CHELSEA, Mass. – Some notes on Sunday’s action at the BABC Prep Classic at Chelsea High School.
- Worcester Academy opened the day with an 82-72 win over Brimmer & May, which had a tough week. Earlier in the week, they lost home games to Rivers and St. Andrew’s, with the former being a one-point setback that they had a chance to win. They also lost Bryant-bound Troy Robinson (6’5″ Sr. SF, Boston (MA)) to a wrist injury. Robinson said he’s not in much pain and hopes to be back before the NEPSAC Class B tournament, although it’s not out of the realm of possibilities he returns significantly sooner than that.
- While Derek Retos (5’8″ Sr. SG, Attleboro (MA)) has long had a reputation for being able to shoot the ball from deep and had 16 points on the day for Brimmer & May, teammate Chris Sherwood (6’3″ Jr. SG-SF, Sharon (MA)) is showing some improvement with his jumper. Sherwood is already very athletic and can score off the bounce, but has slowly shown some improvement shooting the ball, which will only make him that much tougher to guard.
- Robert Gilchrist (6’7″ Sr. SF-PF, London (England)) had a solid outing for Worcester Academy, leading the Hilltoppers with 18 points. Although his motor is a bit inconsistent, he played with a lot of energy in this game and mixed some post baskets in with mid-range jumpers.
- Billy Baron (6’2″ Sr. PG-SG, East Greenwich (RI)) shined for the Hilltoppers as well, as he ran the team very well and showed his knowledge of the game often. Although he’s not overly quick, on several occasions he recognized that his defender was basically locked in place and just went right by him for a basket or an assist to a cutter when a defender helped.
- The second game saw Brewster Academy jump out to a big lead against St. Thomas More, then hold off a couple of rallies by the Chancellors in the second half for a 76-65 win. In the second half, the teams traded runs before the final minutes.
- Naadir Tharpe (6’0″ Jr. PG, Worcester (MA)) continues to improve for Brewster Academy and led the way with 26 points. He was getting in the lane often and continued to show an improved shooting stroke. Included in the arsenal now is a good step-back jumper after getting a defender to commit.
- Syracuse-bound C.J. Fair (6’7″ Sr. SF, Baltimore (MD)) isn’t someone you might easily notice at first, especially on the stacked Brewster team. But you can’t miss him once the game gets going because he’s always effective and has deceptive length. He had 15 points in the win over St. Thomas More.
- The Brewster player with the biggest national rep, Will Barton (6’6″ Sr. SG, Baltimore (MD)), has undeniable upside with his length and athleticism. But he also has a tendency to try to do too much at the offensive end, and that can obscure his talent to someone who hasn’t seen him before.
- Andre Drummond (6’10” So. PF-C, Middletown (CT)) had nine points but showed some good things in the losing effort for St. Thomas More. Notably, he scored well inside and appears to be more comfortable playing with his teammates than he did early in the season. He hasn’t yet regained the form of last summer, which got him ranked atop some national rankings of the class of 2012.
- Tre Bowman (6’4″ Sr. SG-SF, York (PA)) had 18 points to lead St. Thomas More in the losing effort, while Bryon Allen (6’3″ Sr. SG, Upper Marlboro (MD)) had a quiet 15.
- The last game of the day was a clash of NEPSAC Class B heavyweights as Tilton and St. Andrew’s faced off. St. Andrew’s led for much of the first half, but Providence signee Gerard Coleman (6’4″ Sr. SG, Dorchester (MA)) led a big second-half charge as Tilton took home a 71-61 win. Coleman talked to his team at halftime and didn’t feel they were playing hard enough, and he backed up his words by taking over the game en route to 28 points. He made it look easy at times, as he’s very smooth and can finish with the best of them.
- Coleman’s teammate, Georges Niang (6’7″ So. PF, Methuen (MA)), continues to develop offensively. He scored 13 points and is showing a little more range shooting the ball as well as getting some baskets in close.
- Watching St. Andrew’s guard Michael Carter-Williams (6’3″ Jr. SG, Hamilton (MA)), it seems like his jumper isn’t what it once was. Carter-Williams, who led his team with 20 points, first came on the scene noticed for his shooting. But as he has improved his skills off the dribble – although I don’t agree that he’s basically become a point guard as some feel, especially seeing some of the questionable decisions he made in the loss to Tilton – his jump shot doesn’t look as good. He appears to have fallen into the trap of improving one facet of his game at the expense of another. Still, he has time to get his jumper back to the level it was before.
- Tilton has another solid, unspectacular point guard in Jeff Adkins (5’10” Sr. PG, Piscataway (NJ)). Last year, it was Scotty Tavares who shined alongside their big three, and this year it’s Adkins who won’t jump out at you right away but is solid at the position. On Sunday, he had 13 points, but more importantly, several clutch shots late in the game from mid-range. Still a baby physically, he’s getting Division II looks, but if he keeps this up might find a low Division I school willing to take a chance on him.
