DEC. 28
OLNEY TOURNAMENT FINAL
Bartram 61, Central 42
   At one juncture Amar turned to me and said, "You wrote about Jason a day too early." Indeed. My story on 6-9 jr. C Jason Cain appeared in today's paper. But in this game, he went for 19 points, 18 rebounds and five blocks and had a follow dunk that brought down the house. (Almost brought down the rim, too.) Cain got most of his points off follows or short drives. Amar and I figured he received passes in actual scoring position maybe four times total. As is its custom, Bartram farted around through the first half. The Braves missed some easy shots and were guilty of some careless turnovers. But in the second half, in part because soph PG Charles Jones and jr. WG Bryant Leach showed savvy, Bartram mostly had its way. Also, an early spark was provided when sr. WG Richard Francis caught an alley-oop pass from Leach and did a dunk that dwarfed Cain's in terms of excitement. Some fans actually got out of their seats and ran down the length of the court to slap hands with others. This also happened: Francis did a quick chin-up on the rim and his head was probably 12 feet off the floor. Luckily, the refs enjoyed the moment, too, and no tech was called. Francis finished with 17 points, four rebounds, four assists and three steals. Just for the heck of it, I decided to check out my reports from last December to see what I said about Francis. Here goes: "The inside players -- srs. Anthony Boyer and Daniel Joyner; 6-3 jr. Richard Francis and 6-4 soph Khalil Abdus-Salaam -- were similar. Pretty good leapers, soft shooting touch (especially Francis), good awareness, etc." He is now DAMN good. Despite its lack of size, Central has been slapping together decent basketball all season. In this one the Lancers were miswired. Little went right, especially after halftime, and the quick feet and wide wingspans of Bartram's defenders caused problems. Also, almost every possession was one and done. No one played well. Sr. WG Khalif Leek made some very authoritative moves to the hole, but he canned just three of 10 shots. Sr. PG-WG Sharif Bray had trouble finding comfort spots for mad-bombing purposes. He did finish with 13 points.
Olney 57, Frankford 49
   In the third-place game, Olney coach John Rech had good success using his guards in two-at-a-time rotation. Srs. Marvin Kilgore and Neil Green, jr. Ramik Roberts and soph Andrew Jerry did a much better job than in the semifinal of playing smart and resisting the urge to force. Kilgore, a lefty, has a sweet jumper and big-stride moves to the hoop. Soph F Eric Adams, he of the Little Richard purple sneakers, was again impressive on the inside. The Trojans were unfocused late in the game and Frankford used hustle from mostly subs and deep subs to reduce a 17-point deficit to seven points. The leading late-game Pioneer was sr. G Marvin Dutton, who scored all 12 of his points in the second half. Sr. WG Stefan Brown, impressive the day before, went 0-for-7 from the floor. Inside worker Tyree Draft, a sr., also failed to sink a basket and soph G Mark Tyndale went out early after suffering an injury on a scary fall. He was limping badly later, but appeared to be OK, overall.

