National Prep Showcase – Friday Notes

NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The first day of the National Prep Showcase is in the books.  Six games were on tap, and while two were good ones the other four were blowouts.  A few good performances highlighted the day, and an anticipated matchup lived up to its billing.  Eight games will be on tap Saturday, but first we take a look back at the opening day.

Friday Scoreboard

Oakdale (CT) St. Thomas More 90, Lee (ME) Academy 69

Chatham (VA) Hargrave Military Academy 87, Fitchburg (MA) Notre Dame Prep 80

South Kent (CT) School 105, Charlotte (NC) Mack Academy 96

Winchendon (MA) School 90, Woodstock (VA) Massanutten Military Academy 54

Wilbraham (MA) & Monson Academy 58, Proctor (NH) Academy 40

Northfield (MA) Mount Hermon 72, Fork Union (VA) Military Academy 45

Honor Roll

Bryon Allen, St. Thomas More: 20 points on 8-10 shooting, 6 assists

Lorenzo Brown, Hargrave Military Academy: 20 points on 7-11 shooting, 11 assists

Namanja Djurisic, South Kent: 18 points, 12 rebounds

J.J. Moore, South Kent: 29 points, 7 rebounds

Calvin Newell, Mack Academy: 28 points on 11-13 shooting, 4 assists

Lamont Samuels, Notre Dame Prep: 24 points on 10-16 shooting, four steals

Russell Smith, South Kent: 25 points, 8 assists

Top Sophomore Returns to Action

Andre Drummond (6′10″ So. PF, Middletown (CT)) missed much of the past two months after suffering a stress fracture that required surgery.  Although he has now been practicing for over two weeks and has already played in a game, you could see the effect of missing the time with regard to how he meshed with teammates as he was never able to play in an open gym with the team in September and October.  He seemed to be feeling the game out during limited first half minutes, but was much better in the second half.

Drummond’s numbers won’t grab attention – he had eight points on 4-6 shooting – but he said he feels good with no ill effects.  He also stayed home on the inside, for the most part, showing good post scoring moves.

Hargrave Wins Best Game of the Day

Although the game right after it was a good one, the matchup of Hargrave Military Academy and Notre Dame Prep was billed as one of the best matchups here.  It’s fair to say it lived up to its billing, with Hargrave taking home the victory by a score of 87-80.

Notre Dame Prep had a 50-40 edge on the boards, although it felt like they had a bigger edge, and led on a number of occasions despite trailing 40-32 at the half.  As the game got going, so did Lorenzo Brown (6′5″ Sr. PG-SG, Roswell (GA)), who finished with 20 points on 7-11 shooting and handed out 11 assists.  The North Carolina State signee was one of the more impressive players on the day and had a hand in many plays during the second half when they would come back from deficits or put the game away.

Hargrave also got a nice game from Mardracus Wade (6′3″ Sr. SG, Memphis (TN), who had 15 points.  The Arkansas-bound guard has some length and his body isn’t there yet, and on a couple of occasions he was able to poke the ball away for a steal or to snuff out a fast break.

South Kent Starts Slow, Finishes Strong

South Kent head coach Kelvin Jefferson was, in a light-hearted way, a little taken aback by the choice of words to describe his team’s start, as he didn’t think “slow” sufficed.  The Cardinals fell behind early as Charlotte, NC-based Mack Academy impressed early on and even led by two at halftime.  After the early deficit, they came to life and eventually took home a 105-96 win.

Not many people knew about Mack Academy, but in the early going players like Calvin Newell (6′1″ Sr. PG, Wallingford (PA)), Alex Lubsey (6′6″ Sr. SF-PF, Jamaica) and Isiah Stokely (6′3″ Sr. SG, Jamaica (NY)) gave the impression they would be well worth watching.  Newell is an aggressive and athletic guard who played a terrific game, while Stokley has a good body and a better motor and Lubsey is the “potential” player in the group has he’s long, a baby physically and a live body.

Leading the charge for South Kent were guards, although a wing was and is their best player.  Pittsburgh signee J.J. Moore (6′6″ Sr. SF, Brentwood (NY)) was solid throughout the game, keeping the Cardinals in it early before his teammates caught up with him.  Then recent Louisville commit Russell Smith (6′1″ Sr. PG-SG, Brooklyn (NY)) came alive with a series of driving baskets and trips to the free throw line, where he was 1-12, and Danny Lawhorn (5′11″ Sr. PG, Hartford (CT)) changed the game with his constant driving and dishing to take advantage of his quickness.

Three More Teams Barely Break a Sweat

Winchendon, Wilbraham & Monson and Northfield Mount Hermon all rolled to victories in the last three games of the day.  Four players scored in double figures for Winchendon, although no one scored more than the 13 points that Akeem Williams (5′10″ Sr. PG, Brockton (MA)) had as the scoring was spread out.  Wilbraham & Monson never looked back after a fast start against Proctor Academy, while Northfield Mount Hermon got an early second-half charge from Fork Union Military Academy that they withstood before breaking the game open.

Other Notes

• In St. Thomas More’s win, Bryon Allen (6′3″ Sr. PG-SG, Upper Marlboro (MD)) got plenty of the attention in his 20-point, six assist effort, but Matt Conway (6′7″ Sr. SF-PF, Sarasota (FL)) had a nice shooting afternoon, going 8-11 from the field and making both of his three-point attempts en route to a team-high 20 points.

• Richmond Vilde (6′9″ Sr. PF, Riga (Latvia)) impressed in the losing effort for Lee Academy, showing a good face-up game and some moves near the basket. The SMU-bound forward had 16 points on 7-11 shooting.

• Jarvis Davis (6′1″ Sr. PG, Columbia (SC)) impressed at the point guard spot for Hargrave Military Academy. He’s very quick and got to the basket several times on drives in going for 15 points on 6-8 shooting.

• Recent Connecticut commit Cleveland Melvin (6′8″ Sr. PF, Baltimore (MD)) continues to get better, and he had 10 points and nine rebounds in the losing effort for Notre Dame Prep. Don’t look at the numbers in evaluating him; watch him play and you can see the strides he has made, as he’s proving to be better when the game slows down after looking like mainly a transition player.

• Winchendon had a 40-20 rebounding edge, shot just under 64 percent from the field and held Massanutten Military Academy below 39 percent. The numbers were so balanced among the individuals that just about no stats really leap out at you, indicative of the team effort.

• While Fork Union was unable to sustain its early second half rally, Tom Rogers (6′6″ Sr. SF, Farmville (VA)) ended with a fine game. He led the charge early in the second half and showed a good shooting touch to go with good size.