National Prep Showcase Recap
LOWELL, Mass. – The National Prep Showcase took place about 30 miles north of Boston and featured 19 prep schools from across the country. It marks the unofficial kickoff of the prep school season, and as such is the first proving ground for the schools ranked in a national preseason prep school poll voted on by several writers who cover high school basketball. (Full disclosure: I am one of the voters.)
To that end, six of the games were matchups between top 10 teams in the poll. That means the matchups were quality ones, and we also got an early feel on where some of these teams belong right now, although the season is very young.
The event was well-run all the way around, and to boot, the first game of each day was a good matchup. Sunday’s opener between Worcester Academy and Lee Academy was the only overtime game of the weekend.
Friday Scoreboard
Massanutten Military Academy 71, St. Thomas More 59
Notre Dame Prep 75, Fork Union Military Academy 71
Summit Prep 74, Maine Central Institute 59
Hargrave Military Academy 83, Winchendon School 73
Patterson School 75, Bridgton Academy 69
Saturday Scoreboard
Maine Central Institute 67, Massanutten Military Academy 61
Hargrave Military Academy 102, Notre Dame Prep 93
St. Thomas More 85, Lee Academy 70
Brewster Academy 100, Fork Union Military Academy 84
American Christian 89, Winchendon School 85
Northfield Mount Hermon 74, Champlain St. Lambert 61
Patterson School 84, New Hampton Prep 60
Bridgton Academy 74, Summit Prep 66
Findlay College Prep 93, South Kent School 67
Sunday Scoreboard
Worcester Academy 66, Lee Academy 64 (2 OT)
Patterson School 87, Brewster Academy 76
Champlain St. Lambert 74, Tilton School 70
American Christian 99, Northfield Mount Hermon 67
Summit Prep 86, South Kent School 83
Findlay College Prep 69, New Hampton Prep 60
Patterson Looks Like the Best
Even without three of their top prospects, the Patterson School swept through their weekend with three wins, two coming against teams also ranked in the preseason top 10. That shows how deep the team is, as well as how the players who were present came together and played.
Friday night, they held off a Bridgton Academy team that isn’t loaded with big-time talent but is well-coached and looks to have good chemistry. The players who shined were Mathiang Muo (6’6″ Sr. SF), who had a double-double with 17 points on 7-9 shooting and 13 rebounds, as well as leaper Darius Johnson-Odom (6’1″ Sr. PG-SG) with a team-high 18 points.
On Saturday, they cruised to an 84-60 win over New Hampton Prep. Big man Freddy Asprilla (6’10” Sr. PF-C) had a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds to lead the way, while Varez Ward (6’3″ Sr. PG-SG) added 11 points on 5-7 shooting and capably ran the show better than his two assists would suggest. Asprilla moves his big body very well and used that to his advantage inside. Ward is more of a scorer than a shooter, and he generally does a good job of knowing when to call his own number.
They finished their weekend with an 87-76 win over Brewster Academy where they were in control for much of the game. Muo completed a solid weekend with another double-double of 18 points and 10 rebounds, while Johnson-Odom had 16 and five assists.
The Best He’s Played
I haven’t always been impressed with American Christian star guard Tyreke Evans (6’5″ Sr. SG). While he clearly boasts a great deal of talent in being able to handle the ball and score with his 6’5″ frame, he hasn’t always made good decisions with the ball, has often forced plays too much and has looked like a player who gets his points no matter how many shots it takes. Additionally, he’s an interesting prospect to project: he’s clearly not a floor leader, but he’s not very good at moving without the ball for the shooting guard spot. In short, in all of my viewing of him, there hasn’t been a time where if I had never seen him before that I’d come away thinking he’s one of the top three players in the class of 2008.
On Saturday, all of that went out the window as Evans played a terrific game in his team’s 89-85 win over Winchendon. He looked every bit a stud as he went for 32 points on 12-22 shooting and had five assists and six steals. For good measure, he made several clutch baskets and didn’t really force plays.
Evans sat out Sunday’s game with a knee injury, but his team cruised by a 99-67 margin. Saturday’s effort was clearly enough to impress all by itself.
Hargrave Can’t Run Away From Winchendon
Early on in Hargrave Military Academy’s 83-73 win over Winchendon, it looked like the Tigers would run away with it. They built a big early lead and still led by 12 at the half, but you got the feeling that the Tigers had this one all the way.
But in the second half, Winchendon’s Larry Anderson (6’5″ Sr. SF) was the best player on the floor and led a comeback to make it a ballgame. Anderson finished with a game-high 29 points, scoring often in transition and showing an occasional touch on jumpers.