DEC. 21
NON-LEAGUE
Penn Charter 51, Dougherty 50
   Very, very strange. Dougherty missed 18 of its first 20 shots and did not score its third field goal until 0:56 remained in the first half. That should have spelled disaster, right? If you noticed the score line, though, this one became a one-pointer. How? PC, even though it led, kept hacking and bumping and sending Dougherty to the line. Dougherty trailed by eight points after three quarters and then went 13-for-14 at the line in the fourth. Why did PC keep fouling? Lord only knows. (We do, too, actually. Dougherty did a much better job of getting the ball into nice shooting areas, at least on the perimeter.) Want some more strangeness? The two biggest rebounds of the game were grabbed by a 5-9 eighth grader! Joe Zeglinski, brother of Zack, a 5-10 freshman, plucked an offensive rebound with 32 seconds left after Zack missed a one-and-one. Sr. PG Mike McGarvey then got fouled and converted a one-and-one to put PC ahead, 49-46. After 6-6 soph F Shane Clark missed a trey, JZ swept the board and fired long to 6-5 jr. F Matt Ryan for a layup. A FOUR-point play by sr. WG Tim Smink closed out the scoring. Ryan, PC's quarterback, sniped for 16 points, shooting 4-for-6 on treys. Soph Rob Kurz, a 6-8 -- yes, 6-8 -- wing guard, scored 12 points. He showed picture perfect form and touch even though his results were mixed (5-for-11). I literally expected Kurz to make every shot he took. That's how nice his form looked. McGarvey had 14 points. Zack Zeglinski had just two field goals, but a few times he showed great athleticism while making strong moves to the hoop. He certainly plays much larger. Jr. C Mike Boles never got into the flow. He did well to some extent policing the inside, but severe foul trouble limited his playing time. For Dougherty, the second half had to be encouraging. The Cardinals rallied big-time, showing juice and savvy (mostly). Smink, who looks much more comfortable against man-to-man than he used to, poured in 19 of his 21 points. In those 16 minutes he shot 5-for-9 (3-for-5 on treys) and 6-for-6 at the line. Clark (eight points) and 6-7 soph DeSean White (12 points) gave average performances overall. Their energy was good (mostly), but they were unable to find comfort zones and everything was forced/hurried. White did make some nifty passes. Soph WG Bilal Benn made his first appearance of the season. He'll help. The first thing he did was grab a rebound and dribble end to end, and then miss a layup. At least he wasn't bashful.

DEC. 20
PUBLIC LEAGUE
Franklin 79, Southern 64
   Get out on the shooters! Southern didn't heed that age-old advice and paid dearly. In the first quarter alone, Franklin rained down five treys (in seven attempts) to seize a 23-12 lead and had its way from then on. Jr. PG Brian Smith incurred his second personal foul with only 6:04 left and went to the bench, but he was hardly missed. Sr. Duane "Chip" Campbell and jr. Darnell Corbitt formed a dynamic duo and received help from jr. Tyree Wilson. Corbitt has been working on his shooting form and it showed. He went 9-for-17 from the floor (4-for-6 on treys) and 5-for-6 at the line for 27 points while adding four assists, four steals and three blocks. This kid is very athletic and has an excellent feel. He still takes some wild shots, but when he is focused, there is little that can be done to prevent him from making his pass or taking his shot. A few times he made Southern defenders appear to be standing still on quick bursts to the hoop. Campbell had a spidery quality. He had 17 points, five assists and three steals. Sr. PF-C Bryheem Bryant grabbed six rebounds in the first quarter to help the guards do their thing. Sr. F Daniel Jackson had 10 rebounds total. Fr. SF Andre Glover did not make an appearance until the second quarter, then went 6-for-6 at the line en route to 10 points. Southern's only game-long factor was jr. C Shawn Sabb. He worked had all the way to reap 21 points, 12 rebounds four blocks and four steals. Soph PG Antoine "Doo Dirty" Brown was mostly powerless to counteract Franklin's backcourt strength. The Electrons kept stepping out to force him to start the offense 35 to 40 feet away. Then, others would make shaky decisions or take rushed shots. Antoine's big brother, sr. F Roosevelt "Ro Ro" Brown, missed his first six shots and went 3-for-17 total. He did go 5-for-5 at the line for 11 points. Antoine had six assists, showing great vision and needle-threading ability on several passes. Soph WG Keith Grimes finished with 18 points. Nine came in the last few minutes. One of these days (or seasons), this kid, a nephew of ex-Roman star Donnie Carr, will learn to take intelligent shots with his body squared to the basket and, man, will he be dangerous. Due to bus problems, Franklin's players took the Broad Street Subway to Southern.

