Philly's Finest/Best of Philly Tournament
Philly's
Finest/Best of Philly Tournament Report
September 23-28
Salvation Army Gymnasium
Both brackets of
this tournament where filled with lots of quality hoops action. In the Open Division the
victors where Positive Image, with 6-10 Wayne
Marshall (King) leading the charge. His primary help came from his cousin Quincy Marshall (King), 6-2 Kyree Brown (Dobbins) and 6-2 Keith Grimes (Southern). Grimes dropped in a
winning lay-up with less than 6 seconds remaining as PI won 34-32 over MJC. Throughout the
tournament PI excelled by playing smart basketball, using the clock and finding the big
guy, W. Marshall who is an exceptional passer. In
pool play they defeated Mustangs Basketball which featured 6-9 Sean McKeon (Formerly of Carroll); Salvation
Army Holy Flames which featured 6-6 Darryl White
and an improved Cerone Brown, and, finally, PYO
which featured 6-8 Dontay Tabbs. White probably
had the best game of the three against Wayne, although Dontay did serve up one
"wicked" dunk in that Saturday Morning showdown. In the other Open Bracket each
team was stacked with talent. Philly MJC prevailed by outlasting Drillers (mostly Bartram
players) in an excellent Friday Afternoon showcase. This summers highest mover up the
local and national rankings, Kyle Lowry
(Dougherty) who only played two games, had two triple doubles leading MJC. His main man, Shane Clark was also solid, he played the best
against W. Marshall in the final. MJC also had Antoine
"Doo Dirty" Brown and Mark Tyndale
running with them. MJC did lose a pool play game to Philly USA which sported an improving Jahkal Curry, who averaged 14 points during the
tournament, Mike Green and Tyreek Byard all of FLC. The story for Drillers
was Khalil Abdus Salaam, coming back from a
summer long injury, Salaam was sensational. Making midrange jumpers and playing inside
amongst the trees. Also starring was Jason Cain,
Charles Jones and Bryant Leach. For Youth Interlock which went 1-2
was Tim Young, who is one of the city's best
players and DeSean White, who is one of our
area's best talents. Young gets a dunk every game. And he can play a lot o point guard. He
has had one of the best summers around and we all expect a big year out of him. In the 16
and Under, which was won by Del Peacemakers led by Noel
Wilmore of Germantown Friends School. Wilmore
average 24 points and got help from 6-5 Neumann "Jack of All Trades", Adon "Method Man" El. They outlasted Youth Interlock II
52-51, after 9th grader Wayne Ellington's
drive to the basket and bucket. Youth Interlock II was helped by "Doo-Dirty"
Brown, Amir Ryan, Kechan Myers and outside marksman, Brian Smith (Franklin). Myers had one of the plays
of the week wen the 5-10 guard went to the hole and unfurled a dunk. Other 16 and Under
stars include FLC's Michael Scott (Salvation
Army Hot Boys), King sophomore Jamar Bruce
(Positive Force), Olney's Andrew Jerry
(Positive Force), Mastbaum's Marion
"Buddy" Rose (Philly Spirit) St. Joe's Prep's Reggie Redding (Philly MJC II) and Bobby Jordan (Running Rebels).
MVP-
Wayne Marshall (Positive Image)
Kyle Lowry (MJC)
Khalil Abdus Salaam (Drillers)
Keith Grimes (Positive Image)
Shane Clark (MJC)
Tim Young (Youth Interlock)
16 and
Under All Tournament
MVP Noel Wilmore (Peacemakers)
Antoine Brown (Youth Interlock
II)
Brian Smith (Youth Interlock II)
Kechan Myers (Youth Interlock II)
Adon El (Peacemakers)
Michael Scott (Salvation Army Hot
Boys)