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Jon "Duck" Gray is
one of our most ardent web site supporters. How cool is it that his nickname is a good fit
with Tom "Puck" McKenna and Ed "Huck" Palmer?
Maybe we can talk Amauro Austin into using the nickname "Young
Buck." Oh, and Kev Hanlon could be "You S--k!" |
Games seen by Duck in the 2001-02 basketball season (and notes columns) . . .
March 2, 2002
St. John Neumann 56, Archbishop Carroll 43
Catholic League Quarterfinal
This game was going to break a trend in the Catholic League
playoffs, before this one the higher seeded team had won the prior quarterfinal games.
(That changed) Also, if a team had beaten another team twice in the regular season they
also were victorious in the playoffs. (This remained true.) In the first quarter, it
became evident that Carroll couldn’t deal with Antwain Wynn. Wynn was
murdering the Patriot defense off of the dribble to the tune of 10 points and 5 assists.
How he didn’t make All-Catholic is going to be an Unsolved Mystery for awhile? It was
clearly an injustice. Also, Wynn was setting up Adon "The Market-Frankford"
El up for layups as well. Neumann played smart basketball in which it played to their
strengths, guards. Carroll’s junior point guard Kashif Payne was excellent at
times today. I love Sheefy’s game and sometimes I call him "Tupac" because
sometimes he has to have that, "Me Against the World" attitude. Payne made some
tough shots and just played brilliant basketball, and his teammates didn’t give him
enough support. For Neumann, team balance is hardly ever a problem, playing a major role
inside was El, who put forth a solid effort: 18 points, 10 rebounds and 8 blocks.
Sophomore guard Richard "Tabby" Cunningham made some quality plays as
well. Tabby finished with 12 points. Carroll which never led this game, battled within
five 36-31 in the third quarter. Then senior Chris Del Brocco, who has to be the
league’s coldest assassin from trey hit a big three to make the score 39-31. Then
following a free throw and a defensive stand, El scored a fastbreak layup. At one point,
the score was 45-31, then Payne went coast to coast for a deep, buzzer beating , off the
glass trey. That concluded a solid third quarter and set the stage for fantastic final
frame. One thing to note, the last quarter was hardly fantastic. The Pirates just had too
much solid guard play. Cunningham made some very clutch free throws. Wynn is just
terrific, and Del Brocco is the perfect complement to Wynn and Cunningham. At times Jordan
Ingram looked good and sophomore Mike Springman, also had positive moments. But
they have to be more consistent to help Payne.
Table Talk- I didn’t keep statistics so I got to girl
watch. There was one excellent young lady who kept heads turning, she was the best
prospect in the gym. Poor Ted and Huck, who were keeping stats, they missed out. Amar was
keeping stats also, but he like was checking the talent and I thought Richard Francis
was "hard to guard." This chick can’t be contained. (Ted's note: She was a
Neumann cheerleader just last year and now is a Sixers' cheerleader.) Many people in the
house. Jay Wright from Villanova was one of them. Todd Johnson was back in
the Pirate lineup and was solid in his stint on the floor.
February 26th 2002
Public League Quarterfinal
Strawberry Mansion 70 Martin Luther King 63
What could be a better venue for a Public League basketball game?
When you enter into the "Mad House" at Mansion, you know you are in for a treat.
The crowd is involved and this is the toughest place to play if you’re a visiting
team. The place is raucous to say the least. But early on, MLK showed resolve as it moved
out to leads after the first and second quarters. Leading the way was lead guard Raheem
Scott and center Wayne Marshall. Scott made several pull up jumpers and
dropped some sweet dimes to his teammates. On the other side, Maureece Rice and Aaron
Brown weren’t making shots. That would change when Rice made a couple layups, and
also on a fastbreak when he found Brown for a layup with the sweetest pass I’ve seen
all year. (The pass made the defender fall and Rice hit Brown standing alone for the
layin.) Rice played a lot as a scoring point this game, and he looked terrific setting up
his teammates. (The man is "The Truth".) However, King went into halftime on
top, 28-22. The Knights came back with precision, and persistence. We often talk about the
guards, but inside workers, 6-7 junior Delton Morgan-Hines and 6-5 senior Dawud
Morris were huge. Morgan-Hines, a solid D-I prospect, played very good defense on W.
Marshall, limiting the big guy to one rebound in the second half (He had 11 overall), by
using his length and court savvy. Delton fouled out very late while guarding Wayne, but
most of his fouls stopped Wayne from getting the ball to the rim. Morgan-Hines was also
4-6 from the field, and a couple times didn’t receive the ball when open. He could be
the most underrated junior in the area. Morris was equally impressive, he registered 10
points, 9 rebounds and 5 blocks. One of the rejections led to Rice leading the fast-break,
crossing over a defender and scoring at the tin. Another Rice crossover move, looked to
break a kid's ankle as he found Brown for a hoop. (When Maureece Rice has the ball,
trainers and assistant coaches make sure you have extra ankle tape.) You can feel the
heartbeat of the Public League every time Rice touches the ball. They call him the
"Phenom" but I think he’s the "Mayor of North Philly." (You
thought the Mayor was John Street?) With King maintaining a slight lead throughout
the third behind: Darron Bradley (15 points, two hard dunks) and the long swooping
moves of Akeem Wright (16 points.) Rice made two free throws to put the Knight on
top 36-35. And at the third quarter buzzer, Morgan-Hines rebound basket of a missed Rice
trey put the Knights in front 40-36, heading to the fourth stanza. On the first possession
of the last quarter Rice hit a left wing trey to extend the lead. The Cougars, who played
their hearts out, would hang close but then Brown (17 points) hit two back to back treys,
this one was over. King would play hard to the final horn, and with the Knights making a
couple mistakes and missing some free throws it got a little dicey at the end. Scott
finished his career with 16 points, and bowed out with a fair defensive job on Rice, who
still managed 23 points. Quincy Marshall, also showed well and will be a very good
guard in the Public League next year. Wright has huge strides to the hoop, he is a D-I
prospect as well. Bradley may be better than we all thought, he is a solid D-I player as
well. This might have been the most talented team King has had. The Knights move on to the
match-up we all wanted to see: Bartram and Mansion. Should be a classic. The top two
players in the Pub going head to head. Maureece "Phenom" Rice vs. Richard
"Franchise" Francis in the battle for Pub player of the Year. The undercards
aren’t too shabby: Aaron Brown vs. Bryant Leach, Jason Cain vs. Delton Morgan-Hines.
Get your tickets now, and make sure you're there early.
Table Talk- As I arrived for the game, I was greeted by Marc
"Big Andy" Starling, who got on my case about Mansion not having selections
in the Public League Hall of Fame. He also pointed out an irony: Rodney Smith, a
deep Mansion reserve, is Brian Shorter’s nephew. Today, Rice went past Shorter
on the all time scoring list in the city. Tyrone Crawley Sr., who works at
the 23rd and Berks street PAL, had tons of stories to tell me about Rice when he was 12
years old and was already unguardable. Mansion made this one tough to get into, and they
need to cut the crap. Yes, Bill Vargus got in, but Phil Martelli was
rumored to be left on the outside looking in. And a Villanova assistant was definitely not
allowed in. Are you crazy? This is the "Pub" -- be Public.
February 21,2002
Public League Round of 16
Central 53, Roxborough 43
This one was good at times but didn’t crossover into classic
status. Early on, the story was Central’s balance and discipline against
Roxborough’s lack of balance and lack of discipline. Central opened up a 17-8 lead
early in the second quarter and that awoke ‘Boro star, Dahliek Powell. In the
second quarter, Powell registered 10 points and his solid all around play had Roxborough
tied with Central at the half, 25-25. The top Lancer today was 6-3 senior wing guard Khalif
Leek. Leek made several big plays and was everywhere on the court. Leek’s
impressive statistics line: 18 points, 9 rebounds, 4 steals, 3 assists and 2 blocks.
Powell is at least a low-mid major prospect, but he didn’t pick up where he left off
in the first half. Central, wisely, applied pressure that forced turnovers from the
Division D champs. Despite the ball-handling mistakes, I really like what I saw from
junior point man, Tyrone Crawley, who has potential. Crawley’s stop and pop
jumper put the Indians on top 38-37, with 6:41 left in the game their first lead since the
game’s first two minutes. Later with the score 40-40, Leek drilled a right wing trey
off an inbounds pass from Sharif Bray (14 points and 6 assists). Following an empty
possession for Roxborough, Leek hit another trey from the identical spot this time, Darnell
Johnson found him for the shot. On the other end, Roxborough, forgot their star and
didn’t find Powell. I was sitting there in disbelief (not at Puck’s antics) as
Dahliek only got three shots in the final period. I thought that Powell would be used much
like the way Frankford used Nicholas King in their playoff run last year. Powell
still was solid if not superb, 21 points and 14 rebounds. Dahliek could have been more
effective as the middle release man of Rox’s press break. (Positioning him at the top
of key would have been ideal.) Central took full advantage and forced the flow off the
Indians offense away from the wing, where he was positioned. Despite, an off shooting day,
(4-14 from the field) I liked what I saw from Bray. Sharif showed improved floor vision
and excellent court savvy while directing from the point. His main counterpart, Armond
Saunders, had moments is especially when displaying his ankle turning handle, but
didn’t have his "A" game today. Bray and the senior laden Lancers will have
at least one more game in these playoff. Whereas, Powell bowed out as one of the best
players in recent, and not so recent, Roxborough hoops history.
Table Talk -- Tom "Nutman" McKenna is amazing. He
should be called ladies man. We were sitting next to the Roxborough bleachers and this
somewhat pretty young lady was looking in my direction -- of course, in my vainness I
thought she was looking at me. Then once she laughed . . . Ahh! Another one bites the
dust; infatuated with the "Nutman." I don’t even think he noticed. It was a
better than decent crowd and they were involved, I like Roxborough’s gym and the
assortment of sodas they offer you in cup for 50 cents. The people at the "Boro"
are always nice and helpful. Now it's on to the Pub quarterfinals, this is were you see
the emotion on the kids' faces, and the determination in their eyes.
February 18, 2002
On The Menu
"Duck Soup"
In my very spare time I’ve been able to watch a
little bit Public League girls basketball. Girls basketball is very entertaining and
exciting because of the 30 second shot clock. Anyway those Lancers of Central are going to
be tough to beat. They feature a highly underrated junior guard in LaKia Stewart
and an "ankle breaking" sophomore guard in Ashley Morris. They kill teams with a
pressure packed defensive game. I’ve also been impressed with: Penn’s 6-6 (legit
height) junior center Malika Johnson and tiny senior guard Melody Howard;
FLC’s junior guard Ashley Blake and senior forward Phyllis Carter;
E&S’s standout forward Aquisha Cahoe and University City sophomore forward
Mercedes Walker… The sophomore class in Philadelphia has me on high alert, I
mean that class is stacked with talent. Yes, it is very early but this might be the best
class in years, I mean since ’97 possibly (Marvin O’Connor, Lynn Greer,
Jarret Kearse, Martin Ingelsby, Ronald Murray etc.) It doesn’t
get much better than that…Attention sophomores, juniors and some seniors, please take
this advice: take the SAT’s this school year. There is a test date on May 4, the
registration deadline for that one is March 29. Also, the tested is being
administrated again on June 1 and the
deadline is April 26. More information available is at
www.collegeboard.com…The Public League playoff matchups are annoying, the two teams
that are undefeated in league play could meet in the Semifinals. Bartram and Mansion, it
would be an exciting game a rematch of last year’s quarterfinal game, but Bartram
should be the #1 seed. … I hate to admit it when the Catholic League has an advantage
on the "Pub" but I most concede this: being able to have players able to play
jayvee and varsity. You can see the development right before your eyes… Now that
I’ve trekked to Mayfair (I really enjoyed myself) should TedSilary.Com legend, Kevin
Hanlon try a Public League playoff game? I don’t know maybe Kevin would get
addicted to the Pub, I’ve decided that eight years between visits to Solly Ave is
absurd. (I only stayed half a game the last time.) I’m there every year now.… By
the way can somebody e-mail me with the history of the socks and Judge athletics?
I’ve always been intrigued with that… Word to the wise, there is an old
expression "you have to knockout the champion" remember that St. John Neumann
and Simon Gratz will not go quietly in their respective playoff runs. It will be
interesting to watch they are so many subplots in both League this year. In the
"Pub", the challenge from Southwest Philly (John Bartram) is very interesting,
SWP has produced some of the better players in the area the last few years. Also, King has
tons of talent in their building year in and year out and some stars in waiting on junior
varsity. … How good is Charron Fisher? Man, he never fails to impress me.
Yesterday he swished two treys in a very clutch situation and probably would have made
another if his teammate passed to him… The Pub playoffs begin shortly and I feel like
a kid in a candy store, "February Madness" is in full effect.