DEC. 19
PUBLIC LEAGUE
Eng. and Science 72, Prep Charter 43
   My DN story focused on PC's Pub debut. Here we'll talk a little about E&S. Very little, actually, because the game wound up being non-competitive even though the first quarter was close (E&S led, 11-9). For one thing, the Engineers went 28-for-40 at the line. For others, they dominated the boards, forced numerous turnovers and almost never let PC set up for a comfortable shot. Sr. G Justin Scott did a nice job playing within the context. He didn't force anything and the best example of that was when he came down on a break, saw his path to the basket blocked and merely banked in about a 6-footer. Matthew Jefferson and Marvin Satchell had some good moments inside; admittedly, the interior was PC's weak spot. Sr. PG Andrew Hightower kept alternating between good plays to make his coach happy and shaky plays to drive his coach nuts. I think the good outnumbered the bad, but it was close (smile). Sr. G Lamont Matthews went 8-for-9 at the line. 6-9 Sr. C Tom Threatt, a lefty, saw a little playing time. He kept looking to be set up for alley-oop slams. It never happened. He did show a nice touch while sinking his two free throws. Our staff members will see E&S other times this season in more competitive settings.

DEC. 18
NON-LEAGUE
GAMP 67, Bodine 50
   I might not have seen these teams later in the season, so I figured, Ah, what the heck, I'll go see them both today. Was it great basketball? Of course not. These are lower echelon teams. Deep lower echelon, probably. But I still had fun and there were some decent moments. GAMP's first five does some nice things, but no one is taller than 6-2. Sr. PG Muneer "Mookie" Satterthwaite had 18 points and had a certain presence. Sr. WG Vinh Dip, said to be of Chinese descent, was athletic and never, ever got tired. He showed quick feet and hands and caused some trouble at the top of GAMP's zone. He covered lots of ground and didn't mind doing it. The only burly Pioneer, jr. C Michael Ballard, had 10 points. Soph SF Michael Brino totaled eight points, 10 rebounds and four assists. He did best along the baseline. Jr. F Chris Feggans is likely the team's best prospect. He is stuck on the inside because there are no other options, but he had the look of someone who could be effective out on the floor. He seemed to know how to play. He had 11 points, eight rebounds, three assists and seven steals. As some D-III coaches know, it is always wise to check out games involving the PL's academically strong schools. Often, the seniors are young for their grade because they've skipped along the way and GPAs/SATs are usually not a problem. Admittedly, it's hard to make projections, but the occasional find can be uncovered. Bodine's top performers were sr. WG Dennis Dicker -- he's said to have a subscription to the Wall Street Journal -- and sr. SF-PF Jason Osbourne. Dicker had a decent build. He played hard and drained three deep treys, one while falling out of bounds. Osbourne again and again used two or three quick dribbles to free himself for short jumpers. He got off his feet rather well, too. He shot just 4-for-13, though. He only jogged from end to end a few times. He's one of the few kids on his team with athleticism. He needs to add non-stop hustle and effort to realize his potential. Seeing some time at PG was soph Keith Gastearo, who is maybe 4-11, 85 pounds. That's just a guess, but he is tiny. Keith's father, Greg "Quack" Overton, was a good PG on quality teams at King. We had a nice talk before the game. Keith made several pinpoint passes (that weren't caught) and drained a three-pointer, causing Bodine's fans to go wild. Sr. F DeAndre Jones had eight points and eight boards.

DEC. 17
NON-LEAGUE
Roman 82, Dougherty 71
   Amar and I are splitting duties on this one. I'm handling Roman. Amar is doing Dougherty . . .
