SPRINGFIELD, Ma. – There were 2014 McDonald’s All-Americans candidates-galore on display throughout Saturday’s six games of the first day of the high school invitational portion of the Spalding HoopHall Classic in Blake Arena at Springfield College.
But one of them clearly stood out well above the rest, setting a standard for the rest of the candidates who will show up during the 11 games that will be played during the event over Sunday and Monday.
Six-foot-seven Daniel Hamilton, whose brother, Isaac Hamilton, was a 2013 McDonald’s selection, seemingly made every key play for the Bellflower (CA) St. John Bosco club during the second half of its eventual 63-60 victory over Baltimore St. Frances Saturday evening.
Hamilton, often matched against another of the class of 2014’s elite prospects (Dwayne Morgan), put up Saturday’s best individual stat line with 25 points (on 10 of 21 shooting from the floor, hitting his only attempt from behind the arc), nine rebounds, four assists, two blocks and two steals while playing all 32 minutes.
The Braves, just three nights after losing to unbeaten Santa Ana (CA) Mater Dei (which plays Philadelphia Goretti here Monday night in the final game of the event) in a Trinity League game, also got a terrific jump shooting performance from sophomore forward Vance Jackson, who added 25 points while hitting 10 of 16 from the floor, including five of 11 attempts behind the arc.
Coach Derrick Taylor’s Braves were playing short-handed as junior Tyler Dorsey didn’t accompany his teammates east for what his father told Dorsey’s club coach (Dinos Trigonis) were reasons based upon his performance in one of his classes at SJB.
St. Frances stayed close throughout largely due to its own impressive jump-shooting effort, that turned in by sophomore reserve guard Michael Micklos, who scored all of his team-high 15 points (in 13 minutes of action) via a 5-of-7 shooting performance behind the arc.
In other games Saturday:
*Huntington (WV) Prep 52, Dallas Prime Prep 48: The West Virginia-based squad’s overall size – or, as analysts more frequently refer to it in this era, its’ “length” – played a large part in the narrow victory during the day’s final game.
Coach Rob Fulford’s team had a 10-rebound advantage and blocked seven shots, and continually challenged Prime Prep’s shooters, a large reason (along with poor selection) why the Dallas team shot just .304 from the field.
Thomas Bryant, a junior from Rochester (NY) who is listed at 6-10, was the most significant “shot alterer” for Huntington Prep, blocking two shots to go with 11 points and a Saturday-high 12 rebounds.
Emmanuel Mudiay, who signed with Southern Methodist University in November, did enough with the ball in his hands to show why so many folks – me included – believe he’s the top point guard prospect in the Class of 2014.
But he struggled with his jumper and Huntington Prep’s size (or, “length”, if you will), hitting just six of 17 from the field while scoring 20 points.
*Brooklyn Lincoln 90, Houston Yates 66: The team from New York overcame a large dose of sloppiness with its handling and passing (26 turnovers) to still win by a comfortable margin against a team from Texas that missed on 18 of 21 of its 3-point attempts and was continually beaten in transition.
Senior Elisha Boone (26 points) and junior Desi Rodriguez (25) combined to hit 20 of 35 shots for Lincoln and most of those where layups or dunks against little in the way of effective resistance.
Another of those McDonald’s AA candidates from the Class of 2014, Isaiah Whitehead, had 12 points, seven rebounds and six assists for Lincoln but was just five of 14 from the field and was credited with nine turnovers.
*Seattle Rainier Beach 65, Arlington (VA) Bishop O’Connell 60: The team from Washington was out-rebounded (42-31) but remained unbeaten via its balance and ability to hit at least some shots from behind the arc – 7 of 21 – during a game in which its opponent whiffed on eight attempts.
Left-handed guard David Crisp (a transfer from Clover Park in Lakewood in Washington who recently committed to the University of Washington), scored a team-high 20 points while hitting on four of nine from behind the arc for Rainier Beach.
Maryland signee Romelo Trimble scored a game-high 26 points for O’Connell but needed 22 field-goal attempts (he missed 15 of them, including six 3’s) and a 12-for-12 free-throw effort to run that tab. He also committed seven turnovers.
O’Connell stayed close throughout behind the post play of underclassmen Lewis Djonkam (a sophomore) and Oumar Barry (a junior), who combined for 22 points and 20 rebounds.
*Albany (NY) Academy 75, Springfield (MA) Central 73: The local squad led most of the way but took a lot of ill-advised shots down the stretch.
And senior Matt Knezovic hit a lot of big shots in the clutch for the New York team, including a score-tying 3-pointer with three seconds to go and the winning free throws after being fouled with .4 seconds to go after Central committed an inbounds violation after his 3.
*Springfield (MA) Putnam 77, Woodstock (CT) Academy 45: Six-three senior David Murrell scored 15 points and grabbed as many rebounds while 6-4 sophomore Ty Malone went for 19 points and nine rebounds as the local squad was breezing at about the same time the snow starting falling outside early Saturday afternoon.
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