February 14, 2002
Public League
Frankford 58, Olney 50
Happy Valentine’s Day. Olney and Frankford, is a game that I
have a red circle around every year. Because it is usually a sweetheart. This year was no
exception. Even though Olney has lost five players for either academic or disciplinary
reasons. Early on the Trojans, who only dressed eight players, were hanging with the
bigger much deeper, Pioneers of Frankford. Leading their cause was a quality backcourt led
by sophomore point guard Andrew Jerry and senior shooting guard, Marvin Kilgore
Jr.(16 points and 3 assists.) The Pioneers countered with their vaunted inside game
led by Donte Wood ( 9 points and 8 rebounds) and Tyree "Da Animal"
Draft (7 points, 15 rebounds and 3 blocks). Also, highly talented combination guard Mark
Tyndale (14 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists.) The Pioneers moved out to eight point
leads in both the second and third quarters. Olney’s Kilgore had some BIGTIME moves:
once he crossed over his defender, then used a pump fake to avoid another defender, and
put a soft jumper off the glass and in. Then he whipped a one handed pass inside to senior
forward Tyree Hankerson (9 points, one ferocious slam.) Also, Marvin was 2-4 on
threes. Kilgore reminds me of Terry Johnson FLC ’93. Jerry was solid and
sensational at times, the 5-6 guard registered 13 points and 4 assists. Jerry gave the
Trojans’ a tie at :53 left in the third quarter with a deep trey. Jerry was 3-6 on
treys, including one from roughly 28 feet. After Jerry forged a tie, a rebound basket put
Frankford ahead heading into the final quarter by two. In the final stanza, Draft procured
8 of his 15 boards, and Tyndale made tons of big plays. Tyndale is only a sophomore, but
he plays a balanced floor game and makes his teammates better. He is just another member
of that sterling silver sophomore class to watch in the years to come. Mark has a whole
lot of talent, and he knows what to do with it. Keep your eyes on him for the next two
years. Tyndale scored a huge coast to coast layup late in the game and with Draft
controlling the glass, Frankford held off the feisty Trojans. With Hankerson the only big
guy left on the team, the Trojans rely heavily on their guards. Kilgore has improved his
court savvy and after a year of Prep (and some more improvement in the court sense area)
do not be surprised that this guy becomes a coveted D-I prospect. (Yes I said that.) All
of the tools are there and he has a nasty quick first step and just oozes talent and
confidence. His teammate Neil Green, who was effective as a small forward/calming
influence has "Teammate of the Year" type qualities. As does Wood for Frankford.
I love the encouragement Donte gives his teammates. "Good shot young boah," he
says when Tyndale makes a free throw. This Frankford team in general is a collection of
team players, and with the playoff upon us, they are a dangerous team. They are built for
February/March Public League hoops. Olney has the chance to make teams sweat and sputter
as well. Oh by the way, Frankford has a player that could be good in time, I’m going
to keep an extremely close eye on him. His name is Dustin Henry, a 6-3
junior guard with extremely long arms and quick movements. He had a basket today when he
nearly dunked over two Trojans, it was still impressive. He took off way down on the
baseline and was above the rim, he just didn’t grab it. He also has ball-handling
skills.
Table Talk- Again Frankford fans left early. That is terrible.
During the game, females in support of both schools exchange chants. The Olney females
(not dressed as cheerleaders) broke out and said, "We are Super." (You know the
cheer.) Frankford females (not dressed as cheerleaders) said "Frank-ford,
Frank-ford" I like it when the crowds get into it. Frankford AD/Football Coach Tom
Mullineaux thought he stumped me once. He was joking about Ted and how long he has
been covering sports. He said the name Julius Thompson and wondered if I knew who
he was? Thompson covered high school sports for the Bulletin, 1971-1982, and then left to
be a teacher in Georgia. You can’t stump Duck on high school sports reporting.
Mullineaux does an excellent job keeping order at Frankford games. By the way Frankford
and Northeast will be competing in the Public League Wrestling championships on 2/15 at
Frankford.
February 12, 2002
Public League
Martin Luther King 49 Central 33
I love the "Pub." This one had plenty of subplots, the
point guard match-up between Central’s Sharif Bray and King’s Raheem
Scott. Also, Wayne Marshall and Darron Bradley, King’s talented
inside stars have success against an undersized Central frontcourt? On all accounts
everybody wanted to be "down with the King," in this one. The Cougars looked
impressive early on. Bray and the Lancers were sharing the ball and moving well without
the ball and converting scoring opportunities. More importantly, the Lancers were winning
the battle of the boards in the first half. Despite the fact, that King had a 27-23
halftime lead, the Lancers had a chance. In the second half, Scott took over going start
at Bray and fellow guard Khalif Leek (10 points, 6 rebounds.) The Cougars started
to get clicking on offense. I like it when they run a "two-man" game with Scott
and Marshall, it is picturesque on the baseline. Marshall was sensational, he had 12
points, 7 rebounds, and 4 blocks. "Big" Wayne’s 6-10 frame altered many
other shots as well. He had four "get the women excited" dunks, mostly after
using a polished drop-step to the rim. Bradley had some impressive dunks as well. He would
be good at a MEAC school. The aggressive Bradley awoke from only having one rebound after
the first sixteen minutes, and procured an additional 6 boards, 5 steals, and 3 dunks. (I
thought he was going to break a backboard on the last one.) King took a 40-31 lead into
the fourth quarter, as Central started to take quick shots and be careless with the ball.
But you have the final quarter coming up. Also as I’ve noticed Central is a dangerous
team because they react to different defenses very well. And sometimes make adjustments on
their feet. (They are some smart boys.) Bray, who had 5 points, 3 assists and 4 steals,
had been doing a decent job of getting into the lane. He left the game late third quarter
and didn’t return.( He seemed healthy and only had one foul.) With Bray on the bench,
King adjusted and took the life out of this one with professional precision. With Scott
demonstrating excellent body control and court savvy racked up 13 points, 4 assists, and 4
steals. Scott will make for a good low-mid major lead guard. King held Central scoreless
in the final period until, a late second basket. Playing well in limited action for the
Lancers was 6-3 "skywalker", Richard Campbell. He had a vicious
"save the women and the children" dunk on a follow. The crowd which was pro-King
all erupted with a large sigh. Campbell, hand was above the box and his head was at the
rim, and he jumped OVER a taller King forward to throw it down. Campbell, also met W.
Marshall at the summit and blocked the shot. (He fouled Marshall with the body.) Khary
Kenyatta and freshman Scott Rodgers had moments as well for Central. I like
King’s little guard Quincy Marshall he gets in the lane easily, he didn’t
score but he will have better days.
Table Talk – This game for me is special, I live in Mount Airy,
and Central and King are neighborhood rivals. (Many kids that go to Central live in
King’s cluster.) Why can’t this game be played at a gym with bleachers?
(LaSalle?) And on a Saturday Evening? It would be nice maybe I could see parents at the
game. And even the kids that work nights. Central-King and Germantown-King should be on
Saturdays. The turnout would be amazing.
February 10, 2002
Catholic North
Father Judge 61, Bishop McDevitt 57
Wow. This one is one I’ll remember when I’m 73. Yes, 50
years from now, I will tell people about Judge and McDevitt in front of the
"abyss" on All-Star game Sunday, 2002. I want a tape of this game because the
officiating was the worst I’ve ever seen. (Once in Maine, I went to a Colby-Conn.
College game and a ref had one glass eye and terrible vision. No "BS." He was
exceptional compared to these two.) It is a major miracle that they were no serious
injuries in the first half. And the inconsistency of calls was so horrific, that if I were
Coach Jack Rutter of McDevitt, I would have "pulled an Ellerbee" and took
my club off the floor. But I will focus on the very good efforts given by both teams. Poor
officiating marred the first half, but making a huge IMPRESSION was 6-4 junior forward Tom
Keenan, who has the chance to be very good by next year. Keenan is smart, aggressive
and composed. Also, starring for the Crusaders was senior lead guard, Kevin Peirce,
who finished with a team high 16 points, highlighted by a 35-foot bomb that beat the
halftime buzzer. He also had a steal and basket that beat the third quarter buzzer. But
the top Crusader is 6-1 guard Ryan Haigh. Haigh has GAME. (He projects Low
D-I but would also be good at Philly U or Kutztown in Division II) He made a huge trey in
the third quarter and then made a steal and drove for a HARD two-handed jam with two
Lancers in close pursuit. That got the crowd hysterical. Haigh and Keenan could suit up
for me anytime. Haigh had 14 points and made a ton of big plays. That goes the same for
5-10 McDevitt waterbug point man, Isaiah Pinckney. Pinckney had 19 points, 7
rebounds and was consistent positive energy in this one. Twice he grabbed rebounds within
the trees and darted down-court through more trees for buckets. The ‘Saders had a
52-36 lead after three, but then Pinckney put the Lancers on his small back and put a
fright into the ‘Saders. Number 10 in black registered the first eight points of the
final stanza. This cut the deficit to 52-44. Then Bill Holden (7 points and 5
assists) finds 6-2 junior Chris Hanes (16 points, 4-8 from trey) for a trey. This
cut the lead to five. Then Haigh made a soft jumper in the lane. McDevitt answers by
storming ahead when Holden found underrated 6-5 junior forward Mike Ross (13 points
8 rebounds) for two at 1:13 of the fourth quarter. True to from, Judge would respond.
Junior Billy Geiger (4 assists) found Keenan open for "trey" and he
drilled it to make the score 59-57. Keenan had 14 points, 7 blocks and 7 rebounds. Give
him a weight program and another year of tutelage from Coach Bill Fox and he should
be tough. After a wild scramble for the ball, Ross fouled out (I still don’t see four
of the fouls called on him.) and promising sophomore forward Steve Wolf made two
free throws and this baby was in the books. My word, what a game! Anyway, I would be
remiss if I didn’t talk about the officiating, one sided and inaccurate. Numerous
terrible calls against McDevitt, and one call they flubbed against Haigh, they compound
that error by giving him a technical. At this point, I can’t say anything else. GET
IT TOGETHER REFEREES, for the sake of the GAME.
Table Talk- Didn’t get a chance to hang in the Abyss, but
really enjoyed the atmosphere on Solly Ave. Good cheerleading as well. I was asked (via
e-mail) why I often comment on cheerleading; little known fact many large colleges give
scholarships to cheerleaders, female and male. Also does Judge’s junior varsity ever
lose?
February 8, 2002
Catholic League North
La Salle 49 Bishop McDevitt 47
Wyndmoor vs. Wyncote. This one had a bit of everything. Great plays,
terrible plays, good officiating and bad officiating, and most of all -- controversy. I
LOVE THIS GAME! In the beginning, the Explorers, using good court sense and
aggressiveness, found open jumpers and nailed them. They made their first five shots and
didn’t touch any of the rim. The Explorers are a collection of steady ball players,
nobody that makes you say OOOH, but they sure do compete. Leading the charge for the
Wyndmoor gang was 6-4 junior forward Doug Kelly. He is fundamentally sound. Kelly
made many key plays this game, although he was held scoreless in a 14-10 first quarter for
LaSalle. The Lancers fought back like we knew they would. Leading the way was tricky and
consistent point man, Isaiah Pinckney. The 5-10 senior compiled 12 points and 4
assists, and intangibles. Matter of fact this game was all about intangibles. Pinckney and
6-5 junior Mike Ross, brought the Lancers to within one point at the halftime horn.
Ross is best when aggressive. I like his upside. The third quarter the Lancers made their
push. In addition to Pinckney and Ross, seniors Mark Finley and Billy Holden
also played well. Finley had 10 points and 3 steals. He looked rather confident today. The
Lancers blitzed the Explorers in the third quarter taking the period 12-6 and getting
their crowd into it. After a between-quarter talk from Head Coach Bernie Fitzgerald,
the Explorers start to put everything together. Heady sophomore Kevin Moll and
improving 6-6 junior center Will Furey made their presence felt. Moll packed 7 of
his game-high 12 in the final period. Furey grabbed 4 rebounds in the period and 7 for the
game. Furey's putback off a Moll miss at 2:06 of the fourth, plus the foul, put the
Explorers on top by 43-41. Eventually with the score 45-41 La Salle and under 45 seconds
left, Finley makes a tough jumper to cut the lead to two. A funny play occurs on the
baseline, it appears that the La Salle guard has walked, but the official says timeout was
called before the walk. Kelly would then hit two clutch free throws. The Lancers respond
with Pinckney finding Holden for a clutch "trey" at 0:16. Following a Lancer
timeout, Kelly breaks the press with a pass to Moll for a layup at 8.1. After a missed
Pinckney trey is rebounded by Ross (12 points, 12 rebounds, 2 blocks), he is fouled with
only 1.6 on the clock. Ross makes the first and misses the second intentionally. The
referees call a lane violation on McDevitt, and this neighborhood grudge match goes to
LaSalle. The Explorers sweep the Lancer this year. Also, I feel that Furey will be a
player soon. He must take that little 15 foot jumper to keep defenses honest.
