SPRINGFIELD, Ma. – The best – at least in terms of a noisy crowd and down-to-the-wire result – was saved for last Saturday during the Spalding HoopHall Classic in Blake Arena on the Springfield College campus.
In the finale of a seven-game schedule (that tipped at 11 a.m.), local program Putnam Vocational Technical Academy came oh-so-close to stunning nationally ranked Tempe (AZ) Corona del Sol.
But sophomore guard Alex Barcello patiently probed and then penetrated the Beavers’ zone defense, fired a pass to teammate Tyrell Henderson and the junior rose and snapped in a 3-pointer that drew nothing but net and air.
PVTA was graciously given 2.8 seconds after the timeout but the Beavers couldn’t manage anything but a desperation heave – and that’s probably a redundancy – at the buzzer and the Aztecs prevailed, 60-57.
Despite having impressive prospects Barcello (one of the best 2017 “point guard” prospects, both in the west region and nationally), New Mexico-bound forward Dane Kuiper (who bagged team MVP honors for the contest with 17 points, three rebounds and four assists), Henderson and a 6-foot-9 (or so) mega-frosh Marvin Bagley on the floor, the team from Arizona never could seize control even when it seemed (behind the sharp plays made by their players) as if it had.
But the Beavers kept gnawing away (sorry; I couldn’t resist) at their bigger opponents. They went in front a couple of times in the last few minutes of regulation but had to play another four minutes when the left-handed Bagley oh-so-calmly dropped both ends of a 1 and 1 to tie the score with 21 seconds to go.
A shot clock-beating jumper from the right corner by Kuiper put CDS up in OT but junior wing Tyrone Malone tied the score at 57 on a drive with 27 seconds to go – setting the figurative table for the pass-catch-shoot tag team effort of Barcello and Henderson.
The event continues with eight Sunday contests (tipping at 9 a.m.) and five on Monday.
In other games Saturday (in reverse order of when they were played):
*Henderson (NV) Findlay Prep 84, Lincolnshire (IL) Stevenson 58: The Pilots turned in the best 32 minutes I’ve seen one of their squads play in two years, give or take, while thumping the Jalen Brunson-led defending Illinois state champions.
Stevenson was up mid-way through the first quarter, 10-7, but things quickly dissipated into a cluster of Allonzo Trier (27 points and four steals) offensive escapades and Horace Spencer (20 points, 15 rebounds and five blocked shots) dunks and swats.
The Villanova-bound Brunson hit some high degree of difficulty shots (including four 3s) en route to 26 points but most of those only served to offer a spoonful of promise of a comeback that never showed up.
*Hyattsville (MD) DeMatha 69, Roselle (NJ) Catholic 45: No one in either uniform or in the gym, for that matter, could have imagined the DeMatha dominance of a team rated No. 2 nationally earlier in the week.
But the Stags, as was the case with Findlay Prep 90 minutes later, were never threatened while smacking Kentucky-bound Isaiah Briscoe & Co.
Junior Markelle Fultz (25 points) and sophomore D.J. Harvey (13) could turns tattooing the Roselle defense (or what passed for it Saturday) with nifty jump shots and terrific drives and finishes.
Briscoe scored a team 20 points (eight of 20 from the field in a game when his teammates were a combined nine of 33) but it wasn’t the kind of performance that helped him to lock McDonald’s All-American status or the rep as one of the two or three best “point guard-types” in the Class of 2015.
*Radnor (PA) Archbishop Carroll 77, Chicago Simeon 68: Long (6-7ish), lean (185ish) and quick-off-the-floor Derrick Jones dominated the Simeon Big Ten-bound frontcourt to the tune of 31 points, 15 rebounds and three blocked shots.
Jones signed a National Letter of Intent with UNLV two months ago and, yeah, I do believe he’ll get as much immediate playing time as he can put up with for the Rebels 10 months from now.
It was the top individual effort of the day, especially considering that those numbers were accumulated against the likes of Ed Morrow (Nebraska), Isaiah Moss (Iowa) and D.J. Williams (Illinois).
Morrow went for 16 (points) and eight (rebounds) for Simeon.
*Waterbury (CT) Sacred Heart 64, NYC Christ the King 51: CTK’s underclassmen standouts (junior Rawle Alkins and sophomore Jose Alvarado) missed a combined 21 of 29 shot attempts while Sacred Heart’s Mustapha Heron and Malik Petteway teamed for 33 points and 18 rebounds for the winners.
Alkins (zip for nine) and Alvarado (one of four) were particularly icy from behind the arc.
*Kinston (NC) 56, Trenton (NJ) Catholic 54: The largest (6-9ish) “guard” (at least he plays as if he believes he is a “guard”, per se; he never posted once) in the Class of 2015, Brandon Ingram, went for 22 points, seven rebounds and four assists to help the alma mater of Jerry Stackhouse eke out the victory.
I love using “eke” as a verb.
Ingram mad a boatload of big plays down the stretch and his team needed everyone of them to hold off a team led by another probable (from my perspective) 2015 McDonald’s All-American in Syracuse-bound Malachi Richardson (25 points, five rebounds and a couple of steals).
Ingram didn’t sign a letter of intent in November but a lot of folks anticipate his signing with Duke, North Carolina or North Carolina State a few months hence.
*Brooklyn Bishop Loughlin 58, Newton (MA) 51: Loughlin’s remarkable sophomore class did loads to help the Lions bag this one as 2017’s Keith Williams, Marques Watson and Jordan Thomas combined to rack up 40 points, 14 rebounds, nine assists, four steals and three blocked shots.
The 6-4ish Williams was the best of that bunch with 20 points (nine of 13 shooting), four rebounds and two each in the steals and blocked shots categories.
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