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PrintDec. 30, 2007
By Van Coleman
CSTV.com & Hoopmasters.com
 |  |
Van Coleman
Van is one of the nation's premier recruiting experts. |
HOUSTON, Tex. - It was another night of upsets at the Aldine-Campbell Arena as St. Patrick's (N.J.) and Montverde Academy (Fla.) went down to Texas schools. Of the three national powerhouses, only
Individually, 6-foot-9 Anthony Jones (No. 51 ranked senior / Baylor) was stellar again, while two of the nation's top lead guards in Brandon Jennings (No. 1 /
This one looked like a mismatch from the opening tip, but
The second half was all Wheatley as the Wildcats built a 30-plus point lead in the third quarter to lead 62-31 heading into the final stanza. At that point Wheatley coasted to a 82-53 victory over the outmanned
Spring Klein Collins (
The first of our featured trio of games was living up to its billing in the first half as
The second half started with Montverde going on a 10-5 run to take a 35-28 lead as Steve Tchiengang (No. 64 / Vanderbilt) scored six points to open the third quarter. They maintained a six to seven point advantage throughout the quarter until Craig knocked down a deep three at the buzzer to pull Klein Collins to within three, 42-39.
The fourth quarter was a real head shaker as neither club could make a free throw, but Klein Collins found the hoop twice with the second by Craig giving them the lead for the first time in the game, 44-43, with just 1:52 to play. Demetri Goodson hit a free throw, their only one of the quarter to put them up two at 45-43 with 18 seconds to play. Montverde got a chance to win it with a three, but Harris' shot fell short as time ran out. Montverde was 1-for-8 in the fourth quarter and it was definitely the deciding factor in the game.
Klein Collins was led by Derek Craig with 20 points including 4-three pointers. He got solid support from Bassel Bawji and Demetri Goodson who added 11 and 10 points respectively in the win.
Montverde was led by Dashan Harris with 13 points, but he only hit one of six free throws down the stretch. Steve Tchiengang and Ruslan Pateev added nine and eight points in the loss.
It's a match-up of high school heavyweights with one trying to prove they belong on top in St. Patrick's and the other trying to prove last night wasn't a fluke and that they belong with best in Texas, as well as the USA, in Yates High.
Yates came out putting the defensive pressure on the St. Patrick guards early, while St. Patrick's countered with the inside game of Quintrell Thomas (No. 106 / Kansas). He scored the first six points to keep them even out of the blocks at six-all. Both clubs continued to trade baskets until Darius Gardner gave Yates a four point lead, 16-12, with a deep three-pointer. St. Patrick's grabbed the momentum at the end of the quarter as Dexter Strickland (No. 9 junior) threw down a monster dunk at the buzzer over Anthony Jones (No. 51 / Baylor) that brought the mostly Yates crowd to a major buzz.
The second quarter started with St. Patrick's building a six-point advantage, 25-19, behind three baskets by Jermel Jenkins. But Yates came right back to close it to two at 25-23 on a Jones dunk. The two clubs then traded baskets over the next couple of minutes. St. Patrick's extended the lead to 31-28 on two free throws from Thomas, but Yates' high flying 6-foot-2 wing man Brandon Peters drove and dunked with just seconds on clock to close the gap to 31-30 at the intermission.
St. Patrick's was led by Thomas with 10 points in the half with solid support coming from Jenkins with eight points.
Yates' top guns were Peters and Jones with 10 points each. Jones also had five blocks in the first half.
The second half began with St. Patrick's going up five, 37-32, with
The two squads traded baskets in the early part of the fourth quarter and Yates held a 59-55 lead with
Yates was led by Anthony Jones with 25 points and seven blocks, while Brandon Peters and Xavier Roberson added 12 and 11 points respectively in the huge win.
St. Patrick's top gun was Quintrell Thomas who had 22 points and 13 boards before fouling out with
Yates capped a great weekend with wins over two top ten talented squads.
Mouth of
This one started with all kinds of firepower and never really let up, as
The two high-powered offenses traded buckets early as Oak Hill had a 9-7 advantage at the five minute mark of the first quarter. Then it was just about time for Brandon Jennings (No. 1 / Arizona) to have a breakout end to the first period as he scored seven points during the Warriors' 13-4 run that put them up 26-15 with just under a minute to play. Tommy Mason-Griffin (No. 81 junior / LSU) scored the last two baskets of the quarter to cut the lead to 26-19 at the break.
The second quarter was all Oak Hill early as the Warriors built their lead to 47-30 behind
Oak Hill was led by
The third quarter was all Oak Hill as
Oak Hill then scored five straight, including a three-pointer by
Oak Hill was led by Brandon Jennings with 36 points and seven assists. He received solid support from Keith Gallon who finished 24 points and 18 rebounds, while 6-foot-2 sophomore Pe'shon Howard added 17 points, Glenn Bryant 15 points, and Byron Allen 13 points in the victory.
Tommy Mason-Griffin equaled
We'd like to thank tournament director Hal Pastner for his hospitality over the past few days and for the excellent work of his staff to have info flowing to those of us along press row - it was greatly appreciated.