Table Talk- This was a good game, but neither team had a player like a
Joe Meade or Ryan Presson. Those two had some memorable wars in the mid to
late 90’s when Meade was at La Salle and Presson was at McDevitt. Meade is an
assistant at LaSalle after a distinguished career at West Chester. Chris Hanes (4
points 3 rebounds) is a good player but I fear that his game is more suited for the
"Pub" than the CL North. He has the look of a dangerous "Pub" style
scorer. The music at McDevitt is excellent, but if you’re gonna play "Its time
for the Percolater" you need cheerleaders. PJ Fitzgerald, coach
Fitzgerald’s son is my hero. He got my pencil when it rolled in between the rafter
seats. Good job PJ. Nice job by the Lancer fans from the second quarter on. As for me, on
to Mayfair……
February 5, 2002
Public League
Edward Bok Tech 75 Audenried 54
After this game, I’m going to make this a yearly tradition for
me. We will get to the good stuff in time. Early on the Tigers of Bok had the Warriors of
Audenried on the ropes. One minute into the game, Bok jumped out to a 7-0 lead and it
looked like this was going to be a romp. Audenried came back with a conviction. Their
leader today was 6-foot sophomore guard Barry Henry. With Henry tickling the twine
for a couple deep threes and surprising composure from tiny freshman guard Hanif
"Slick" Edwards, the Warriors had a 20-19 lead. In the second quarter star
guard, Leroy Byrd, began to exert his will on this game. He was taking people of
the dribble and scoring in the lane. Also, he showed great court savvy in creating space
within heavy inside traffic for jumpers. Also, stepping up was improving, junior wing
guard Farris Robertson. The 6-2 Robertson was very good today; he showed good form
on his jumper and was 4-7 from three. A couple of the threes were from very deep. He
finished with a hard earned 25 points and 5 steals. Yet, the Warriors were game. 6-3 210
lb. junior power forward Prince Johnson has possibility, he is tough as nails and
he is very tricky inside to draw fouls. He lumbers a little, and struggles from the free
throw line. (He was only 4-11 from the stripe.) In the second quarter he kept the Warriors
inside by scoring 5 of his 12 points. This was made more impressive by the fact that 6-4
senior forward Sean Brinson was everywhere on defense. Brinson had 9 blocks and 8
rebounds at the half. He finished with 11 blocks and 10 rebounds, he was only 1-5 from the
floor, but he would be a good fit at many D-III schools. In the third quarter, it looked
like the Wildcats would finally blow the 'Ried away, but the gold and blue gang hung
close. Byrd began making layups and drawing the foul on numerous possessions. When he
didn’t guard Maurice Hunter (14 points, 7 assists, 7 rebounds and 3 steals)
was setting him up for jumpers. Hunter is a versatile and strong guard. Henry hit a couple
of threes and sophomore guard Damien Berry (he has potential) made a couple of key
steals as the Warriors only trailed 46-43 entering the final stanza. Then Byrd took over
making shots and fouling out the aggressive Henry, who finished with 17 points including
3-5 on "treys." Byrd rung up 32 points including 13 points in the fourth
quarter, which Bok won 29-11. Leroy also had 4 steals, 4 rebounds, and 4 assists. Now the
good stuff. This game had 3 officials and they were TERRIBLE. It would have been better
with one. Coach Lloyd Jenkins of Bok got fed up in the third and fourth quarters.
He twice hit the table that the clock operator and official book were at, HARD and said
"This Stinks." He kept repeating the phrase throughout the game. Once
Audenried’s Coach Hilderbrand Pelzer (a character in his own right) said,
"Don’t let him intimidate you," to one of the referees. Another incident
occurred when an Audenried player fouled out and Coach Jenkins went to the table and asked
"Are you sure?" One of the ‘Reid managers replied "Are you sure?"
I don’t think that Coach Jenkins and the ‘Ried manager will exchange Christmas
cards. Furthermore, the two exchanged stares and words a couple times. I feel bad that
this exchange happened because a couple of the disagreements stemmed from the referees not
signaling the table or not hearing the table. This is another reason why we need to take a
serious look at getting refresher courses for 90% of the Public League referees and 95% of
the Catholic League zebras.
Table Talk- I called Edwards, "Slick" because he
appears roughly the same height as former ‘Ried guard Jamal "Slick"
Collier, who I believe graduated in ’93. As a junior, Collier was found out to be
the smallest player in the country. He appeared in Sports Illustrated. Edwards seems only
slightly taller than the original "Slick". Okay this may surprise you, I’m
gonna keep a close eye on this ‘Reid bunch they could develop into a decent group.
Most of them are sophomores and juniors. Especially when/if they listen. Coach Pelzer
said, "You, whatchamacallit, play some defense move your ______" Also, I never
heard him call a player by his given name. Do all Audenreid players have nicknames? A Bok
student when Jenkins was having a tirade, " He keep getting his blood pressure
up." Also, Brinson missed a dunk in which he took five steps trying to attempt
it. According to a Bok manager coach Jenkins is averaging a tech a game.
January 29, 2002
Public League
Overbrook 64, University City 61
I was expecting much more emotion from the crowd, at the house
that "Wilt Built." But it was decent ball game, nonetheless. The leader of the
Panther attack was senior point guard, Murvin English. "Marvelous" Murvin
was everywhere on the court he had 22 points, 7 assists, and 5 steals. He plays with a
great sense of pace. His main help came from 6-3 (6-5 ½ with the Afro) deep bomber Angelo
"Pop" Hernandez. Hernandez, who showed a desire to put the ball on the floor
and draw fouls, wound up with 22 points. He has really improved his off the dribble game.
Yet, he can still light you up from deep, he had back to back threes in the third quarter,
that didn’t touch the rim- all net. Center Kristian Clarkson also played
fairly well, 10 points, 7 rebounds and 3 blocks. He ignited a rather mundane crowd with a
two handed flush on a pass from steady senior forward Shawn Ikokwu (3 points, 7
rebounds 4 assists and tons of intangibles.) The Jaguars countered with 6-3 junior
combination guard Tasheed Carr. Carr has a nice first step and used it to get to
the hole at will. He received help from senior forward Magen McNeil, who registered
4 points but procured 13 rebounds and 3 rejections. Carr, after a Sean Pendleton
(11 points, two threes) block, made a leak out layup with Hernandez trailing to make the
score 58-53, Overbrook. The Panthers led from very early in the game and never let the
Jaguars get as close as two points, from the middle of the second quarter onward.) On the
next Panther possession, McNeil was called for his fifth foul. (I had McNeil for four
fouls, but I do make mistakes and was far from the table.) English showing good composure
as he buried 5 of 6 from the line as the Panthers held on. I really like that Hernandez
has more of a driving game, but he was only 6 of 10 from the line, with a stroke like his,
he should be 8 or 9 of 10 from the line. Also a memo to all high school players: please
"box out" that is a very important part of the game. And don’t give up
baseline so darn easy. Fundamentals in basketball where art thou?
Table Talk- Tons of coaches in the house. Dave Pauley,
Head Coach -University of Sciences was there. Geoff Arnold, an assistant from
Drexel saw some of the second half. Also in attendance, assistants/observers from Widener,
Cabrini, Arcadia, Gywnedd-Mercy and Gloucester Community College. Allen Rubin, of
HoopScoop fame, also was in attendance. As I arrived in the gym, I was greeted by
Overbrook football star Omar Sanders and Head football coach Ken Sturm.
They’re fun to talk to. Brook one day is going to be football force. Also more
Panther football players were supporting their classmates. The crowd was weak. No yelling,
no taunting, it seemed like it was too friendly a game. A couple of times, opponents
seemed to laugh at/with each other. The weather was too nice; this game should have been
played at the Shepherd Recreation Center playground.
January 26th 2002
Scholastic Classic
Council Rock 56 Benjamin Franklin 38
To many the story in this one was about who wasn’t playing. Darnell
Corbitt, apparently, has quit the Electrons, and the highly regarded junior point
guard was missed on the defensive end. The Electrons struggled trying to guard 6-0 Council
Rock point guard Ben Luber. Luber reminds me of the Earl brothers (Dan and Brian)
who starred at Penn State and Princeton respectively. Luber destroyed the Electrons for 25
points on 9-18 shooting, 1-1 from trey. As you can tell by the stats, he is a point guard
that can score. Ben Franklin was led by improving senior guard, Duane "Chip"
Campbell. Campbell, is a very aggressive player and brings feistiness to the
Electrons. He will have to begin to make his teammates better. The young Electrons can
make lemonade out of the lemon of not having Corbitt. They should play together, and cut
out the senseless arguing on the court. With smooth guard Brian Smith and potential
star Andre Glover, they still have a good backcourt. Of course you must throw in
Campbell as well. If this team finds a way to stay on the same page, and they can play
good basketball. The Electrons were only down four at the half, but self destructed in a scoreless
in the third quarter. You get that 0. Another player who I like for the
Electrons’ is Daniel Jackson, an undersized 6-2 power forward. He needs to
touch the ball consistently for Larry Gainey’s gang. Jackson is worth a look
for many small colleges. I don’t mean to harp on this but the Electrons should have
fed off of not having Corbitt. Hey, it was prime time for them as individuals to show
their abilities and use the fact that their best man wasn’t there to inspire them.
They are young so they are forgiven. Campbell was MVP for Franklin and Luber was MVP for
Council Rock.
January 26th 2002
Scholastic Classic
St. Dominic 61 Archbishop Carroll 56
I’m a fan of basketball first and foremost, so I will say
I love different style match-ups. St. Dominic is a fun team to watch, and the
Patriots’ Kashif Payne is one of my favorites as well, so this was a fun 90
minutes. The Patriots had to contend with Tim Doyle a 6-6 210 lb forward, who is
headed St. John’s. He showed why he is going to be playing on "Big
Monday’s" on ESPN next year. First, with a kid like Doyle forget the stat line.
He is a player that leads by example and leads by correction on the floor. He is a
CAPTAIN. You get the drift – leader- and he knows it and directs as such. (That has
been the one thing I’ve noticed this year in Philly, that has me disturbed not many
vocal leaders in the area besides King’s Raheem Scott.) Doyle makes everybody
much better with his excellent court vision finding open teammates for layups. The
Patriots countered with Payne, 6-7 junior forward Jordan Ingram and senior shooter,
Ned Dougherty. The Patriots were right in this one all game. Payne didn’t
shoot well 5-19 from the floor. (Took some quick and bad shots.) But he was highly
effective at passing to open teammates and darting in and out of holes in the St. Dominic
defense. More impressive at times was Ingram who was a bear on the broads. The Patriots
tied the game with 0:41 left in the third quarter as Dougherty burried back to back
threes. The Patriots play great defense for the remainder of the quarter until a ball went
out of bounds with 0:02 left in the period, after a Patriot timeout, Doyle makes a tough
shot and the Patriots go into the final quarter down two. The kept it close but finally
solid play from Doyle, Alex Patsos and MVP Brian Houlihan and this one was
over. All in all, a good showing for the Patriots, and my concern is that good showings
are still loses to coaches. So I hope that they have learned so lessons from this. They
will probably need to win a game or two like this to have a chance to play for the CL
title.
January 22, 2002
Public League
Strawberry Mansion 84 Ben Franklin 72
Excellent ! Oh, how I’ve missed the Public League over the
weekend. Anyway, this is the North Philly Civil War Basketball game. Either your for
Mansion or your for Franklin, it is that type of rivalry. This started with a classic
junior guard match-up between Darnell Corbitt and Maureece "Phenom"
Rice. Early on, Mansion’s Rice receiving help from 6-5 senior forward, Dawud
Morris (10 points, 15 rebounds and 8 blocks) and point guard Maurice Stennis (9
points and 5 assists) had the Electrons down 8-2, 10-6 and 17-10 in the first quarter. In
the second quarter, this one went from good to outstanding. The Electrons’ receving a
boost from reserve junior guard Brian Smith (17 points, 4 steals and 3 assists)
made a move on Mansion. First, after Rice makes a Jordanesque back fake, then nailed a
trey over Corbitt. Darnell answers being using his crossover dribble to get around Rice
and find Smith for a deep trey. The crowd would go back and forth in support of each team
with every hoop. Rice answers with his patented slow step crossover, setting up an open
jumper that hit nothing but twine. With the large on its feet, Corbitt goes between a
defender’s legs and feeds an open teammate who blows the lay-up. Rice coralling the
loose ball, blows by two Electrons going coast to coast for two. Well, Rice and Corbitt is
heating up: Duane "Chip"Campbell vs. Stennis is sizzling. Campbell, who
is aggressive and quick blows by Stennis for bask to back lay-ups. Stennis drills a deep
trey in his face. (Where am I the playground.) Both coaches are on their heels yelling at
their teams to play more controlled hoops. While the crowd wants more showmanship,
eventually both fans and coaches would get their way. The Electrons are quietly creeping
back into this, Smith goes behind his defenders back, loses the ball, grabs it and drops
in two. The score is 31-24, Knights, and the volume just went through the roof. Rice
answers with a bigtime baseline move to the hole. After 16 minutes, the score is 35-28
Knights, but the momentum is with the Electrons. Early third quarter, Morris, who played
very well went to the bench with his fourth foul, and the Franklin big men took over in
his absence. After two Smith baskets, a baseline lay-in and deep three, the score is
37-32, Electrons. Then it was "Phenom" time. Finding Stennis for an open three.
Then off an inbound play, using that Jordan fake again, he burries a deep three over
Corbitt for a 43-32 ball game. Bit by bit, the Electrons comeback but in the process,
Corbitt pick up fouls 3 and 4. (One was a so-so call, overall excellent officiating.) The
Electrons make another run capped by freshman Andre "Anny" Glover’s
lay-up plus the foul at 7:22 remaining regulation that brought the deficit to 58-54. Then
two careless turnovers by the young Electrons led to two Wayne Harrington ( 9
points and 3 steals) baskets. And Rice took over again down the stretch and the Knights
win another key ballgame . And the folks Mansion started signing "Mansion Roll
Call." (You will know what I’m saying when you hear it.) Leading the Electrons
was the very smooth, Smith who was 3-3 from down town. Campbell, who I think can play
small college ball, maybe something higher with junior college, had a well-earned 16.