   Shed no tears for Roman. The Cahillites' cupboard is hardly bare. The headliner was 6-3 soph forward/manchild Charron Fisher, who bulled and bullied his way to 34 points and 14 rebounds. Fisher used his strength, long arms, positioning skills and great timing to score 34 points. He shot 13-for-20 and 8-for-12. Twice he soared above everyone to wolf down dunks on follows. You don't know how hard that is to do, especially for someone who's not in the 6-6, 6-7 range. Fisher toyed with the Cardinals in the first quarter, pouring in 15 points. Dougherty soph Shane Clark, though also a player of MUCH promise, was just no match for Fisher physically. The Cardinals had a little better success guarding Fisher in a zone, but he still had some impressive moments. Also impressive was soph WG Andre Sloan-El, who also has a future in FB (he started at QB this past season). Sloan-El drained four three-pointers en route to 15 points. He also had six assists. All four of the threes came in the first half and among the witnesses was Dallas Comegys, a Roman all-timer (class of 1983) who went on to star at DePaul, then played in the NBA and overseas. I went over to speak with Dallas and said to him, "You didn't know Rob Lawton was still playing for Roman, did you?" Lawton, like Sloan-El, was a long lefthanded sniper. Dallas said, "I know. He IS Rob. I just got off the phone with him. I told him that." Senior PG Tyree Wallace mixed 13 points and six assists in a strong overall performance. He's been waiting patiently (and sometimes not so patiently) for a chance to run the show and he looks primed to enjoy himself and play in capable fashion. I also liked sr. F Jon Duperon. He's quick off his feet and shows nice shooting form. He can step away from the basket, so he should prove to be a nice complement to Fisher. Mini-guards Kevin Hightower, a junior, and Bobby Jordan, a frosh, also had decent moments. Roman only has nine players on the varsity at the moment. Normally I'd be concerned, but this might be a good fit for this group. Guys know they'll receive playing time and there will be no backstabbing from third-stringers. Assorted college coaches were in attendance.

DEC. 16
NON-LEAGUE
Bartram 66, Neumann 63
   This one could have ratings implications for a while, as both teams should be contenders in their respective leagues, and Bartram made a statement by winning on the road. The game ended as soph G Richard "Tabby" Cunningham misfired on a trey from a shade to the left of the top of the key. Sr. G-F Richard Francis had provided the three-point lead at 15.7 by converting a one-and-one. Francis sat for the first quarter because he arrived later than he should have, but he finished with 20 points. He shot 6-for-14 total, 3-for-5 on treys and 5-for-5 at the line. This kid is a more athletic version of 2001 Gratz star Michael Cuffee, who happened to be in attendance (home for the holidays from junior college). Francis had a steal and three-quarters court drive for a jump-through-the-basket dunk, putting Bartram ahead for good, 61-60, with 2:59 left. 6-8 jr. C Jason Cain often showed quick feet to free himself for low-block baskets off drives. He's as quick as any small forward; even as quick as some guards. Once he gets a little stronger and learns better how to absorb contact, watch out! Jr. G-F Bryant Leach had 11 rebounds and settled for eight points. Jr. F Khalil Abdus-Salaam had nine boards, but shot just 2-for-10. Jr. PG Charles Jones did a better job of running the team physically (11 assists). I still want to see him be more authoritative verbally and emotionally. PGs are supposed to be coaches on the floor!! Freshman F Daziah Miller scored eight points in the second quarter, but did not return. I was reasonably impressed by the Buccos. They played especially hard on defense and used patience for some good looks on offense. A little better shooting from the usually reliable Chris Del Brocco, a sr. WG (3-for-9 on treys, no twos), and Neumann would have succeeded. Cunningham (20 points) split time between the point and wing. I found this interesting and, honestly, I was impressed with jr. PG Antwain Wynn. The lefty was strong with the ball and had a great feel, leaving Cunningham to knife to the hoop from the wing and act as a PG from the wing, so to speak. Sr. WG Kenny Fulton played with confidence and energy. He made some big shots. Soph F Adon El had 11 points and seven rebounds. Jr. F Kevin Lauer had six points and four blocks. Amar and Duck were also in attendance. Every time Francis knocked down a deep jumper, Amar exclaimed, "People say this kid can't shoot. I don't get it. Look at him. Tell me he can't shoot."

