earlier this week.  It's unsure whether he would have made any difference to the final score as Hargrave broke open a 34-28 game five minutes left in the first half with a 12-2 run to finish the half to head to the intermission up 46-30 over Winchendon.

 

The second stanza started with both clubs exchanging buckets until 6-foot-1 Anthony Raffa, an Albany signee, led a Winchendon charge that closed the Hargrave lead to two, 58-56 with 13:07 to go.  But, Hargrave jumped right back to double digits at 71-61 behind Marshall signee Damier Pitts and Mississippi State signee Dee Bost, who combined for 8 of the next thirteen points.  It was never closer than seven after that as Hargrave won an 83-73 decision over Winchendon.

 

Hargrave Military was led by 5-foot-11 Damier Pitts who finished with 22 points and 8 assists.  He got solid support from 6-foot-2 Dee Bost who added 17 points, while 6-foot-3 Dexter Moore, 6-foot-10 Roscoe Davis (West Virginia), and 6-foot-8 Chris Braswell (Georgetown) added 12, 11, and 10 points respectively.

 

Winchendon's top gun was 6-foot-5 Larry Anderson who finished with a tourney high 29 points and 7 boards.  He got solid support from Anthony Raffa who finished with 16 points and 5-foot-9 Jansy Crews who chipped in with 12 points.

 

Patterson School, N.C. 75 - Bridgton Academy, Maine 69

 

The first half was controlled by Bridgton Academy's backcourt duo of 6-foot-2 Cardell McFarland and 6-foot-3 Isaiah Wallace who helped them build an early 26-21 lead with 3:47 to go in the half.  At that point, 6-foot-1 Hamid Ford led a 10-3 burst to give them their biggest lead of the game at 36-24 with just over a minute left in the stanza.  But, Patterson grabbed the momentum in the final minute of the first half to head to the locker room only down 38-31 at the break.

 

The second half began like the first ended as Patterson roared out of the locker room to tie the game at 50-all with 12 minutes to play.  But, Bridgton rebounded to take their biggest lead of the second half, 60-52, behind the play of Cardell McFarland and Hamid Ford leading a 10-2 outburst.

 

Patterson stormed back to trail by one at 65-64 with just over four minutes to play.  They would regain the lead 70-69 on a bucket by 6-foot-6 Mou Mathian, and then built on that lead late hitting free throws down the stretch to give them a hard fought 75-69 victory in the night cap.

 

Patterson was led by Darius Johnson-Odom who finished with 18 points including 3-threes.  He got solid support from Muo Mathiang with 16 points and Varez Ward who added 12 points in the win. 

 

Bridgton's top gun was Cardell McFarland who had a game high 21 points, 8 boards and 6 assists.  He received support from Isaiah Wallace with 16 points while Hamid Ford added 10 points in the hard fought loss.

 

We will bring you more of the coverage from this weekend's National Prep School Showcase right here at "Generation Next".

 

Saturday, November 17th Day Two Games

 

Maine Central Institute, ME - Massanutten Military, VA

 

Notre Dame Prep, MA - Hargrave Military, VA

 

St. Thomas More, CT - Lee Academy, MA

 

Brewster Academy, NH - Fork Union Military, VA

 

Winchendon School, MA - American Christian, PA

 

New Hampton School, NH - Patterson School, NC

 

Bridgton Academy, ME - Summit Prep, CA

 

South Kent, CT - Findlay Prep, NV

 

This coming weekend we will be at the Trusted Choice Tournament of Champions in Peoria, IL.  The event features 24-teams from across the USA.

 

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