Corbitt had 11 with 6 steals. For Mansion, Rice had 39. This kid is going to score 50 or
60 on somebody soon. Fellow guard Aaron Brown had 11 points.
Table Talk – If you were looking for a basketball person,
former Public League player or shady individual around 3:30 to 4:30 they were here. (My
type of crowd.) Too many funny moments to choose from. I love up tempo, semi-playground
hoops. I stopped looking at the women because between the second and third quarter my neck
started to hurt. What you feeding them ladies in North Philly? As I left the gym, a couple
Mansion players were looking for money. I hope they found it. They were no incidents like
past years, but if there money came up missing this game will lose more of its allure,
that would be a greater loss.
JAN. 22
ON THE MENU
"Duck Kabobs"
I’ll start this column by stating the obvious: I like
basketball. I like basketball so much, I think about what would be the best two-on-two
match-ups between players in this era vs. teammates from when earlier times. Like
Northeast’s Kyle Lowry (‘04) and Troy Roundtree (‘03) vs. FLC’s Zakee
Smith (‘98) and Jeff Stamps (‘97). Or Dougherty’s Shane Clark (04) and
Bilal Benn (04) going at it with Dougherty’s Bob Pembleton (‘96) and Donnell
Sutton. Roman’s Donnie Carr (’96) and Frankford (I know he went to Roman) Arthur
"Yah" Davis (‘ 96) vs. Lee Melchionni and Matt Walsh of Germantown Academy
class of ‘02. And the "Above the Rim" game, West Philly’s Eugene Myatt
and Bartram’s Richard "Franchise" Francis vs. Overbrook 1993 tandem of
Laurence "L" Pembrook and Ronald Kenan… In the program of Bishop McDevitt
there is a poignant statement on one page – "Good Luck Marty, See you next
year" Jack. I guess it was about showing class and support for a comrade. Classy
move, McDevitt Head Coach Jack Rutter put a nice message to his friend and coach of
archrival La Salle in the McDevitt book. But we all know that they want to kick each
others tail when they are on the opposing sidelines… Can we take a collection and
help the zebras. I mean some are excellent and some are mediocre and most are pathetic. We
have to get them refresher courses, counting lessons or coupons to Lens Crafters…
Also I would hate to be a young coach in the CL, the officials seem a little intimidated
by the veteran coaches…Heard at a basketball game, one young player to another.
"You got to guard him, you got to be on him like them tight jeans on that girl."
Keep your heads in the game and let guys like me look at the ladies… Anyway, kids
please learn the merits of a middle game. Look at Richard "Rip" Hamilton, he has
a nasty mid-range game. Also, work on the free throws. They don’t call it the charity
stripe for nothing… So far I’ve been very impressed with Joe Zeglinski, the
eighth grader for PC. He was knocking down "treys" over the GA kids like he was
shooting at the playground. He is fearless… Okay, I love basketball: how about these
one-on-one match-ups: Mustafa Shakur, Friends Central vs. Maureece Rice, Strawberry
Mansion or Wayne Marshall vs. Ted Skuchas, Germantown Academy in a big man war. I would
try and get in for free for the Marshall-Skuchas game, however, I would pay good money to
see Rice and Shakur go at it…Anyway when will Cardinal Dougherty and Olney play a
basketball game, for that matter, St. Joe’s Prep and Mansion. I guess when I’m 7
feet 6, I could persuade all four schools to do battle… Speaking of Dougherty, Coach
Mark Heimerdinger had on a suit and leather coat before the game against McDevitt, a kid
joked, "He looks like a bald Superfly." I thought I was going to need an inhaler
and I’m not asthmatic…Take care see you guys around. If everything goes okay,
(cross your fingers0 I want to be at the Father Judge game on February 10. I
remember promising to attend one game in Mayfair this year. Please "Abyss’ make
it the time of my life if you see me there that day…
JAN. 20
CATHOLIC NORTH
Dougherty 57, McDevitt 36
Cardinal Dougherty vs. Bishop McDevitt, this is a neighborhood
rivalry, and the fans in the crowd kept reminding me of it. The Lancers controlled the
opening tip and took a full minute and 14 seconds before taking their first shot.
Throughout the first half they averaged about 1:00 minute of possession before they took
shots. At times the Cardinals seemed anxious to get at the Lancers, and committed fouls.
After a close first half 17-15, CD, the Lancers took a momentarily lead on a three-point
play by 6-5 junior forward Mike Ross. The time was 6:07 of the third and the score
was 20-19 Lancers. The Lancer would take another lead with 3:49 remaining in the third
after 6-4 junior Chris Hanes made the score 25-23 with a deep three. Following that
exchange the Cardinals went on a 20-0 spurt that was ultra-impressive. The spurt was
highlighted by five assists from senior guard Tim Smink; a deep three by Mike
McDonald that beat the third quarter buzzer; and a series of impressive lay-ups by
junior Isaac Greer and sophomores Shane Clark and Bilal Benn.
By the time the spurt was over after another Hanes’ bomb, the score was 43-28. The
time was 3:51 of the fourth period. 20-0 run before Hanes third trey. To make matters
worse, to start the fourth quarter, the Cardinals stalled just like the Lancers had done
before, but punctuated the possession with a lay-up for Clark. They took 1:20 off the
clock before the Lancers touched the ball in the final period. The Cardinals can run and
the Cardinals can play slow down (To an extent.). Coach Mark Heimerdinger did an
excellent job of instructing the Cardinals in turning the tempo up and finishing with
lay-ups. Yes lay-ups not short jumpers. For the Cardinals, Smink, who refrained from
long-bombing had 10 points, 8 assists and 5 rebounds. Smink is much more versatile than
before, but why no 3’s, Superman? His younger teammates are THE TRUTH. Clark or
"Baby Darius Miles" as some call him is TOUGH. 13 points, and one HIGH
RISING rejection. It looked like Shane was trying to send the ball to East Mount Airy from
Wyncote. He is "Mr. Potential" as far as I’m concerned. So is
"Big" Benn, how tall is this kid going end up? 6-5? He reminds me slightly of Alvin
Williams, when Williams was an underclassman. That gives Bilal something to shoot for.
He has to be 6-3/6-4. Greer is the best athlete, I’ve seen in the North
since……since……. I guess ever. Greer led all scorers with 15 points and
3 steals. He nailed a deep three to start the Cardinals scoring. The Lancers are young and
improving. Isaiah Pinckney had 11 points and two steals. He can play D-II, but
could be a star at a D-III. Ross has potential, but the lefty needs a stronger off-hand.
Also, get a little feisty. That isn’t a problem for Hanes, who will be one I’ll
keep an eye on. The Lancers were the first team, I’ve ever seen use four 4 timeouts
because they allowed themselves to be boxed in by the Cardinal pressure. A bit of advice,
do not pick up the ball with two defenders on you and you are positioned between the
sideline and half-court line. You just gave yourself four defenders. The sideline out of
bounds, half-court line for over and back and the two human defenders.
Table Talk- This is legendary, my TedSilary.Com colleague,
Kevin "Sparky’ Cooney was in attendance. In the first quarter, the
officials told Coach Heimerdinger that he couldn’t stack the line when the Lancers
inbounded because it was only three feet. Of course, Coach Heimerdinger, who was obviously
perplexed, looked at Sparky and said, "I’ve never seen that before." The
conversation continued off and on throughout the game. Never seen that before. A coach
having a conversation throughout the game with a reporter. It didn’t affect him. The
Lancers acknowledged Coach Heimerdinger’s 300th win. That was a class move. The
officiating is starting to make me sick. A technical was called on the Lancer bench in the
fourth quarter. A fan said, "You didn’t have to give him a technical if you did
your job Steve." WOW, you know it is bad when they're calling you be your first name
instead of "Yo ref." DeSean White, CD’s highly talented 6-7
sophomore forward, is out for awhile with a "wrist injury."
JAN. 17
PUBLIC LEAGUE
Gratz 52, Frankford 44
WOW! This was closer than the final score, this
one was a true gem. Frankford took the game straight to the Bulldogs, they opened up a
10-3 lead with 2:15 left in the first quarter, the Gratz starters seemed disinterested
and/or confused. The Pioneers had the look in their eyes like "we can beat these
guys." Senior point guard Isaiah Thomas (11 points, 3-4 on threes), goes off
glass for three right before the first quarter buzzer. Pioneers on top, 13-5 after one.
Coach Bill Ellerbee takes all five starters out and lets his second unit play. Boy
did they play huge in the second quarter. Junior guard Brandon Void played with
brass and intelligence as the Bulldogs limited the Pioneers to four (4) second quarter
baskets. Void showed a lightning fast first step, he has potential. (I’ll sneak
another look.) The other guard, Tyree Watson, was also effective. Watson had 6
points and 2 steals. The Bulldogs had their first lead after 6-3 forward, Tyriq Rascoe
follow with 1:29 left in the second quarter. The ‘Dogs rallied with these five on the
floor- Dashay Brown, Rascoe, Jason McGirt , Watson and Void. Coach Ellerbee,
the master that he is, put his starters back in one by one and they seemed to feed off the
reserves energy. I thought that the Frankford boys would look at the Halftime score 20-17
Gratz and react negatively. No Way. In an excellent third quarter, the Pioneers rode Donte
Wood like he was the Septa Bus. Wood is a crowd favorite. He always gets them pumped
with his play and emotion. The 6-2 250 forward went right at Mike Blackshear
(Temple Signee.) Wood was impressive with duck under moves, jab steps, reverse layups and
good old fashioned HEART. The third quarter was Donte’s inferno he poured in 8 points
in the quarter and was blocking Blackshear out of the lane. (Mike only had 7 rebounds)
"The Septa Bus" was trying his best to run over the "Broad Street
Bully." In the first half, Wood received defensive help from Tyree Draft (1
point, 9 rebounds) who held Maurice "Marty" Collins to 0 points in the first
half on 0-4 from the floor. Also, I think 6-5 ½ junior forward, Darryl White is
going to be damn good next year. He is all arms and legs. He had 4 blocks and 4 rebounds.
The Bulldogs countered with the Master (Coach El) designing plays for Collins to finally
get going late in the third with foul line jumpers as the Pioneers got a little lazy on
defense. This caused Coach Bernie Handler to use timeout and get his guys together
mount one last push against Gratz. What a push it was . The fourth quarter was electric, Stefan
Brown, (12 points and held Augie Woodlin scoreless.)had a a five point spurt to
cut into Gratz’ lead. First two free throws and then Brown’s deep three on a Mark
Tyndale (7 rebounds and 7 assists) pass cut the lead to 44-40, 3:07 remaining and the
place got LOUD. Then White got the place louder with a BIGTIME block on Omar Johnson
(11 points, 4 assists). The ‘Dogs would answer with a miraculous off the glass trey
from Blackshear, who is now adjusting his game to wing (Mike is still a post monster, but
with Draft and Wood playing the part of enforcers, Blackshear mixed his game up.) Also, a
Blackshear put-back would make this classic, another win for Gratz. Johnson made 5-6 free
throws down the stretch and the Gratz league winning streak goes on…. for now. Coach
Ellerbee won this game for them. You could tell that he was providing whatever his club
needed. Gratz couldn’t beat Frankford with its normal were tougher than you look
because the Pioneers are veterans at being tough. You could still at the opening tip that
Frankford were looking at Gratz like we can get rowdy too. Tyndale didn’t have
his shooting touch and was the victim of foul trouble, to his credit he did a ton of
little things. He will be tough down the line. I still think that the key was
Ellerbee pulling his starters and then getting a big boost from the bench.
Table Talk- Many Frankford students left the game early, when it
was clear that Gratz would hold on. That is pathetic, your team just hung with the
defending champs all game and you left early? Man, if we did that back in the day at FLC
the players would have been all over the fans. The referee situation is getting more
vexing. One zebra was excellent, the other was terrible. Are you kidding me? Get him a
refresher course.
JAN. 15
PUBLIC LEAGUE
John Bartram 92 William Penn 68
I went to this game because I
wanted to see first hand how Bartram keeps letting teams hang around with them, despite
the fact they are very talented. In the first half I realized why that happened. They
don’t play hard. I think they will in time. But for know they don’t fight
through screens on defense and dive for loose balls. Remember last year they had an
excellent “junk man” in the person of Shawn
Roberts. He did a lot of that stuff for them. In time they will learn to play hard all
the time. Anyway, the Braves went to work on the Lions early, as they stormed out to a
23-11 first quarter lead. Richard “Franchise” Francis dominated the duration of his
time on the floor, he had 36 points and 4 assists. He didn’t play the majority of the
second and third quarters, and is very unselfish. Could have had 50 with ease. In the
first half he had HIGH rising one-handed flush. His primary help came from Bryant Leach, who was 6 of 9 on threes, he finished with 20
points. The Lions however played hard and I knew they would. 6-4 senior Anthony Harper battled for 23 points and 9 rebounds. He has
state-school possibilities. Two of the Penn freshmen were impressive, Albert Denby who had 7 points and 7 assists is going to be a
solid point in the “Pub,” when he begins to see the floor better. (Pick your
head up.) Also, a little better self control as well. You’re the point guard that
means a cool head helps. Small forward, Curtis Shaw
is going to be good very soon. He has a quick release and plays with sense. He is only 6-1
but he is going to be a dandy two guard. Curtis had 11 points including 2
‘treys.” Junior Gary Beverly,
a 6-5 junior has possibilities. He was slinky around the basket as the Lions mounted a
small comeback in the third quarter. He was best when he was aggressively crashed the
boards. He did have to contend with budding “Pub” superstar Jason Cain, who is 6-9 (legit) and is skilled and wiry. Cain
was able to manage 17 points and 9 rebounds. He is a force. The Lions managed to make this
a game in the third quarter, when behind strong play by Denby, Harper, Beverly and junior
guard Chris Parker ( 15 points) cut the Bartram
lead to 13. Coach Lou Biester had his second
unit in and re-inserts the starters. For the first minute the Lions hung with the
Braves, then it was Franchise time. The Penn cheerleaders got the small crowd loud during
the mini-comeback, but following a steal: Francis takes off from right of the lane on the
wing almost foul line extended, he threw down a vicious, two-hand reverse jam. He
only took a step! Scary part, the Bartram players didn’t seem surprised. The
Penn players had that Arnold Jackson/Gary Coleman,
“What you talking ‘bout Willis look,” as if to say, he didn’t just
throw that down. The Penn crowd got as quiet as a graveyard. It was over after that.