DEC. 13
NORTH CATHOLIC TOURNAMENT
West Catholic 68, McDevitt 47
   The scorebooks were furiously flipping back and forth at one end of North Catholic's gym as right in a row were Huck, Amar and me. I'm handling the West end. Amar's doing the McDevitt end. Huck might do an expose on the refs. Just kidding. I liked the Burrs. Coach Bill Ludlow has them playing hard and they seem to be buying into his use-everybody system. I'm pretty sure 14 players were used in the first half alone. Jr. PG Kevin Williams went 3-for-4 on treys, showing perfect shooting form and elevation. Jr. WG Victor O'Connor was a gnat on defense and also did a nice job passing. Jr. F Brandon Weston exhibited to-kill-for body control on forays through the lane and once curled in a reverse layup in traffic. Huck and I immediately looked at each other with raised eyebrows, as in "Whoa, that was something else!" Like my colleagues, who'd seen him earlier, I also enjoyed my first look at soph F Marshall Taylor, whose father, Marshall, was an outstanding, tougher-than-dirt PG for Southern in the mid-1980s. This Marshall is smooth and talented. He's still feeling his way to some degree, but he had 12 points and seven rebounds and calmly drained consecutive treys in the third quarter. His best moment, though, came late in the period. In transition, he took the ball hard down the lane and used his left (off) hand to easily flip in a layup. Up went the eyebrows again.

DEC. 13
NON-LEAGUE
Straw. Mansion 79, Penn 48
   Not much was expected, not much was received. Because star G Mustafa Shakur transferred to Friends' Central and some other respectable players are hurt, academically ineligible and/or in trouble with the law, Penn is severely undermanned. Jr. WG Maureece Rice led Mansion with 29 points. He still looks chunky, but appears to be a shade stronger. Again and again he scored on step-slow moves, employing his wonderful body control and knack for making defenders look stupid. He shot 12-for-21 overall, 1-for-6 on treys and 4-for-5 at the line. All five free throws came on and-ones; he basically ignores contact and finishes plays. When 'Reece misses a jumpshot, the ball is almost always short. That tells me he needs to use his legs a shade more or make sure his conditioning improves. St. Joe's assistant Matt Brady was among the observers. Sr. G Aaron Brown did some very athletic things en route to 16 points. If not for a foul, he would have had an out-of-nowhere dunk that people would have talked about for weeks. Great explosion off the floor!! He had a smooth jumper as well. The two main inside players, sr. Dawud Morris and jr. Delton Morgan-Hines, are thin but slinky. The subs saw ample playing time. Three players showed well for Penn. F Anthony Harper (sr. eligible) was active around the basket and quick off his feet. He even stepped out and drained a trey. Jr. PG Chris Parker, a lefty, was impressive. He had a knack for pulling up very quickly on jumpers and still giving the appearance (mostly) that he was under control. He made some nice passes, too. With Penn already far behind, Parker hustled and dove and battled and tied up a Mansion player for a loose ball. Penn's fans and cheerleaders (must have been 30 of them) went wild in appreciation. Freshman Albert Denby was very similiar to Parker. They form a decent backcourt.

DEC. 11
NON-LEAGUE
Bok 55, Mastbaum 48
   The season is very early, of course, but the second best PG I've seen so far (behind Southern soph Antoine Brown) is Bok sr. Leroy Byrd. He's an excellent ballhandler, very quick and a true floor leader. The 5-9 Byrd darted through traffic for three first quarter baskets and caught my attention. He did nothing to lose it the rest of the game. He finished with 22 points and four assists and it was his steady play that enabled the Wildcats to prevail on the road. Byrd is on target to graduate and will make someone very happy. Coach Lloyd Jenkins believes Byrd could play at the lower end of D-I. I'd have to see him more often to concur, but the kid can play. Jr. G Akeem Green, who prefers to be known as "Feathers" only during football season, also had some nice moments. He had 11 points and five assists and helped Byrd with handlin' duties. He, too, is quick. Bulky 6-2 jr. F John Brown never got into a flow and spent large chunks of time on the bench. QB Kareem Jeffreys, who lined up at F, claimed 11 rebounds and scored four points. Sr. F Richard Stephens had two swooping moves, but his playing time came in bursts because he tended to do things to draw Jenkins' wrath. If this kid can maintain his focus, watch out. Mastbaum was without its top player, 6-4 sr. Keith Peel (foot injury; he'll return to action later this week), and 6-3 jr. F James Robbins saw his time severely limited by fouls. He showed some slinky tendencies while scoring 11 points. Sr. Gs Hassan Pembleton and Kevin Leonard (16 points) were very aggressive and fearless, and the latter played instense defense in man-to-man situations (he even had an open-court strip vs. Byrd). Soph G Marion Rose had a good presence off the bench. He moved well, stayed out of his more experienced teammates' way and shot 4-for-7 for nine points. Sr. F Maurice Montgomery generated a loud response when he came into the game. When I asked coach Ralph "Bones" Schneider, "Why'd the fans go nuts for him?" the response was, "Because he's nuts!" Chris DeShields and about a dozen other Mastbaum FB players were in attendance. They razzed Jeffreys, Green and Hunter about Mastbaum's 12-6 win in the quarterfinals, and then both sides had a friendly discussion after the game. It was nice to see the guys interact without getting vicious. Everybody was laughing as the talking ended. Some of the guys will be teammates in the City All-Star Game.