The Tigers’ backcourt duo of Marshall-bound Damier Pitts (5’11” Sr. PG) and Mississippi State-bound Dee Bost (6’1″ Sr. PG-SG) were the big reason for the win, as they were too much for the Winchendon guards to handle. The duo has played together in AAU and their familiarity with one another is clearly evident in watching them play together now. Pitts went for 22 points and added eight assists and three steals, while Bost had 17 points and three steals.
Helping the duo was Dexter Moore (6’2″ Sr. SG), a Coastal Carolina signee who scored 12 points on 5-6 shooting off the bench.
Tigers Follow Up With Big Win
Expectations were high for Saturday’s second game of the day, which had Notre Dame Prep taking on the loaded Hargrave team. The game lived up to its billing as it was a dandy throughout, with the Tigers taking home another win, a 102-93 decision in a game that was tied at halftime.
As was the case on Friday, the Tigers’ guards were the key. Bost (28) and Pitts (27) combined for more than half of their points, and Chris Braswell’s 24 points gave the Tigers 79 from their top three scorers in the game. The dynamic duo went a combined 17-32 from the field, while Braswell added 13 rebounds.
Not to be outdone, Missouri signee Kim English (6’5″ Sr. SG-SF) led Notre Dame Prep with 30 points and eight rebounds, continuing his excellent play in recent months. He was scoring consistently throughout the game and helped by fellow Baltimore native Johnny Higgins (6’2″ Sr. PG), who had 22 points and nine assists but also had nine turnovers.
Findlay Also Impresses
The final game of the long Saturday was a much-anticipated matchup between Findlay College Prep and the South Kent School. Both teams are ranked in the preseason top 10 and both are deep and talented.
South Kent looked to be in control for much of the first half, but Clarence Trent (6’8″ Jr. PF) and Findlay took over in the second half. They didn’t have one large run, but they steadily took the lead, opened it up and before you knew it, they won going away by a 93-67 margin.
Trent, a very athletic and energetic forward, took over in the second half, as he was around the ball often, especially on the offensive glass, and ran the floor for baskets as well. He scored 15 of his 22 points in the second half and finished with 13 rebounds.
Five other players scored in double figures for Findlay, showing their depth. Jorge Gutierrez (6’2″ Sr. PG) had 14 points and three assists with no turnovers, Florida State-bound Deividas Dulkys (6’4″ Sr. PG-SG) had 13 points and five assists, big man Brice Massamba (6’10” Sr. PF-C) added 11 and Cal State Fullerton-bound Jacques Streeter (6’1″ Sr. PG) and Kentucky-bound DeAndre Liggins (6’6″ Sr. SG-SF) each had 10.
On Sunday, the Pilots trailed for much of the game against New Hampton Prep, but came on late in the second half to pull it out. Liggins impressed with 21 points and nine assists, while Trent was limited to nine points but had 12 rebounds.
Ebanks Has Help
Indiana signee Devin Ebanks (6’8″ Sr. SF) is unquestionably the marquee player for St. Thomas More. He’s shown throughout his career that he has a great array of scoring skills to go with his athleticism and is one of the elite players in the class.
On Saturday, Ebanks had another big game with 25 points, 10 rebounds and five assists as St. Thomas More beat Lee Academy 85-70. But he had good help inside, most of it coming from T.J. Robinson (6’7″ Sr. SF-PF).
The fifth-year senior went for 21 points and 16 rebounds in the win, making a number of key plays to score on stickbacks and in a variety of ways as he usually does. He doesn’t have a defined game, but he finds a way to score within 15 feet of the basket and did knock down a couple of long jumpers on Saturday as well. While not overly athletic or strong, he gets the job done and has put up decent numbers when the game is over even though he might not jump out at you. Robinson also went for 13 points and 13 rebounds in Friday’s opener.
More help came inside as Branden Doughty (6’8″ Sr. PF) scored six points and grabbed six rebounds in 11 minutes on Saturday. He’s active, athletic and has a nose for the ball, which was on display in this game.
The best perimeter player on the day for the Chancellors was point guard Eric Waterford (6’0″ Sr. PG), who had seven assists to go with six points and six rebounds. Waterford is another who might not stand out, but he played a solid game all around.
Trey Not Feeling Blue in Brewster’s Win
Brewster Academy looked poised to run Fork Union Military Academy off the floor in Saturday’s win. They ran out to a 16-2 lead and were consistently turning steals and unforced turnovers into fast break baskets. The Bobcats simply looked to be too much: too athletic, too talented, too good.
But the Blue Devils made it a ballgame, getting within five late in the first half and rallying again in the second half on a couple of occasions before running out of gas. The big bright spot was point guard Dominic Stafford-King, a heady player who went for 15 points.