Table Talk - The score on the clock was wrong all game. I have
92-68 and I’m sticking to it. This game had only one official, Dana Garner, a former star at Mastbaum in the early-mid
‘80’s. Penn coach George Phillips is
gonna have these young kids improving, he seems to have good rapport with them. He told me
that of Penn 2,500 students over 1,200 were ineligible for sports, the majority of them
boys, so he is making due with spare parts. Hey they’re not terrible.
JAN. 13
CATHOLIC SOUTH
Neumann 49, St. Joe's Prep 48
I could sum this one up in one word: Classic. If I videotaped this
game I could have sold copies for $25 dollars a pop, and nobody would have seemed cheated.
The gym was packed, standing room only. The Prep came out to a 7-2 lead, and lead at the
end of one quarter, 14-11. The Pirates would get a huge game from their front-court in the
persons of 6-5 junior Todd Johnson and 6-4 sophomore Adon El. Early in the
second quarter, the Pirates found rhythm by positioning El or Johnson at the foul line and
looking inside to work high-low offense. Also, El twice found open guards for threes out
of the same set. Johnson was inspired as he scored back to back baskets late in the second
quarter and the Pirates took their first leads. The Prep countered with a workman like
team effort spearheaded by coach Speedy Morris. The Prep wins with execution and
forces teams into uncomfortable positioning, and in this one they got Neumann’s star
sophomore, Richard "Tabby" Cunningham into foul trouble. (He only had 2
points.) The Pirates did a good job on Prep 6-6 center Mark Zoller, who only
tallied 9 points and 9 rebounds. The Pirates walked into the half with a one-point lead,
and this one went from good game to legendary game in the second half. With El and Johnson
dominating inside by controlling the glass, the Pirates controlled most of the third
quarter action. El had 14 rebounds and 6 blocks, Johnson had 11 rebounds and 3 blocks.
Their defense led to back to back treys from Chris Del Brocco (9 points, 3
"treys") and Kenny Fulton. This forced Coach Morris to call timeout with
4:36 of the third period. The Professor ripped into the officials and then told his young
club. "We can take these guys." From that instant the level of play for the
Hawklets went even higher. The gym was shaking with excitement and after battling back
throughout the fourth quarter, the Prep faithful got loud after sophomore point man, Chris
Clark nailed a deep trey to make this a 48-45 game, with Neumann holding on by 3.
After a series of offensive rebounds by El and Johnson the Hawks had a chance to get
closer, but Clark missed the front-end of a one and one at 1:29. Then the officiating got
more pathetic causing Neumann’s Carl Arrigale (Who matched Speedy x for x and
o for o) and Morris to get demonstrative. Speedy threw his expensive suit jacket to the
ground, after a no-call on a bang-bang play. Arrigale was warned by one of the refs, for
arguing another terrible decision by the zebras. Then a classic sequence occurred. Prep
guard Jim Good has a good look on a left wing trey, but Johnson gets up HIGH to
send the ball deep in the third row behind the Prep bench. This happened with exactly one
minute remaining. Then Good gets another look at the same trey, and here comes Johnson not
this time, Good drains it, were all tied up at 48, with only 42 seconds left in
regulation. The Pirates call timeout with only 34 seconds left and then again with 10.7
remaining. The South Philly boys get the ball to Cunningham who collides with Zoller in
the middle of the paint (a no call) and misses his eight footer, El who was the definition
of a yeoman in this one grabbed the board with 4.1 seconds to go. And was fouled. Speedy
is livid, he unties his tie (windsor knot and all) and gets in the official’s face.
For a second, I thought this was going to be a throw down, Speedy looks like he can hold
his own. (I need to take a breather that was funny!) El turns to the Neumann
cheerleaders and tells them to shush. His first free throw hits every part of the rim and
falls in. The second does much of the same and falls of the rim. A timeout is called
quickly but the clock has run down to 2.3 seconds and the Professor gets loud again. He
then turns to his team and diagrams a play similar to the one Christian Laettner
made famous 10 years ago against Kentucky. It doesn’t work, and the Pirates escape
with a "w" in the win column and tons of respect for the Prep. Johnson led all
scores with 15 points. El added 9 with the 14 rebounds and 6 blocks. He was HUGE. For the
Prep, four players had 9 points, Clark, Zoller, Good and TJ Valerio.
Table Talk- I showed up a minute into the game because I was late
handling family business. (It won’t happen again.) The stats are courtesy of Tom
"Hockey" McKenna. The names of Prep players (the ones I didn’t know), Mark
"Froggy" Carfagno. Once Speedy said, "Howard [one of the referees, not
the one he got up close to] you have to make that call, he [the other zebra] can’t
see." Early in the second quarter, Arrigale said "Call the game right, I’m
tired of this ….." He caught himself. The crowd was overflow and they were very
involved. This series should have a name, just like G-Town-King, FLC-Gratz, Roman-Neumann
and Dougherty-Judge. A bevy of hoops people in the house - Pat McKeever among them,
also tons of South Philly area players past and present. The officiating has to improve.
Both coaches are going to have health problems because of the poor calls. One thing
though, they were consistently terrible, so neither team got an advantage. Neumann has six
assistants, the Prep also has six assistants. The teams in the Public League game I went
to Saturday: None.
JAN. 11
INTER-AC LEAGUE
Penn Charter 60 Chestnut Hill Academy 50
It took me forever to find Chestnut Hill Academy. I
must’ve seen all of West Mount Airy and Chestnut Hill, and maybe a little bit of
Wyndmoor. When I saw Philadelphia Cricket Club, I said I must be close. More importantly I
wished for a good game. Sure enough, up the way was CHA. So I hurried in right before
tip-off, I thought this better be good. Well, I got my wish. Was this the same CHA team
that looked borderline junior varsity against Haverford School? They played a whale of a
game in this one. Were these the Blue Devils fans getting into something besides Ivy
League Schools and soccer? It was. Upon my trek through the city, did I stumble upon that
little town in Hoosiers? No this was Philadelphia. This one was good from the jump. The
Quakers, behind a solid first half from underrated QB/PF Matt Ryan, jumped on top
of the Blue Devils 17-13. Ryan had 8 of his 9 in the first frame. The Devils were hanging
tough behind 6-0 junior forward, Joe Watkins and 6-2 senior standout Nick
Levine. Levine would tie the game at 24-24 in the second quarter and the Devils would
take a momentary lead on a rebound basket by 5-11 junior Quinn Henry, at 26-24. I
thought the crowd was going to say Ole Ole Ole!! Instead they just erupted. (I didn’t
know smart kids did that.) Penn Charter fought back thanks to heady play from Zack and Joe
Zeglinski. Joe was 3-6 on treys for 9 points. (I would hate to play them in horse.) In
the first half, they had to contend with a match-up zone look from CHA. Also, the
Quaker’s crazy glue has to be Mike McKenna. (This guy fixes things) He
played stellar defense, hit four clutch free throws in the fourth quarter and gives his
teammates a lift emotionally. The third quarter was a beauty, hindered by a box and one
defense. Levine struggled from deep (1-7 on "treys"), he showed a decent
mid-range shooting off the dribble for two baskets that had CHA only down 5 entering the
final stanza. The Quakers would have to hold off the Blue Devils with Ryan in foul trouble
and J. Zeglinski (who missed a bit of the final two quarters after hitting his head on the
floor in the third.) When Joe returned to the game, he coolly drained a left wing
"trey" on his first possession. Not to be outdone CHA junior Zach Pontz
pumped in 8 points in the final quarter. He made a running jumper to slice the Quaker lead
to seven, and then a deep trey to make it a four point game with only 2:39 left. To make
matters worse, Ryan fouled out on a very questionable call, and the Quakers tallest player
on the floor was the 6-0 McKenna. After a couple misses from the Blue Devils. McKenna and Mike
McGarvey made free throws and this one was Inter-Academic. The most consistent player
for the Quakers was Zack Zeglinski –13 points, 4 assists and 3 steals. 5-11
senior, Jordan Canino, added 10 points. The Devils were led by Levine’s 15
points and 6 rebounds. Watkins added 11 points.
Table Talk- Well, not much. PC coach Jim
"Flipper" Phillips calmed down a player by saying :"The OFFICIALS are
terrible, but…." I didn’t get the rest.
JAN. 8
PUBLIC LEAGUE
Eng. and Science 42, Southern 33
This one was closer than the final score indicated. The Rams
lead the entire first half and were in this until the middle of the fourth quarter when
they went ice cold from the field. For the victors – Matthew Jefferson –
was the difference maker. He puts E&S on his back and carried them without breaking a
sweat. "D-I Matt" Jefferson went for 19 points, 10 rebounds, 4 blocks, 3 steals
and 3 assists. The 6-6 forward is just starting to show some of his potential, his best
basketball is ahead of him, when he learns more nuances of the game. He gave C.M. Brown’s
boys their first lead with a tip rebound basket at the 3:35 mark of the third quarter. The
next E&S possession, he went baseline around 6-5 Southern Sophomore Shawn Sabb
( 6 points and 8 rebounds) for a nice reverse lay-up plus the foul. The Engineers never
looked back. Leading the Ram charge was Antoine "Doo Dirty" Brown. The
6-2 point guard gets better every time I see him, 16 points and 4 steals. He was 2-3 on
"treys", also he scored on a couple impressive drives for short jumpers. He has
surprisingly good court awareness of floor positioning and floor balance. He also moves
tremendously well laterally. His mates didn’t play that badly but E&S took
the life out of this one with deliberate play and although the Rams are more productive in
half-court sets, the more experienced team took advantage. Helping the cause for E&S
was Job Godino, who registered 9 points. Senior CG Justin Scott
struggled slightly but managed 4 assists and 3 steals. He will have better days. The Rams
are going to good in time they are still on Gerber baby food, because they are painfully
young. Coach George Anderson caused me to chuckle once. Reserve forward Ryan
Williams slid properly on defense and helped trap a E&S defender in the corner.
Coach Andy was estactic, "Ryan slid properly!!!!!" He was so pleased with that I
thought he was going to break out and do the Funky Chicken like George Jefferson.
(Or was that the slop?) Roosevelt "Ro-Ro" Brown showed good
body control and touch for 9 points. And for E&S 6-5 forward Andrew Martin
showed promise with an aggressive 8 points.
Table Talk- When I got into the Southern gym, I was informed that Shawn
Sabb has sophomore eligibility. A simple error occurred before and the Coaching
staff at Southern gave me a copy of an e-mail they sent to Ted to clarify it. It was the
first e-mail they have sent. I bet it won’t be the last, we all know e-mails are
addictive. The referees Mark Vinitzky and Bernard Orr , a Southern
grad, called a very good game: not perfect but close.
JAN. 5
INTER-AC LEAGUE
Episcopal Academy 72 Malvern Prep 65 OT
The opening day in the Inter-Ac, a tripleheader with all six teams
doing battle. This one was good, it got started with the Friars dialing long distance to
the tune of 5 first quarter threes, all by 6-0 SR WG Chris Blatt. Blatt missed his
first two threes and then made the next 5. All five were from a different area code,
forget NBA range, he was shooting from near Ogontz and Olney, not 20th and
Olney. Also doing a good job for Malvern was 6-3 sophomore combination guard, Brian
Grandieri. Grandieri is what you call a "money player." He has some sweet
lefthanded moves and he uses them in the lane, baseline and when posting up a smaller
guard. He is TOUGH. The Friars had the Churchmen on the ropes, after the first quarter,
26-13, and continued their inspired play to a 34-26 halftime lead. That is when Terrence
Mack, the 6-6 inside worker for Episcopal took the game over. He became aggressive in
the third quarter, and showed why Rhode Island has grabbed a quality ballplayer for next
year. Mack put EA on top for the first time with a free throw with only 1:13 left in the
third and the score after 3 was 45-44, EA on top. In the fourth quarter, the Churchmen
behind Mack (27 points, 13 rebounds, 3 returned to sender) and feisty junior point guard, Matt
Deasey (12 points, 5 assists and 5 rebounds), took control in the fourth. Mack
seemingly put EA up for good, with a rebound basket at 1:31 left in regulation. The score
was 58-56, EA, the Friars and legendary coach Dan Dougherty received clutch free
throws from senior guards Ronnie Frazier and Kevin Dugan, and had the Friars
down three with only 7.1 to go and no timeouts. (In the fourth quarter, 9 timeouts were
called and a 30 to 40 second delay on the clock also occurred so the fourth quarter
probably was the longest in recent city history.) Grandieri goes coast to coast, receiving
a huge screen for junior forward, Dan Corcoran and hits a 23 foot trey off the
glass to send this baby into overtime!!! (I told you he was a money player!) Grandieri
registered 28 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals. In the extra session coach
Dougherty’s boys out hustled coach Bud Tosti’s boys and won it 72-65.