DEC. 10
NON-LEAGUE
Bartram 74, Franklin 58
   It was bad enough that the teams combined to shoot 53 free throws. It was worse that they combined to miss 34!! Incredible. The game was very rag-tag and, like always at Franklin, there were scoreboard/clock problems. Made for a long 32 minutes. The best part was witnessing how much better Bartram 6-3 sr. F Richard Francis has become. He is very fluid and explosive and he's able to get off his shot in tight spaces. He'll need prep school. He shot 9-for-18 en route to 20 points. Jr. F Khalil Abdus-Salaam experienced early foul trouble and got it rolling slightly in the third quarter. Jr. C Jason Cain, listed at 6-8 (legitimately, it appears), showed very good feet and respectable ballhandling skills. He went around defenders more than once. Jumped well, too. The Braves rarely set him up, though. Jr. PG Charles Jones had 15 points, but he struggled overall. His team desperately needs him to run the show, but he looked a shade too carefree and unfocused. As the season progresses, I could see jr. WG Bryant Leach (brother of Bobby, last year's star) getting more of a shot at being the leader. Bryant has strong overall skills. Franklin coach Larry Gainey, a Bartram grad, used many players in numerous combinations. Jr. Darnell Corbitt is now a WG in hopes of getting him more scoring opportunities. He got a shot whenever he wanted one, but went just 6-for-18. He routinely blew past defenders. But his shot is still a push most often and his rotation is poor. I wish he'd fix the problem now. He's too good to have such fundamentally poor form. The starting PG is jr. Brian Smith, son of former Pooh Richardson Era star Brian "Sugar Bear" Smith. Dad was a shooter. Son is a flashy passer and has a nice feel for how to play. Frosh G-F Andre Glover, a lefty, has the look of a great one-on-one player. We'll see how he adapts to playing in a system. Franklin's extra-small lineup, complete with pressure, caused Bartram problems in the second quarter. But as the third quarter started, the press was nowhere to be seen and Bartram found a comfort zone, scoring a quick eight points to take command at 41-28. The game went downhill from there.

DEC. 9
NON-LEAGUE
O'Hara 57, Judge 55
   Judge had three shots apiece on two possessions in the final 10 seconds and failed to connect on any, so it truly had no complaints -- even though 6-2 sr. WG Ryan Haigh was absolutely hammered on a follow with 5.9 left. Haigh shone brightly in the loss, shooting 10-for-18 (3-for-6 on threes) and 2-for-2 for 25 points. His body has good elasticity and he mostly plays under control. One sure sign that coach Bill Fox has faith in Haigh: He ordered some late-game clearouts and let Haigh create by himself on one side. D-III schools should be coming after him heavily. He might prove to be D-II worthy. He looks young and has room to add muscle. Haigh poured in 11 points in the first three minutes of the fourth quarter on an assortment of tough moves and an open trey. O'Hara has decent guards, too, so I doubt his heroics were a fluke. For O'Hara, two of the top seven players -- sr. F Ted Rydesky and sr. G Mark Barrar -- were out with injuries, so coach Buddy Gardler had to be happy with the win. O'Hara's statisticians had the Lions with just four turnovers. Jr. PG Craig Haywood shot 4-for-5 for nine points and did a nice job running the squad. Sr. WG Harry Dougherty, taunted non-stop by four members of Judge's Abyss, had a shaky first half, shooting 0-for-4 and 1-for-4 for one measly point. (He did have several in-and-outs.) In the second half, shooting at the basket behind which Goose, Fat Ringo, Lou Dilonardo and Chris "Lemme Write for the Site" Banks were perched, he sniped 4-for-4 on treys! And loved doing it. Sr. Chris Grandieri shot 8-for-15 (2-for-4 on treys) and 1-for-1 for 19 points. A few times, he shook a defender well enough