For Brewster, guard Trey Blue (6’3″ Sr. SG) had a big game knocking down jumpers. He went for 27 points on 9-18 shooting, including 4-11 from behind the arc in one of the top performances of the day.
Blue wasn’t the same in Sunday’s loss to Patterson, scoring just seven points on 2-11 shooting. The player who put up the big numbers there was Givon Crump (6’7″ Jr. SF), who had 24 points on 9-13 shooting and added eight rebounds. Mark Lyons (6’1″ Sr. PG-SG) had a nice stat line with 15 points, seven rebounds and eight assists, but he was 6-18 from the field and again made his share of questionable decisions with the ball.
Dezouvre Leads Talented Cast From Canada
Rhode Island-bound Randy Dezouvre (6’4″ Sr. SG-SF) was the most impressive player for Champlain St. Lambert this weekend. He’s athletic, very active, plays bigger and gets his share of rebounds from the wing. With the way Jim Baron has the “Runnin’ Rams” going, Dezouvre should be a perfect fit in their system.
Dezouvre went for 16 points and nine rebounds in Saturday’s loss to Northfield Mount Hermon. In Sunday’s win over Tilton Academy, he came up big all around with 22 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists. He had good help in that game from shooter Niko Cochran (6’2″ Jr. SG), who had 19 points on 7-12 shooting, including 3-5 from behind the arc. Helping inside was Eric Williams (6’8″ Sr. PF), who will be a nice pickup for Niagara. Williams had 14 points on 7-10 shooting and grabbed eight rebounds.
Oriakhi Wants It
The only question about Tilton junior post player Alex Oriakhi (6’8″ Jr. PF) is how hard he plays. He has all the tools to be a dominant player, but he can be soft at times and doesn’t always dominate the way he should.
In his team’s loss on Sunday, Oriakhi showed signs of changing that as he played well at both ends. He had 19 points, eight rebounds and four blocked shots, but a lot of the points came in the first half as the Rams didn’t get him the ball enough. Teammate Jamal Coombs (6’6″ Jr. SF) had 23 points to lead the way and hauled down eight rebounds.
Other Players of Note
Central Connecticut signee Chris Baskerville (6’6″ Sr. PF) had a big game in Lee Academy’s overtime loss to Worcester Academy to begin Sunday. The undersized power forward went for 36 points on 16-25 shooting and 12 rebounds, scoring often on fast breaks. That he scored in transition as much as he did is a sign of how athletic he is in addition to being strong and out-working bigger players. He could be the second coming of Obie Nwadike for CCSU. Teammate Samer Jassar (6’9″ Sr. PF), an intriguing prospect, had a quiet double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
In the same big game for Baskerville, Worcester Academy’s Austin Carroll (6’3″ Jr. SG) quietly had a nice game with 27 points and eight rebounds, while teammate Ben Crenca (6’9″ Jr. PF) had a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
Dominic Stafford-King (6’0″ Sr. PG) had a nice showing in Fork Union’s loss to Brewster Academy on Saturday. A low-major prospect, he went for 33 points on 11-23 shooting, a day after he went for 19 points. His nine turnovers in Saturday’s game are a concern, but he can certainly score from the point, is heady and competes every second he’s on the floor. Teammate Anthony Ervin (6’3″ Sr. SG) had a quiet double-double on Saturday with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
While his teammates racked up the points, Anthony Crater (6’2″ Sr. PG) racked up the assists for Brewster Academy in impressive fashion. In Sunday’s loss, the Ohio State signee had 11 assists to go with two points.
Bridgton’s most impressive player was Cardell McFarland (6’1″ Sr. SG), who went for 21 points on Friday along with eight rebounds and six assists. On Saturday, he went for 17 to lead the way. Also giving a good showing was Isiah Wallace (6’3″ Sr. SG-SF), a skilled guard who’s not very athletic but has some skills. He went for 16 points on 7-8 shooting Friday night, grabbing seven rebounds as well. Then on Saturday, he had 11 points and six rebounds.
Radford signed a good one in Aaron Austin (6’3″ Sr. PG-SG), who impressed for Massanutten Military Academy in their two games. On Friday, he had a game-high 26 points on 10-13 shooting and handed out nine assists, then followed that up with 18 more points and eight more assists on Saturday.
Mike Marra (6’5″ Jr. SG) struggled shooting the ball for Northfield Mount Hermon, with teammate David Rufful (6’5″ Sr. SG) shining on Saturday with 18 points including 4-6 shooting from long range. Marra is a nice athlete who has improved his game off the dribble, as he’s been known primarily for his shooting.