Mack had four free throws and a MONSTER shot block in the final stanza. Blatt finished
with 22 points and was 5-for-14 on treys.
JAN. 3
PUBLIC LEAGUE
Germantown 66, Olney 50
Happy New Year and what a good way to start off the
Public League regular season with a definite PL upset. Early on, the
Trojans behind star junior guard, Ramik Roberts had the Bears on their heels.
After an 11-2 start, the Trojans went on to take the first quarter, 15-9. The
Bears regrouped in the second quarter and began to dominate the boards behind, junior
forward Keith Shanks (10 points and 11 rebounds) and senior Rodney "Coos"
Howard (10 points and 8 rebounds). After reserve guard Quadre "Gee" Hart,
hit a big three at the 2:11 mark of the second stanza, G-Town had its first lead of the
game at 23-21, and they dominated play the rest of the way. Junior guard Tyrone
"Shep" Sheppard was HUGE, much bigger than his listed 5-7. He had 10
points and 5 assists, and good floor generalship in this one. "Shep" should not
be confused with that guy from the "Three Stooges", he was all composure in this
one, and twice amused the crowd with slick ballhandling around and under defenders. G-Town
wanted this one is the worse way. They were the aggressors on offense and defense. Their
leader, junior Wallace Battle, a master of transition basketball, went
for 16 points and 4 assists. He is extremely fluid, but sometimes takes quick shots. The
Trojans were led by Roberts, who registered a hard- earned 17 points, 4 boards and 3
assists. This kid plays hard, he takes bunches of kids off the dribble at a time.The
Trojan big men had problems however. 6-5 "Dunk on your head" forward, Tyree
Hankerson, only had 3 points on a long third quarter "trey", and was only
1-3 from the floor. Three shots for Hankerson, that is a problem. The other Olney big man
didn’t do much better, but I did like 6-4 forward, Eric "Ugs" Adams,
who had 5 rebounds and 5 blocks. Adams is just a Sophomore, stay tuned for more from him.
Coach John Rech has the unenviable job of having six quality guards. This is
difficult because he has to give them playing time so they can get exposure and worry
about them losing rhythm. Neil Green, also, showed well, he play a little bit as a
small forward/third guard. He had 12 points and was 2-4 from trey. Fellow senior Marvin
Kilgore is extra intense, he had a couple flashes of ultra-brilliance. Hart had a
breakway lay-up and Kilgore raced down-court and pinned the ball HARD on the backboard. It
seemed like he was wiping a stain off of the glass. Kilgore then told Hart to "Get
Up." He also had an impressive crossover between the legs and finish with a short
jumper off the glass. Andrew Jerry had 3 steals and 3 assists. Getting all of these
guards on the court enough is going to drive Coach Rech crazy. A couple times, I thought
G-Town coach Otis Hackney would go ballistic telling his team to hold the ball, but
he didn’t and they held the ball, and they won. The Bears had mucho inspiration. A
schoolmate and junior varsity football player died in the past week, a few of the Bear
basketball players were teammates of his. He was following an automobile accident which
caused complications with his asthma and he died. His name is Gregory Raymond, age
16, the funeral is Friday, January 4th. The Bears went out there to win one, and they did
with aggression and poise. Maybe they can win some more. Olney will win some also.
Table Talk- Mammoth football tackle, Dorian Brewer, 6-4
370, was the G-Town scorekeeper. He keeps a clean scorebook, but G-Town AD/Football Coach Mike
Hawkins could be a professional comedian when it comes to Dorian, he had me in
stitches when he busts on Dorian. The first quarter only one official worked it. AN olney
manager when she saw Rodney Howard, "He looks like a grown man, I didn’t know
Twilight program kids could play." The next three the second zebra showed up. Word to
the league referees: brush up on the calls. We ask the best of the players and coaches, we
expect the same from you. Get in midseason form as soon as possible and don’t
complain about.
DEC. 22
ON THE MENU
"Duck ALA Orange"
I wanted to do this earlier but I was busy with other things. Anyway has
Central High School become officially "late bloomer high school" In the past
late bloomers from Central have included Khary Freeland ’93, George Edmonds
"94 and Isaiah Nathaniel ‘00. This year’s late bloomers are Khalif
Leek, Khary Kenyatta and Curtis Johnson. If Leek keeps playing this
well, he should be a D-II. Kenyatta has "old school" defensive ability. He did
an AWESOME job on Stefan Brown from Frankford and from all reports not to shabby
against Friends' Central. Although, most Lancers are academically prodigious it
doesn’t hurt to have your latent athletic ability come to the fore-front when
applying to schools…The weather has sure cooled down. During the extended nice
weather, how many of you high school ballers went down to the playground and worked on
your game. Well, I did, I’ll stick to typing on the computer. But you guys go play.
… I watched the West Catholic and Cardinal Dougherty game on December
7. I left impressed with the West Catholic rooting section full of junior varsity and
freshman players. They totally out chanted the "Pit" and the other CD rooting
sections. Also, what happened to CD after a West Catholic player said, "You
Joe!" The CD kids just shut up and took it hard. For those who don’t know, being
called "Joe" is a major league diss… If St. John Neumann continues
to exceed expectations and make a deep run to defend the Catholic League title game, they
can look at their sixth and seventh men as key reasons. Antwain Wynn and Adon El.
The "A" Team is what I’ve dubbed them. Wynn, is a floor leader kinda like
that guy with the cigar was on the TV show. El does a little bit of everything like Mr. T
did and most importantly, Adon brings TOUGHNESS to the Neumann frontcourt. He could say,
"I pity the fools who try to take Neumann championship jewels." It has a nice
ring to it… Anyway, does anybody pump fake in traffic go up and draw the foul
anymore… By the way best Basketball movie ever question from Pat’s Patter - Cornbread,
Earl and Me didn’t receive one vote and that weak Fish that Saved Pittsburgh
got one. You guys aren’t exactly Ebert and Roeper… My alma mater, Franklin
Learning Center, has an underrated point guard by the name of Michael Green. So
far this year Green has held his own against Olney (Ramik Roberts, Neil Green, Andrew
Jerry), Parkway (Rashawn Dennis and Javon Alston) and Southern (Antoine
"Doo Dirty" Brown). He excels because he sets up Tyreek Byard and Joshua
Grier very well. Not too bad…I miss Kevin Hanlon’s constant ranting
on how bad the Public League is. What can I say, controversy keeps me happy? We are a
kinder, gentler TedSilary.Com… If Micheal Blackshear is the best rebounder in the
country 6-7 and Under (I agree with Amar, he is), then Frankford’s Tyree Draft
maybe the best 6-4 and Under senior rebounder in the land as while. I would love to see
these two warriors go head to head under the glass. They come from the school of thought
that ‘rebounds define manhood’ (tons of kids used to say that when I was
school)… Speaking of undersized rebounders, we have plenty in Philly; Daniel
Jackson (Franklin), Charron Fisher (Roman) and Tariq Chandler
(Fels)… During warm-ups on Tuesday the 18th of December, "Doo Dirty"
Brown routinely would make his teammates slip and slide like they were on ice
dribbling the ball behind his back, sometimes seemingly crossing teammates over without
using his hands but instead his wrists, it must have been an optical illusion…
Hey, I’ll have some more stuff coming up in the future.
DEC. 18
NON-LEAGUE
Franklin LC 68, Southern 51
1991 Public League Semifinals: FLC defeats Southern, led by Kareem
"Rab" Townes, to advance to the PL title game against Gratz. 1992: FLC led
by Faron "Meatball" Hand, Tyrone Weeks and Sean Colson
defeat Southern led by Jeffery "Jay" Myers, in one of the most
controversial games in city sports history. FLC overcame a late game deficit after the
lights went out momentarily in Cunningham Community Center. During the darkness, Weeks
scored a basket. Southern’s coach was livid. Then the Bobcats stormed back to victory
and proceeded to win the school’s only PL Boys title that year. (We had another one
taken away in ‘94.) I was an eighth grader then, and the infamous "Lights
Out" game was my first Public League regular season game. I’ve been an addict
ever since. So in the tradition of this one of the city’s top rivalries I expected a
gem of a game. Just like in 1992, the lead guards took center stage. For FLC, junior Michael
Green, and for Southern, sophomore Antoine "Doo Dirty" Brown. Early
on FLC set the tone from outside with the play of 6-5 junior SF Tyreek Byard and
5-11 senior WG Noll Black. Both showed good form on deep jumpers. Black was 5-7
from trey for 17 points total. And Byard, well, call Dick Vitale, he is a PTPer.
Byard (pronounced by- erred) tallied 22 points, 13 rebounds, 3 blocks, 3 assists and 3
steals. He had a huge jam over a Southern forward plus the foul to end the first half. He
had 18 at the half. 23 foot threes, no problem actually more like a lay-up. Rebounding
inside despite being skinny, a piece of cake. Most of his baskets came from passes from
Green, who had 9 assists to go with his 16 points. Byard, also had a couple BIGTIME moves,
once in the middle of sloppy play, he grabbed a loose ball took the ball to the rank and
flipped it in ala Ronald Murray. He also had a breathtaking block on Southern
inside worker, Shawn Sabb, where he blocked the ball hard off the backboard. Byard
is reed thin and appears that he might top off at 6-7. The Bobcats were in control all
day. The one Southern player that couldn’t be stopped was the 6-2 "Doo
Dirty" Brown, (a PTPer in his own right) who had 12 points 8 assists and 4 steals. He
could have easily had 15 assists, but his teammates kept missing lay-ups or dropping
passes. Once, Antoine threw a ball inside to a teammate that made my heart stop. The ball
made that "fizz" sound like a Nolan Ryan/Roger Clemens fastball and if
the Southern player did not catch the ball, his head might have been torn off from the
velocity. That was a bullet. Brown also has fast hands, as fast as Danny Rumph’s.
Brown and Green both are super at running a team, but they aren’t as vocal as Myers
and Colson were. (Just given kids perspective) Also, playing well for FLC was sophomore
forward Joshua Grier who had 11 points and 6 rebounds. Southern struggled besides
Antoine Brown, his older brother; Roosevelt "Ro-Ro" Brown had 12 points
and 8 rebounds. Sabb added 5 points, 8 rebounds and 3 blocks. He didn’t play the
second quarter because of supposed lazy defense. Keith Grimes struggled early but
in the fourth quarter, he had 13 of his 18 points. I’ve noticed when he seems a
little tired he plays better, early in the game, he took bad shots and was too
"hyper" with the ball.
Table Talk- The Southern scorekeeper is extra feisty. She was yelling
at the players more than the coach was. Plenty of South Philly people made the trip, also
in attendance Greg Wright and Charles Monroe. The gym was loud like
the olden days, when Sabb threw down a dunk off of the opening tip over a FLC forward and
then denied a Grier jam on the Bobcats first trip downcourt. But it was extra loud when
Green crossed over a Southern player, whose feet looked like they were in quick sand, and
fed a streaking Byard for a lay-up.
DEC. 14
NON-LEAGUE
St. John Neumann 72, Penn Charter 57
I had this game and date circled in my mind since November when I
found out that Neumann and Penn Charter would play a basketball game. I wasn’t alone.
La Salle Head Coach Billy Hahn, Villanova Assistant Joe Jones and St.
Joseph’s Assistant Monte Ross all found their ways to Schoolhouse Lane
to check this one out. Early on, the Pirates established a lead behind their solid
defensive play. Penn Charter was without senior point guard, Mike McGarvey. He
would be SORELY missed. The Neumann guards made a habit of stripping the PC guards right
after the Quakers threw the ball in bounds. Leading the charge was sophomore Richard
"Tabby" Cunningham, who tallied 17 points, 4 assists, and 5 steals. He had
help. Senior Chris Del Brocco, who is an improved ballhandler, added 11 points.
Point guard Antwain Wynn provided 9 points and heady lead guard play. The Pirates
stormed to a 27-13 lead with 1:49 left in the First Half and then continued to outplay the
Quakers until the game’s final minute when they pulled the rotation members. I was
really impressed with the defensive play of reserve sophomore forward Adon El. El
frustrated PC’s 6-7 franchise forward Rob Kurz, every time he touched the
ball. The Method Man lookalike was playing some stellar defense on Kurz and also boxed out
the rangy forward better than all of his teammates. He made an impression. The same goes
for his teammate Kevin Lauer. The underrated 6-6 junior forward, had two blocks on
Kurz. One of them was ultra-impressive. Kurz came off a screen for a clean look at a
fifteen-footer, Kurz elevates but is rejected by Lauer and the ball bounces high off the
floor somehow Kevin controls the ball and leads the fast break. (He then commits a
turnover, but the block was impressive.) Guard Kenny Fulton (8 points and
3 assists.) played superb defense as well, on the GA transfer. Kurz finished with 16
points and 12 rebounds, he was just 5-14 from the floor including a paltry 1-5 from three.
