FOXBORO, Mass. – With the preliminary rounds complete, AAU teams from ages 9 to 17 gathered for the Division I Final Four at Mass. Premier Courts this weekend. The exception was the 16-under age group, which completed all of its rounds a couple of weekends earlier. A week earlier, we had a chance to see much of the early rounds of the 17-under tournament, and we’ll have more on that later.
The Division I Final Four was a nice idea in the sense that it brought together some of the best teams in all age groups from the state in one place at one time. But it isn’t without its issues, notably the fact that each team had to pay an additional $100 fee for the weekend in addition to the entry fee it had to pay in the first place, which is almost like having to pay just for winning. For some programs, this isn’t a minor matter; MABC placed six teams in the Final Four and thus had to pay $600, which gives new meaning to the phrase “the price of success” – and probably not the idea that AAU wants to promote.
The 14-under division had two contrasting semifinal games, with Bay State Jaguar Elite blowing out BABC in the semifinals and the Boston Spartans needing a buzzer-beater in overtime to knock off MABC 59-57. In the final, Bay State Jaguar Elite looked like it could be headed for a blowout win and led 27-16 at the half, but the Spartans battled back to make it a ballgame in the second half before succumbing 66-60.
Impressing for Bay State were big men Jeremy Miller (C, Milton (MA) High) and Jarred Reuter (PF, Rochester (MA) St. Mark’s School) as well as Pat Benzan (PG-SG, West Roxbury (MA) Roxbury Latin School). Miller is all about upside right now, as his offense has a ways to go skill-wise but he’s very long and a baby physically who will alter his share of shots. Reuter is more physically mature and may be closer to topping out, but he’s fundamentally sound, rebounds and made a number of nice passes including on the interior. Benzan kept going north-south all night long and couldn’t be stopped going to the basket for field goals. He’s a baby physically and will hopefully grow a few more inches to have better size for his position.
Also impressing in this division were a few Spartans. Damian Smith (SG-SF, West Roxbury (MA) High) is athletic and was able to get by his man a few times while also showing three-point range. He went for 17 points in the semifinal win. Markus Neale (SF, West Roxbury (MA) High) is athletic and scored often on drives and also drew fouls, going for 20 points in the semifinal win. Jeff Spellman (PG, Chestnut Hill (MA) Beaver Country Day) is a baby physically who had some good moments, including a deep three-point shot and a runner in the lane.
In the 15-under division, BABC cruised in the semifinals and then held off a couple of rallies by Visionary Basketball Club to take home the title with a 71-62 win. For BABC, Wayne Selden (6’3” Fr. PG-SG, Roxbury (MA) John D. O’Bryant HS) looks to be playing better and more aggressively, although he’s still prone to playing at a pace instead of with much of a motor. Aaron Calixte (5’9” Fr. PG, Stoughton (MA) High) shot the ball well in their two wins, a good sign because he’s shown he can drive to the basket.
Two players who caught our eye in a semifinal loss were high school teammates Alijiah Robinson (Fr. SF-PF, East Boston (MA) High) and Will Mark (Fr. SF, East Boston (MA) High). Robinson is a baby physically and has a long way to go skill-wise, but he has a good motor and showed some hints of potential with more development. Mark has a more mature body and was active at both ends, and like Robinson is far from a finished product from a skill standpoint.
In the 17-under, the big story started the previous weekend. In the quarterfinals, the New England Ballas outplayed Bay State Magic pretty much from start to finish to bounce them from the tournament with a convincing 73-58 win. The Ballas are a new program recently branched off from the Boston Spartans and run by Framingham State assistant coach Tom Nelson. The team name is actually an acronym that stands for “Basketball Achievement and Life Lessons Academy”. Nelson wanted to develop coaches as well as players, and it didn’t take long for them to make some noise by advancing to the Final Four with this win behind the stellar play of underrated guard Robinson Vilmont (5’9” Jr. PG, Malden (MA) High), who scored 17 points and had a big hand in several other baskets.
The Ballas made it all the way to the final on Saturday, and that wasn’t all. They had already played two games in a tournament in Amherst earlier in the day, winning both, before heading to Foxboro and winning their semifinal game. In the final, they ran out of gas as the Boston Warriors took home a win behind 17 points from Samir McDaniels (6’3” Jr. SG, Roxbury (MA) New Mission School) as one of four players in double figures.
Now, some player evaluations from the 17-under division, where we saw more of the action over both weekends.
Pat Ackerman (6’10” Jr. C, Rutland (MA) Worcester Academy) The improvement has been there for the big man, but the rate of it hasn’t been great. He fared reasonably well when facing the basket, knocking down a couple of shots from mid-range and not faring as well inside. His body is still not there yet physically.