to free himself, but then fell back on his shot and left the ball short. It's interesting to see how some of O'Hara's subs react to Grandieri. When they see that he's open beyond the arc and about to shoot, they begin to rise in anticipation of seeing a 3-ball. Yet another SG, Ryan Cleary, handled scrapiness and dig-down defense and hit a foul-line jumper to make it 57-55. Sr. twin Fs Pat and Steve Baylor shared the inside spot. Pat had 10 points (mostly on opportunity follows) and five rebounds. Aside from Haigh, Judge received significant contributions only from soph F John King, who recently transferred from Dougherty. He showed a feathery touch while scoring 14 points. A few times he pushed the ball instead of shooting it. He moved well to open spots and seemed to blend well his teammates. Former O'Hara basketball-baseball star Jeff Randazzo, a rising pitcher in the Twins' system, was in attendance. O'Hara's scorekeeper was star shortstop Mike Essery. When I took Judge's team photo, the players were all buzzing about how one of them had a hickey/passion mark, whatever you call them, on his neck. Let's see if it shows up in the picture -- smile.

DEC. 8
NON-LEAGUE
Gtn. Academy 54, Carroll 42
   The older I get, the less patience I have. I left the gym disappointed, even angry, that a potentially great game had turned into a wrestling match. This game was way too physical, especially from Carroll's end, and it never came close to reaching a flow. The crowd was pretty good, but as soon as the issue became decided with 2:30 left, when a layup by sr. WG Matt Walsh, a Florida signee, gave GA a 52-38 lead, capping a 10-0 run, there was a mass exodus. Undoubtedly, most of the departing folks were thinking, "Why'd I stay so long? That game hurt my eyes." Kashif Payne, Carroll's outstanding jr. PG, was held out supposedly because he missed the preset arrival time for all players. Interestingly, one of GA's players did not arrive until late in the JV game and was permitted to play. Payne's absence meant soph G Mike Springman had to play the point. He tried hard (and he worked like crazy guarding Walsh), but Carroll's offense never got in sync. I'm pretty sure Carroll had just one field goal from more than 10 feet. Also, the Patriots had nine first quarter turnovers! Walsh shot 6-for-17 (one trey) and 7-for-11 for 20 points. He made a couple of impressive dribble drives and showed dexterity by using his left hand on occasion. Sr. F Lee Melchionni started fast, making his first five shots (two treys) for 12 points. He then missed his nine shots, though, before adding a layup to make it 46-38. That basket completed a nice sequence involving all three of GA's D-I signees. Sr. C Ted Skuchas (Vanderbilt) blocked a shot (he had four blocks, eight rebounds and he scored on a lefthanded jump hook), threw an outlet to Walsh and Walsh fired ahead to Melchionni. Sr. PG Jeff Curtin several times agitated coach Jim Fenerty with shaky decisions, and was yanked from the game. He'll be fine in time, I'm sure. Soph WG Larry Sharp must be one of those born-shooter types. He hit two threes and showed no hesitation in taking them. Frosh F Brian Grimes did some little things. This isn't his time to star, as I'm sure he knows. For Carroll, jr. C Jordan Ingram collected 19 points and 15 rebounds. All eight of Springman's points came on free throws. Sr. F Evan Dittler went hard to the basket and scored nine points. Soph G Matt Chambers matched Springman in the hustle department. I liked what little I saw of frosh F-C Kenny Tribbett, who's probably 6-7 or 6-8. He showed very good footwork while freeing himself for an up-and-under move. Jr. F-C Sean McKeon, listed at 6-9, sank about an 8-foot jumper in the lane. He saw limited action. Late in the game, some Carroll students chanted, "Overrated! Overrated!" GA's responded, "You're not rated! You're not rated!'