He won’t have many off nights. The most consistent player for PC was eighth grade
guard, Joe Zeglinski. He totaled 10 points, 3 assists and 2 steals. He also used
textbook form to knock down two "treys." Joe is already a High school varsity
starter and he is in Middle School. (Remember the name.) Matt Ryan had 11 points, 6
boards and 4 steals. Also, I’m worried that Coach Jim Phillips will
lose his hair trying to calm down/teach/coach junior forward Mike Boles so he can
reach his potential. Boles had a horrid night, because he committed silly fouls. The
Quakers need McGarvey to get better soon. They did get a lot of open looks when they were
able to run their half-court motion offense. The Pirates seem to have excellent chemistry,
they’re unselfish, and they have depth. I like their offensive sets more with this
personnel because while not as talented as last year’s team, these guys move better
without the ball. The Pirates are 4-0 and have a HUGE showdown with John Bartram on
Sunday.
Table Talk- Paging Ted Silary, the Penn Charter
athletic department wanted Ted to play in the alumni game. Rumors that he has NBA plus
range on his jump shot have been confirmed regardless of his participation. Neumann’s
Coach Carl Arrigale is also a PC alum. I spoke with Monte Ross
after the game and here is some advice for all you prospective college ballplayers. Two
words: STUDY HARD. Finally, people have asked since football season, how did you get the
nickname Duck? The answer is I walk funny and in high school everybody called me that. I
loved it - Duck rhymes with Luck.
DEC. 11
NON-LEAGUE
Central 64, Frankford 57
This one was a dandy. Early on, both senior laden teams were
scorching the nets with deep threes. Leading the assault was Central star guard Sharif
Bray, who began the game 3-4 from the field for 8 points. That would stop as Frankford
coach Bernie Handler put senior point guard Isaiah Thomas on the Lancer
star, Thomas forced the dangerous Bray into shooting woes throughout the second and third
quarters. They should call him "Clamps." Frankford, which trailed 16-8 after the
first quarter would open up leads of 10 and 12 points, while Central struggled to find
their rhythm. Leading the Pioneers was 6-4 senior forward Tyree Draft, who totaled
12 points and 11 rebounds. Frankford used a ten man rotation, which at times turned the
pace up and down. Central started to fight back in the third quarter after Coach Haviland
Harper called timeout at 1:24 left in the third and ripped into his club and told them
"Play some defense!" They did. Leading the Lancer comeback was 6-3 WG Khalif
Leek, who was ultra smooth when Bray was struggling with his normally accurate jump
shot. Point guard Khary Kenyatta played tough defense of Frankford scoring guard Stefan
Brown, who only tallied 6 points on 1-9 shooting from the floor 1-1 on
"treys". Leek made two free throws at 3:30 left in the fourth quarter to tie the
game. Then Bray awoke and made a key jumper in the lane to put CHS on top for good. The
Pioneers continued to scrap and made plenty of clutch free throws of their own in the
fourth quarter. Leek put up a good performance -- 21 points, 5 steals, and 3 assists.
Bray, who was 6-16 from the floor despite being 2-7 on threes, finished with 16 points and
5 assists. Freshman Scott Rodgers, who started at forward, had 2 blocks, one coming
in the last minute with Central holding on to a two point lead. Also, reserve forward Curtis
Johnson (Mr. Popularity), had 10 points and 6 rebounds. Curtis must have the best
personal cheering section in the "Pub." Frankford has a good squad that nobody
would want to play on an off day. I left impressed with Thomas, who had 9 points, 5
assists and 4 steals. And not too many teams in the city can go to the bench and bring
guards with the kind of talent as Mark Tyndale, Dustin Henry and Marvin
Dutton. Up front they have even more depth, Draft, Donte Wood (9 points 5 rebounds), DJ
Turner, Edy Aurelio and Darryl White. This group keeps 6-8 center Timothy
Forbes and 6-4 forward Cerone Brown on the bench. Most of those guys are
seniors. They should be tough come February. That goes the same for Central, they have a
huge showdown with Friends Central on Friday at Ogontz and Olney. Expect a packed house,
and for the Lancers to battle until the final horn.
Table Talk- How many cheerleaders do they have at Central? They had a
pep squad, drill team, cheerleaders and a fourth group that must’ve been the junior
varsity. They were all damn good. Like something out of the movie, Bring It On.
Frankford’s scorekeeper Dave kept me on my toes the entire ballgame. I love
"Pub" games like this, good defense, two well-coached teams and so-so
officiating. So-so officiating gives a game the lure of the NBA where Shaquille
O’Neal is elbowing everyone. On the Frankford sideline, Michael Branch, a
starter on last year’s PL finalist team.
DEC. 4
NON-LEAGUE
FLC 59 Parkway 50
The friendly confines of Cunningham Community Center at 10th
and Wallace are a landmark in North Philadelphia basketball. One of the smaller gyms in
the city but not as small as E&S ‘s shoebox gym. Tons of Public League legends
have strutted their stuff on this court the past couple decades. I love this gym cause I
always expect a good ballgame. Well, this game was so-so, but that wasn’t the case
for FLC junior forward Tyreek Byard. The slim 6-5 swingman led the Bobcats with 18
points and 9 rebounds. (He even handled the ball at the point a couple times.) Byard is
quickly becoming one of the area’s top juniors, and that class doesn’t have any
slouches in its upper echelon. He looks like he could grow a couple more inches as well.
College coaches might cram into Cunningham next year to check him out. His main playmates
were ball handling virtuoso Michael Green (14 points and 5 assists), sophomore
forward Joshua Grier (11 rebounds, 3 points including one ferocious slam), and
senior guard Terrell Harris (11 points). The Bobcats were without their most
experienced player in senior guard, Noll Black, who has a slight wrist injury.
Despite Black’s absence they showed good teamwork and patience in key situations.
They had to because Parkway, led by junior guard Rashawn Dennis, hung around all
game. Dennis, a versatile, end to end player -who is comfortable directing from the point
or slashing from the wing - had an impressive line: 20 points, 8 rebounds 4 steals and 2
blocks. A couple times he grabbed a rebound and took the ball end to end for either a
jumper or lay-up. He shot 7-12 from the floor (2-3 on threes) but was only 3-9 from the
charity stripe. Also, his teammates neglected to get him the ball late in the game, at
"money time." With FLC leading 53-46 with only 1:36 left in the game, Dennis hit
two free throws to get the Hoyas within two possessions. The Bobcats tightened their
defense, and Green made four clutch free throws, to ice the win. Dennis’ partner on
the outside, Javon Alston added 13 points including 3 threes. Parkway will get
better they have an extremely young club without a lot of depth. FLC is young but has
slightly more depth than the Hoyas, they aren’t exactly Gratz 1993 either. (That was
the deepest team I’ve ever seen.)
NORTHEAST TIP-OFF TOURNAMENT
Olney 72, Central Bucks West 67
With the entire Philly area a buzz with pigskin
championship games, I was able to sneak in some roundball into my sports diet. Olney had
prior night by four to North Penn. NP also, beat a Northeast team without Chaz Crawford
for the title, 50-43. Crawford was taking his SAT’s. This one was refreshing,
competitive game that was still in doubt until the end. Although, the Trojans were in
control for 90% of the action, CB West twice cut their lead to two points and once to a
single point within the final 3:12 of the 4th. The Trojan headliner in this one was 6-1
junior combo guard Ramik Roberts. Roberts poured in 21 points, including 13 in an
impressive fourth quarter. In a junior class full of talented guards, you can’t leave
Roberts out of the discussion. He has poise and nasty first-step Also, starring was 6-5
forward Tyree Hankerson who registered 13 points and 12 rebounds. Hankerson mixed
three dunks in his scoring, one was an impressive one hand jam over a CB West forward. He
also, had a soft reverse jam. This kid dunks on people, and sells posters later. After his
one-hand reverse, a kid on the CB West bench said, "He gets up." I think
we’ve found another Sherlock Holmes. Also, this was a coming out party for Olney 6-2
sophomore Taunrelle "Tommy" Gardner who had 12 points. Roberts and
Gardner both thrive in transition, and are good at exploiting one-one isolation situations
with dribble moves to get short jumpers and/or lay-ups. They take their guys off the
dribble, effortlessly. That goes the same for sophomore point guard Andrew Jerry
who contributed 10 points off the bench. The Trojans used four point guards in a 10 man
rotation, all without senior guard Marvin Kilgore, who sat this one out in street
clothes. Add him and they have one of the deeper back-courts in the "Pub." And
we all know that guards win basketball games. Also, a liked the way the Trojans seemed to
move the ball around unselfishly in key situations. They’re young so they had a few
questionable turnovers, and often they forgot to have their hands up and CB West swing-man
Brad Arnold pumped in deep jumpers. Arnold led all scorers with 23. He hit a three
to make it a one point game with only 1:01 left, but Roberts answered by beating his man
off the dribble for two with 38 seconds left. He then added another lay-up on a pass from
senior guard Neil Green (9 points, 4 assists and 2 steals) with 23 seconds left.
BALL GAME!
NOV. 3
Duck’s Preseason Yearbook Awards
I mean no malice, just playing around. This is just good-natured teasing
Sorry ninth graders, I’ll wait until you guys play varsity games before I put you in
my yearbook.
Coaches
Most likely to win a game on his wits- Bill Fox, Father Judge
Most likely to be named National Recruiter of the Year - Darryl Schofield,
Celestial
Most likely to have his program copied- Bill Ellerbee, Simon Gratz
Most likely to be under-rated as coaches (tie) – Cedric Powell, FLC and George
Anderson , Southern
Most likely to have the most pressure to win a title – Mark Heimerdinger,
Cardinal Dougherty
Most awaited coaching debut- Speedy Morris, St. Joseph’s Prep
Most likely to piss me off with poor scheduling – Elsa Cohen, Northeast
Most likely to piss me off by playing the wrong defense – Carl Arrigale, St.
John Neumann
Seniors
Most likely to lead the "Pub" in scoring- Sharif Bray. Central
Most likely to average 20 rebounds- Mike Blackshear Jr., Simon Gratz
Most likely to make College coaches grin – Mike Cook, Friend’s Central
Most likely to make a College recruiter drool – Richard Francis, John Bartram
Most likely to dunk on Ted Skuchas – Matthew Jefferson, E&S
Most likely to average 10 assists- Shedjie Childs, Friend’s Central
Most likely to outplay a higher rated classmate – Richard Stephens, Bok
Most likely to scare away opposing players- Ronald Davis, Dobbins Tech
Most likely to hit 6 threes in a game – Matt Walsh, Germantown Academy
Most likely to hit threes from Halfcourt – Angelo Hernandez, Overbrook High
Most likely to average 7 blocks- Chaz Crawford, Northeast
Most likely to be this year’s Mike Cuffee – Maurice Collins, Simon Gratz
Most likely to outsmart every opponent – Justin Scott, E&S
Most likely to tick off Kevin Hanlon with his good play- Tim Smink, Cardinal
Dougherty
Most likely to be excellent in obscurity- Miguel Mendez, Kensington High
Most likely to improve their rankings (tie) – Tyree Hankerson, Olney
and David Watson, Furness
Most likely to remind people of Charles Oakley- Michael Blackshear Jr., Simon Gratz
Most likely to remind people of Miles Davis- Ronald Davis, Dobbins Tech
Most likely to grab a quarter of a backboard – Eugene Myatt, West Philly
Juniors
Most likely to lead the "Pub" in scoring – Maureece Rice,
Strawberry Mansion
Most likely to outplay a higher rated classmate – Rashawn Dennis, Parkway
Most likely to average 20 rebounds- William Gray, Ben Franklin
Most likely to average 10 assists – Michael Green, Franklin Learning Center
Most likely to "break an ankle"- Mustafa Shakur, Friend’s Central
Most likely to win a game with a jumper- Sean Singletary, Perkiomen Prep
Most likely to scare away opposing players – Wayne Marshall, Martin Luther
King
Most likely to improve their rankings (tie) – Ramik Roberts, Olney and Javon
Alston, Parkway
Most likely to win a game with a driving lay-up- Darnell Corbitt, Ben Franklin
Most likely to be Kevin Hanlon’s favorite player – Billy Geiger, Father
Judge
Most likely to average 7 blocks -London Houston, Friend’s Central
Most likely to average 10 steals- Darnell Corbitt, Ben Franklin
Most likely to remind people of Lynn Greer – Mustafa Shakur, Friend’s
Central
Most likely to make a college coach grin – Tyreek Byard, FLC
Most likely to make a recruiter drool- Wayne Marshall, Martin Luther King
Sophomores
Most likely to led the CL in scoring – Richard "Tabby" Cunningham,
St. John Neumann
Most likely to make a recruiter drool – Shane Clark, Cardinal Dougherty
Most likely to average 20 rebounds- Shawn Sabb, Southern High
Most likely to average 10 steals- Antoine Brown, Southern High
Most likely to outplay a higher rated classmate- Michael Scott, FLC
Most likely to improve their rankings (tie) – Joshua Grier, FLC and Bilal
Benn, Cardinal Dougherty
Most likely to make a recruiter grin- DeSean White, Cardinal Dougherty
Most likely to win a game with a jumper- Kyle Lowry, Northeast
Most likely to be a solid role player on a Title contender – Jason McGirt,
Simon Gratz
OCT. 20, 2001
Sam Rines/Philly’s Best of the Best Showcase
This showcase event was full of highlights and great plays. The
"ooh’s" and "ahhs" were heard from Broad and Brown all the way
out to Allentown. If you weren’t there, I guess I’ll have to tell you
everything. Here it goes:
Suburban Seniors 114, City Seniors 92
The suburbanites won the game, but the City guys had more
highlights. For the ‘burbs, Omar Williams was unreal. The 6-9, seven-year
veteran for Celestial Prep went for 28 points with an assortment of dunks and dribble
drives moves. Omar is bound for George Washington and Tom Penders is making a great
pick up. Also, starring for the winners was 6-5 Anthony Williams of Souderton, who
is built like a blacksmith. Williams had 14 points. He has Ivy League schools keeping
tabs. For the City, Richard "Franchise" Francis was "hard to
guard" he went for 18 points – two of those coming on a reverse alley-hoop,
where his head nearly touched the rim. Francis added a couple "treys" and
another unbelievable one-handed jam that brought back memories of Ronald
"Flip" Murray skying on Murrell Dobbins, back in the day. Matthew
Jefferson, Engineering and Science’s 6-6 leaper went OVER 6-11 Ted Skuchas
for a half-windmill jam. The entire gym erupted!!!! SLEEPER, and I don’t like to
repeat myself, so D-I’s get out and start recruiting him. He also added one from the
circle, he finished with 12 points and 9 boards. His E&S partner Justin Scott
had 10 points and 5 dimes. Mike Blackshear was tough 14 point including some
jumpers and a "trey." Shedjie Childs (Friends' Central) had 7 assists and
the play of the day. He totally embarrassed a defender by faking him out into thinking he
had passed the ball, but in reality he had bounced the ball behind his back. (It is hard
to describe, but it would have made the And One Mix-tape volume 1-4). Danny Rumph,
who came down from MCI, was spectacular with his defense. The best defensive guard from
Philly since Terrell Stokes. Don’t believe me? Ask Dajuan Wagner, Rumph
shut him down at Conshohocken last year.
