Marshall County Hoopfest - Day Two
No. 1 rated senior Brandon Jennings brings his show to the Kentucky gym
Dec. 9, 2007
By Van Coleman
CSTV.com & Hoopmasters.com
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Van Coleman
Van is one of the nation's premier recruiting experts. |
The Marshall County Hoopfest's marathon day was Saturday in
Once again Brandon Jennings (No. 1 ranked senior / Arizona signee) put on a show, scoring a Hoopfest-high 36 points and handing out eight assists to lead Oak Hill Academy (Va.).
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The morning's opener started out a little sluggish as
But, the second half was going to be a different story as Massac County's 6-foot-3 forward David Rogers was about to take the game over! The athletic baseliner broke open for six straight points to bring Massac their first lead 42-41 with just 1:09 to play in the game. Massac hit 5 of 6 free throws in the final minute to hold on for a 49-45 victory over
This one looked like a real runaway early on as
Well Mr. Griffey answered that question in the second half scoring 17 of his 21 points to lead
This one started out close as both clubs traded buckets in the first quarter as 6-foot-2 Cory York and 5-foot-9 Scott McKenty hit back to back buckets to gain the lead, 11-9, at the end of the first stanza. The game was a see-saw affair that ended the first half with
The second half remained close early as Rose Hill came back to take a 33-32 lead on a 6-foot-4 sophomore Chad Jackson free throw with 10 seconds to play. But, the fourth quarter saw the roof fall in on Rose Hill as Marshall County opened the quarter with a 13-6 run and built an eventual 48-41 advantage with 2:40 to play. Rose Hill cut it to four on a Chad Jackson three, but that was as close as it got, as Marshall's 6-foot Travis Spiceland hit two threes on the wing to build their lead to double digits as the Marshalls coasted to a 60-44 victory over Rose Hill.
In the last of the afternoon games, an athletic White Station squad met up with a solid Pinckneyville squad. In the opening stanza they felt each other out as 6-foot-2 Hayden Hicks scored two quick buckets to end the quarter for Pinckneyville and give them an 11-9 lead at the buzzer.
The second quarter saw White Station, behind some great inside play by 6-foot-6 freshman Marvin Williams, ending the quarter with a 5-2 run to gain a 30-25 advantage over Pinckneyville. Williams led White Station with 11 points in the first half while freshman point Joe Jackson (2010 No. 11) added seven points to the cause. Pinckneyville was led by 6-foot-6 guard Kyle Cassidy who had 11 points while Hayden Hicks added nine points.
In the third period, Cassidy and his Pinckneyville teammates got right back in it with a 8-2 run to open the stanza to take a one point lead 33-32 midway thru the quarter. The two clubs exchanged buckets as Pinckneyville held onto that one point lead at the buzzer, 37-36, over White Station.
The fourth quarter started like the third as Pinckneyville scored four straight to go up 41-36 on a bucket by Kyle Cassidy. But, 6-foot frosh sensation Joe Jackson brought White Station right back with two quick three pointers, then a steal and bucket to go up 46-41 as the
White Station was led by Joe Jackson with 17 points, while Marvin Williams added 16 points in the victory. 6-foot-3 wing man Kaylon
The house was standing room only for this one as
The game was close early as expected with Brandon Jennings (No. 1 / Arizona) getting Oak Hill on the go and Hales countering with buckets from Matt Humphrey (No. 72 / Oregon) and D.J. Cooper to tie it at 11-all. But, the Oak Hill squad went to work with Jennings to Jennings - that's Brandon on a drive and finish followed by two straight buckets by 6-foot-8 junior Dan Jennings to open up a 17-11 lead. Humphrey then knocked down a deep three from the corner to cut it to three at 17-14 at the end of the first quarter.
In the early going of the second quarter the two squads traded buckets as Oak Hill held a 28-25 advantage with just under three minutes to play in the half. At that point, Brandon Jennings decided to take over and hit 6-foot-7 junior Glenn Bryant with an oop pass, stole a pass and scored with a quick dunk, and finally capped the half with a floater in the paint to put Oak Hill up 34-25 at the intermission.
Brandon Jennings led Oak Hill with 13 points in the first half while Dan Jennings and Glenn Bryant added six points each. Hales Franciscan's top gun was D.J. Cooper with 12 points.
The second half started with Hales making a 6-2 run to cut Oak Hill's lead to five, 36-31. Hales cut the lead to just three points, 40-37, on a bucket by 6-foot-8 Josh Crittle (No. 101 / Oregon) with just under three minutes left in the quarter. But as had happened often in the first two quarters, Brandon Jennings scored six of the next eight points to put Oak Hill back up by a 48-39 margin at the end of three.
But the fourth quarter would belong to Oak Hill as they scored seven quick points to open the quarter and go up by 16 points at 55-39. It was a run that Hales Franciscan never seemed to recover from.