Anthony Barry (6’2” Jr. SG, Milford (MA) High) Athletic wing once again showed solid effort, especially on the defensive end where he’s at his best. He was around the ball often and always battles, and showed some nice improvement at the offensive end that included a couple of double figure scoring games. His ball skills still need work, and his jump shot release could use some work although he hit a few shots as far out as three-point range, but both have shown some improvement.
Lutheurson Bonheur (6’0” Jr. PG, Dorchester (MA) Boston Trinity Academy) Though he’s not the most fluid athlete, he penetrated well and finished well when he got to the basket, reaching double figures twice on the weekend. He was also a pest on defense at times. On the down side, his jump shot and even free throw release are the things keeping him from being a better prospect, as he lacks a smooth motion on his release.
Daniel Brooks (6’3” Sr. SG, Dorchester (MA) Catholic Memorial HS) Now a more fundamentally sound player, he’s on his way to becoming more than just a scorer offensively. He’s more fluid and shoots the ball better, though the latter could still improve, and he drove to his left well on a few occasions as another sign of good progress. A post-graduate year at Kimball Union is in his future.
Dennis Clifford (6’11” Jr. C, Bridgewater (MA) Milton Academy) A year ago, it was unthinkable that he would ever commit to Boston College, but a lot has changed. He’s always had a good skill level and could run the floor, but now his body is starting to fill out and more importantly, he’s being much more aggressive at the offensive end when he gets the ball. In fact, it’s not a stretch to say he was underutilized in his team’s tournament-ending loss, as he had 21 and 16 in prior outings but just 12 in the losing effort. It’s all starting to come together for him now.
Pat Connaughton (6’3” Jr. SG, Arlington (MA) St. John’s HS) He isn’t physically gifted, but there’s no question he can flat-out play the game. Offensively, he can score in a variety of ways and is solid all-around, and at times he can put on a clinic with the ways he can score. He went for 35 points in one game, including four three-pointers and a mid-range jumper that was going all game long. In the final game, he struggled for some of the second half but made a couple of big shots and plays late en route to 26 points in a tough loss.
Ousmane Drame (6’8” Sr. PF-C, Roxbury (MA) New Mission School) Not the easiest player to figure out, he hasn’t been playing the game all that long, so it’s not surprising that one minute he looks like a prospect and the next he looks like a project. The lefty has a more developed lower body and can run the floor, and while he’s not the most fundamentally sound he’s capable of making a nice post move to score inside. He went for 24 in his team’s win to advance to the Final Four. A post-graduate year at Marianapolis Prep is in his future.
Carlin Haymon (5’8” Fr. PG, South Boston (MA) Rivers School) The young point guard spent some time playing off the ball but continues to show some physical development. As he’s becoming more of a scoring threat, here he showed some range on his jump shot that included a deep three-point shot.
Bryan Hurley (5’10” Jr. PG, Dorchester (MA) Boston College HS) While still a steady floor leader who won’t hurt a team with a lot of costly mistakes, he looked more aggressive at the offensive end. He drove to the basket more to score than to keep dribbling, which he used to do, and showed a touch shooting the ball. Although he didn’t put up big scoring numbers, he made himself more of a threat and in the process helped his teammates more.
Trey Jones (5’9” Jr. PG, Mattapan (MA) Reading HS) Small point guard has plenty of physical gifts but enough basketball shortcomings to make his potential at the next level unclear. He’s plenty quick and a good leaper, but his jump shot release is from his chest, which exacerbates his lack of height, and his decision-making could use improvement as he settled for jump shots too often and was erratic with the ball.
Ryan Kilcullen (6’7” Sr. PF, Needham (MA) St. Sebastian’s HS) A solid post player with some good fundamentals, he was a good Robin to Dennis Clifford’s Batman inside for his team. He has a good body and showed some range on his jump shot even out to three-point range, although the thinking is he’s better from mid-range on a consistent basis. Next year, he will attend Philips Academy of Exeter for a post-graduate year.
Michael Lofton (6’2” Jr. SG, Mansfield (MA) High) There probably wasn’t a player who seemingly left more on the court than this guard. He has a good body with a more developed upper body than lower, and at times he showed the ability to drive and score along with some skills to play in the backcourt. But he gets no lift on his jump shot, which he didn’t go to often, showed a tendency to go up too strong and thus not finish, and doesn’t seem to have much of a motor and thus at times it’s hard to know he’s even on the floor.
Samir McDaniels (6’3” Jr. SG, Roxbury (MA) New Mission School) In an early game, he wasn’t much of a factor, but that was the anomaly as he was otherwise consistently solid in leading his team to the title. He went for 22 in the quarterfinal win and showed his good basketball I.Q. while being active at both ends of the floor.
Robinson Vilmont (5’9” Jr. PG, Malden (MA) High) His performance here may start to get him out from under the radar. He has a good body that hasn’t fully matured yet and led the fast break well, at times finishing and other times finding a teammate. His jump shot was good out to long range, and after his 17-point outing in the quarterfinals he had 18 in the semifinal win and another 17 in the title game loss.