DEC. 7
NON-LEAGUE
Bonner 55, Wood 52
   Amauro and I watched this one together. I'm handling the Bonner part; Amar's doing the Wood part. There was an interesting dynamic at work where the FB players were concerned. Wood's FB players, linemen Brian Gallagher and Jim Crompton, were deemed not ready for basketball and never got off th bench. Bonner's FB players, skill players all, made important contributions. Jr. G Chris Eccles, a DB, helped hound Wood star Mike Spadafora into 4-for-18 shooting and had four steals. Sr. G Kevin LeSage, a WR-DB, also played Spadafora for spells and had three assists. Jr. G Mike Shalon (I'm not sure if he plays football, but he mentioned that he wants the baseball e-mails to again be allowed on the site -- smile) went scoreless, but was also very aggressive on defense. He posted four steals and four assists as well. Bonner's best player was 6-3 sr. F Anthony Bennett. The Cabrinis of the world should be on this kid hard. He's a staunch defender, has long arms and isn't afraid to mix it up. He shot 5-for-7 and 5-for-9 for 15 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and had six blocks. By later in the season, he might be deserving of D-II looks. Sr. WG Matt Kearney hit five threes in the first half for 15 points, then mostly stepped back. I have no doubt that Kearney is a competitive kid, but he is so quiet on the court. I wish he would demand the ball more often and be more demonstrative. I have no doubt his teammates would respect that and feed off it. Anyway, he hit two free throws to put the Friars ahead for good, 49-48, with 0:57 left. Eccles then made a quick steal and feed to 6-3 soph F Randy Reid for an easy bucket. I couldn't form much of an opinion on sr. C Vince "Call Me 6-8" Taraborrelli. He was in deep foul trouble and was limited to three points and three rebounds. Bonner coach Jim "Goose" Welde told me Vince had an excellent fall, so we'll hopefully see good things from him later. Sr. G Badir McCleary, a potential headliner, kept Bonner's scorebook. He had a minor problem in school and will return to action Sunday.

DEC. 7
NON-LEAGUE
Central 69, Engineering and Science 28
   Yes, that was the final score. Hard to believe, right? E&S should be decent this year, but the Engineers gave off an odor in this one. Team leader Justin Scott, a sr. combo G, didn't score until late in the third quarter and finished with a misleading 10 points. Even he'd admit they meant nothing. E&S has no true PG -- neither does Central, for that matter -- and it had loads of trouble getting into a flow. Sr. combo G Sharif Bray had 14 points for Central and did a nice job making penetration. He went 2-for-4 on treys. Sr. Khalif Leek also handled the point on occasion. He had 11 points. Central scored at least eight rebound baskets. Someone would drive and miss and a teammate would come right behind and get a field goal on an easy tip-in. Central's whole roster is guards and small forwards. But the Lancers, at least in this one, were effective in transition. Sr. G Khary Kenyatta shot 5-for-6 for 10 points. Jr. G Darnell Johnson shot 3-for-5 on treys en route to 12 points. In the last few minutes, the energized, turnaway crowd at Central -- there are stands only on one side, so we're not exactly talking 10,000 -- enjoyed watching popular jr. G Armen Henderson pump away to his heart's content. He probably played no more than 2 1/2 minutes, but launched six shots. Two treys swished, so he finished with six points. E&S soph Michael Ganier, who has the face of a fifth grader and the body of a seventh grader, dug in nicely on defense. He hounded Bray with all his energy. A fan held up a sign that read, "No need to pray, when you got Sharif Bray," Late in the game there was a terrific "intensity sequence." E&S sub G Lloyd Pettus got down in a stance, put a scowl on his face, mirrored Darnell Johnson's every move for maybe 5 seconds and stripped the ball. Pettus went in for a drive and -- bam! -- Johnson came out of nowhere and blocked the shot. The crowd LOVED both plays.