After that it became the Brandon Jennings show for Oak Hill as the nation's top prospect added 12 more to his total and had the crowd buzzing. He got a challenge from Hales' D.J. Cooper, who equaled him down the stretch with 12, but to no avail as Oak Hill won going away 83-62 over the
Brandon Jennings brought the crowd to their feet at the game's end, and finished with 36 points and eight assists to lead all scorers at the Hoopfest.
He got solid support from Glenn Bryant with 14 points and eight boards, while 6-foot-9 Keith Gallon added 13 points and 10 boards and 6-foot-2 Pe'shon Howard added 10 points in the win. D.J. Cooper was Hales' top gun finishing with 26 points. 5-foot-10 combo Phil Williams added 11 points, while
Brandon Jennings was rushed by the crowd right after the game ended with 75-100 autograph seekers having to be asked to leave the court in a Hollywood moment in
This one featured a deep and athletic squad from Whitney Young versus a tough scrappy team from
Scott Co. jumped in front early as 6-foot-7 Richie Phares knocked down a three, then went to work inside to give them an early 11-3 advantage over Whitney Young. The
The second quarter started with a 9-4 run by Whitney Young fired by the insertion of 6-3 junior Chris Colvin. He didn't start the game, but did get them back in it early in this quarter. Colvin teamed with 6-foot-1 wing Julian Kenner to put Whitney Young on top for the first time at 29-28 with just 1:38 to go in the half.
The second half began with Whitney Young opening with a 14-5 run fueled by Anthony Johnson, 6-foot-3 junior Marcus Jordan and Chris Colvin, who combined for 10 of those points to open up a 47-38 bulge. But, Scott County wasn't done yet, as 6-foot-2 sophomore Ge-Lawn Guyn led a late 9-4 run to cut Whitney Young's lead to just 55-51 at the end of three periods.
The fourth quarter started with Whitney Young opening it back to nine, 60-51, on baskets by
Whitney Young stepped up the defensive pressure and quickly turned a couple turnovers into buckets to jump back into the lead at 71-69 on a Chris Colvin lay-up with 1:53 to play.
Bryan Hall was fouled on a drive and stepped to the line to knock down two big free throws, putting Young up 73-69. Scott County closed the gap on a Portwood three from deep in the corner to trail by just one 73-72 with just nine seconds to play, but Marcus Jordan and A.J. Rompza each hit a free throw in the waning seconds to seal a wild 75-72 decision for the Chicago squad.
Whitney Young was led by Julian Kenner, who scored 17 points including 3 of 3 from beyond the arc. He received solid support from 6-foot-2 Bryan Hall, who finished with 13 points, and Anthony Johnson, who chipped in with 11 points.
In the second of two Kentucky-Chicago match-ups, the home squad from Lexington Catholic jumped out to a quick 13-6 advantage pressuring Simeon into four turnovers that turned into points in transition. But, Simeon seemed to right the ship in the final two minutes, going inside to 6-foot-9 Stan Simpson (Illinois), to only trail 17-12 at the break.
The second quarter opened with Lexington Catholic on fire going on a 9-2 run to go up double digits at 26-13 behind six points by 6-foot-5 Taylor Stewart. It was a lead they would never relinquish heading into the locker room up 33-20 at the half.
The second half was more of the first as Stewart and 6-foot-5 Nathan Novosel out-scrapped Simeon on the boards and did a good job getting the ball in the hoop to maintain a 52-41 third quarter advantage. To open the fourth quarter, 6-foot-1 Vee Sanford scored six unanswered points and Stewart put back a miss to open a 60-41 bulge that allowed Lexington Catholic to cruise to a 67-56 win.
Lexington Catholic's top gun was Taylor Stewart, who finished with 26 points and 12 boards. He got solid support from Nathan Novosel with 15 points and Vee Sanford, who chipped in with 12 points in the win. Simeon was led by Stan Simpson with 18 points and 5-foot-10 Jeremy Jones, who added 12 points in the loss.
This one was over very early as Findlay Prep quickly developed a lead in the double digits that increased to over 20 points in the first half and continued through the third quarter.
6-foot-5 Dequan Jones (No. 52 / Miami) led an early 13-4 fourth quarter charge to cut the lead to 58-48. But, that was as close as Findlay allowed Wheeler to get as Gutierrez hit two straight buckets to salt it away, taking a 68-54 decision over Wheeler.
Findlay Prep was led by Jorge Gutierrez with 20 points and six assists. Deividas Dulkys added 12 points and DeAndre Liggins scored 10 points in the win. Wheeler was led by Dequan Jones with 16 points, while 6-foot-9 Richard Howell (2009 No. 53) added 12 points in the loss.
We'd like to thank Tournament Director Steve Woodward and his staff for their fine hospitality and a well-run event. It was a pleasure being in
We hope you enjoyed our coverage of Saturday's action at the Marshall County Hoopfest. Tuesday we will be looking at the Top Prospects in
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