City Juniors 82, Suburban Juniors 81
The story in this one was Friends' Central 6-7 CF London
Houston, who had 10 points 9 boards and 10 blocks. He also had all the scouts and
recruiting afficionados singing his praises. He was having an old-fashioned "block
party" at Broad and Brown. Also playing well was former U-City Forward Maurice
Maxwell, who went loose for 18 points. Maxwell is now a legitimate 6-5 and a
reclassified junior at Celestial, he owns the baseline. He kills people with his lanky
build and court savvy, he has a huge upside. Bartram’s Jason Cain, also was a
headliner with 13 points 4 blocks and 6 rebounds. He also had a hard dunk over a 6-9 guy.
.For the Suburbs’ Archbishop Carroll "3" man Sean McKeon was solid
16 points, two NBA type threes. He is another weapon for Carroll. Celestial’s Zakee
Boyd was sizzling for 14 points in impressive fashion. Also, Northeast’s Troy
Roundtree had 11 points and Ray Barbosa, a strong 6-2 guard guard from
Allentown had 10 points and 7 assists. Both players are masters of using their bodies and
yet not playing out of control. This one was nip and tuck throughout and Roman Catholic
guard Calvin Jones (10 points) scored the winning hoop with 6 seconds left.
Light Blue Freshmen 62, Dark Blue Freshman 41
This one was strange, Dark Blue had a 35-26 halftime lead
behind the strong play of Roman guard Bobby Jordan (10 points, 4 assists), who was
throwing his body around like Lenny Dykstra used to do on the baseball field.
Second half Light Blue behind the play of Wood’s Matt Spadafora ( 12 points) Tom
Amenta (14 points), and Celestial’s Calvin Richardson (8 points and
numerous dynamite passes) took over and the romp was on. The lefthanded Richardson and GFS
guard Noel Wilmore would make for an electrifying freshman combo-guard match-up.
Positive Image 67 Sam Rines 39
From the opening tip, this was all Danny Rumph, who was
stealing the ball left and right. When he plays defense he has the fastest hands and feet,
this side of Jet Li. Mike Cook was also superb with 11 points and 6 assists.
He is unstoppable when he is hitting the outside shot. Along with Maureece Rice, is
one of my favorite players to watch play. He is smooth, aggressive and strong. Excellent
ball-handling skills and a feel for the game that cannot be taught. Also, standing out was
Megan McNeil, underrated 6-5 CF from U-City, who had 10 points and two
"high-rising" jams both over other players. He jumps out the gym but… Sharif
Hanford, a 6-2 SG/SF from Germantown had a nasty follow jam over 6-11 Ted Skuchas.
Sharif Bray (Central) had 6 assists, and Shedjie Childs looked strong as
well.
Dark Blue Sophomores 92, Light Blue Sophomores 54
The class of 2004 is my favorite class in the area. So this one
was the game I was waiting for. Dougherty’s forward tandem of Shane Clark and DeSean
White was unguardable. Clark, who has drawn favorable comparisons to Hakim
"Skinny" Warrick and Darius Miles, has in my opinion, tremendous
upside, as much if not more than anybody in the Area. "Super" Shane hit for 18
points including some big-time throwdowns. If he continues to improve and stays focused -
WATCHOUT. Despite his considerable game, his teammate, White, was just as impressive.
White had 23 points including two deep threes. He is another potential big-timer, as he is
skilled and coordinated. I really hope that in future summers they both get a chance at
the big-time camps like ABCD. Rob Kurz hit for 19 and Kyle Lowry hustled for
18 points. Shawn Sabb (Southern High) was a workhorse, he plays like a very
poorman’s Elton Brand, I hope he grows to be 6-8. Timmy Smith was solid
at the point for Dark Blue, as well. The leading scorer for Light Blue was Dougherty guard
Bilal Benn. Dougherty is going to be good. When you consider the sophomores not in
this (Tabby Cunningham, Andrew Jerry, Antoine Brown, Eddie Mollard, Kechan Myers)
this is gonna be an extremely deep and talented class from this area.
CP 82 Philly Hoops Airborn 72
This was the end of the day and for CP, Calvin Richardson
was solid again, and Maurice Maxwell had some impressive moves. For Airborn, Kyle
Lowry hit for 18 points and Shawn Sabb had 11 points and procured 10 rebounds.
This was a fun day of hoops and if you missed it this year, DON’T
miss it NEXT YEAR.
OCT. 2
Philly's Finest/Best of Philly Tournament September 25th-29th
This high quality tournament had numerous memorable moments
and players.
Play of the Tournament - 18 and Under
The 18 and Under championship went to double-overtime. Maureece
Rice gets the ball with a little under and minute remaining.
He handles the ball and is setting his defender up. Time continues
to trickle from the clock and Rice launches a 25-foot three from the deep right wing.
Swish!!!! Only two seconds remain, and the Drillers' shot goes off the backboard.
Runner-up # 1
Matthew Jefferson's (Salvation Army Hot Boys) jam over two
Philly Spirit defenders.
Runner-up #2
Khalil Abdus-Salaam's (Drillers) block in the championship
game. It allowed for the second overtime.
Runner-up # 3 (Tie)
Tyree Hankerson's two handed flush over the Drillers.
Kevin Harris running from half-court to block a shot
high on the backboard, as Mecca rallied to win the championship.
Sequence of the Tournament
In Thursday's feature match-up between Mecca-Philly Elite.
With Mecca clinging to a one-point lead coach Dion Shockey reinserts
Maureece Rice into the game. (Rice was resting the majority of the second half.) He
crossed over his defender and scored on a reverse lay-up. Elite get the ball in and rush
it to Northeast High's Kyle Lowry, who burried a 23 ft jumper to tie the
score with five seconds left. Mecca forces the ball up-court to Tyreek Graves
(6-2 jr. Mansion), who hit a bank shot at the buzzer to win it for Mecca 52-50. Graves was
clutch the entire tourney.
"Prime time Players"
Maureece Rice 6-1 Jr. SG Mecca Strawberry
Mansion
Rice was impressive all week long. From the time he took the court on
Tuesday evening, he couldn't be guarded. He was at his best hitting jumpers, and fighting
taller players on the glass. Also, he played great defense, in the closing minutes against
Drillers he was guarding the always dangerous Richard "Franchise"
Francis. And he was solid. That is the most underrated part of his game- if you
ask "Amar" Austin, and I have to agree with that.
Richard Francis 6-4 Sr. SF/SG Drillers John Bartram
"Franchise" was his normal deadly self,. He was taking
people of the dribble. Also, he
was hitting the jumper. As usual, he had a couple of impressive rim-rockers. He and Rice
went toe to toe in the second half as Mecca was rallying from a seven point half-time
deficit. Francis embarrasses people off the dribble.
Angelo Hernandez 6-3 Sr. SG Hilltoppers Overbrook
The best deep shooter around. He has stepped up his off the dribble
game. Also, he played solid defense throughout the tournament. His shooting range begins
when he steps in the gym.
Other Notables
William Gray 6-6 Ben Franklin - Played for
Philly Elite had Littel Vaughn calling him "Baby Rondell
Turner" same build and is a manchild on the blocks.
Anthony Harper 6-4 Jr. William Penn- He played for Hot Boys,
he was hitting the deep jumper all day on Saturday. The cupboard's not entirely bare at
Penn.
Brendan O'Malley 6-1 Sr. Archbishop Ryan- Has a solid
game and plays good defense and is a heady Catholic League North player.
"The Best Kept Secret"-
Kevin Harris 6-3 SF/SG Mecca Simon
Gratz High - Like most players at this event, Harris plays for keeps. He is a hard-nosed,
gritty swingman that goes hard to the hole. He had the entire press contingent singing his
praises. Besides Rice he was his team's most consistent player and yet another reason why
Gratz is the "Pub" favorite.
Other Hidden Gems
Miguel Mendez 5-11 PG Philly Spirit
Kensington High School
Impressive deep shooter was named to the All-tourney team because he
was tremendous against Philly Elite with 4 first half three-pointers. Displayed confidence
and form on his long-range jumper. Also, was effective running a team and getting the ball
to teammates. Played steady defensive as well.
Jerome Monroe 5-10 PG/SG Philly Spirit Calvary
Christian Academy
In the tournament's opening game, Monroe played extremely well against
eventual tournament champ- Mecca. This slick lefty guard made a habit of a making
"three", then the next time down blowing by his defender in the lane.
David Watson 6-0 SG/PG Philly Elite Horace Furness
Was a lightning quick guard for the Elite, owned the baseline in the
two Philly Elite wins.
Also, he made some steals and was just a positive influence on the basketball court.
David is more of a scorer than a floor general. Seeming to be still growing.
Tyree Draft 6-4 PF Salvation Army Flames
Frankford High
Draft is a low-post animal. He had 11 points and 15 rebounds in a loss
to the Drillers.
Also, he hit two free throws to force overtime, in a shocking upset of Hilltoppers which
had Angelo Hernandez and Nick Levine. Draft will do anything to get the
ball. This inside warrior doesn't back down to anybody.
Richard Stephens 6-3 SF Salvation Army Hot Boys
Edward Bok Tech
Was a force in the tourney's biggest upset as the Hot Boys knocked of
Mecca in pool play. Had 13 rebounds and guarded two players in, Rice and Kevin Harris,
that aren't the easiest to check. And when the Boys went zone(they played it a lot) he was
steady presence in the back line of defense.
16 and Under Tournament
MVP- Tyreek Byard 6-5 SF Philly USA FLC
He was a lights out shooter and was a match-up problem for
every team that faced him. Hit for 17 points in a loss to Rebels in Pool Play. Doesn't
miss foul line jumpers. He is long and rangy and a player to watch. Philly USA beat Rebels
67-52 to win title.
Kyle Lowry 5-10 PG MJC Northeast
Lightning quick guard went end to end all day for MJC. Baseline jump
shot is money in the bank. Also, distributes and runs the show. He blows by players as if
they're standing still. Also, always around the ball. Couldn't play in the final because
of a conflict with another tournament.
Aaron Brown 6-2 SG The Village Mansion
A murderous scorer from the two, he was making threes and driving to
the hole absolutely scintilatting. Tremendous confidence with jump shot. Playing with age
group helped, he is young for his grade. Tourney's top scorer, rang up 34 on MJC.
Other Notables-
Antoine "Doo Dirty" Brown 6-2 PG
Philly Elite Southern High
Always near the play and makes something happens. Great defender. Also
gets
into the lane on offense. Has extremely high upside.
Shawn Sabb 6-5 ½ PF Philly Elite Southern High
Gets a rebound every minute it seems, an active inside player and
improving
offensive game. Should be counted on heavily by the Rams.
Play of the Tournament
Darnell Corbitt (Ben Franklin) score tied
47-47 Rebels vs. Sam Rines, he leaves his defender stuck in cement and goes to the rack
for the wining lay-up with 1.8 left. Rebels win!
Runner-up
Tariq Chandler's tip dunk on Philly Spirit.
He also had a low-post battle with Charron Fisher on Tuesday. Fisher had
20 points and 18 boards.