SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – A battle between two of the better guards in the national Class of 2023 was the hook to the Hoophall Classic game between programs from New Jersey (Camden) and Georgia (Milton) Monday afternoon in Blake Arena on the campus of Springfield College.
And that narrative held up, as D.J. Wagner and Kanaan Carlyle both had substantial shares of spectacular plays as Wagner’s Camden team came away with 63-55 victory in front of a near-full gymnasium and national television audience.
But even as the 6-foot-2 Wagner (21 point, including three 3s, five rebounds and two steals) and the 6-3 Carlyle (25 points, with six 3s, and five rebounds/he’s already committed to Stanford) were showing why they’re consensus “top 10 in the class” prospects, it was another junior guard who proved the difference in the decisive fourth quarter to help Camden snap a two-game losing streak.
The first of those, Thursday night (in Trenton, NJ), came by way of Montverde (FL) Academy, 52-40, which snapped a 44-game winning streak that started on Dec. 19 of 2019.
And then, Saturday night here, they got an honest-to-goodness beatdown by way of a relentless Calvary Christian crew from Ft. Lauderdale, 66-48, during which they trailed by 29 points.
But an “all-players meeting”, following the Saturday loss, helped re-direct the Panthers to the approach – and style of play – that was the foundation for that 44-game streak.
“Me and D.J. and the rest of the guys got together, without the coaches,” said Camden’s much underrated – but not for long – point guard, Cian Medley (pictured), said afterward.
“We talked about being tougher, rebounding and playing the kind of defense we normally do.”
Mission accomplished.
And the 6-1 Medley provided all of those things – with a whole lot of critical buckets, too.
Medley, with Carlyle and pretty much the entire Milton defense dialed in on staying in front of Wagner, got into the lane at will, slashing to the rim for either hand finishes and also knocking in a rare 3 to score 15 of his team’s 25 fourth-quarter points while finishing with 22.
That performance is likely to have launched another long winning streak for the Panthers – and to make Medley a hot commodity among college recruiters the rest of the regular season and during the spring and summer, when he teams with Wagner in the backcourt for the New Jersey Scholars on the Nike/EYBL circuit.
In other games played on the final day of the event:
Bradenton (FL) IMG Academy 57, Montverde (FL) Academy 53: In a game between the most successful “prep school” programs of recent vintage, Texas-import Keyonte George (a Baylor signee) turned in a terrific second half while scoring a game-high 17 points to lead the victory.
Six-nine junior Kwame Evans (with three second-half 3s) and Indiana-bound guard Jalen Hood-Schifino (a game-high 19 points with eight rebounds, five assists and three steals) helped keep Montverde (13-4) within striking distance.
It was the second win over Montverde this season for IMG (13-2).
Chicago Whitney Young 61, Middle Village (NY) Christ the King 59: Junior guard Dalen Davis converted a crafty, high-degree-of-difficulty layup with his left (off) hand with three seconds remaining to the Dolphins the victory in the first game of the day.
Whitney Young (11-6) trailed most of the way before surging in the fourth quarter behind the play of Davis (22 points and three assists), University of Miami-bound forward A.J. Casey (20 points and six rebounds) and 6-foot-8 Northern Illinois signee Xavier Amos (14 points, four rebounds and three blocked shots).
Amos’ two free throws with 1:21 remained, prior to a Royals’ turnover, set the table for what proved to be the game-deciding shot by Davis.
The Royals were able to inbound the ball three times after Davis’ shot.
The first, from backcourt, let to a Dolphins’ deflection, out of bounds, that gave them the ball along the sideline, opposite their bench, with 2.5 ticks remaining.
After another timeout, freshman Markell Alston inbounded to sophomore Dwayne Pierce. But his turn-around jumper, from the right corner, was swatted out of bounds by Amos.
Then, with .8 of a second remaining, Alston inbounded from along the baseline but his desperation pass was picked off by Casey and the buzzer sounded.
The Royals (1-3, in a scheduled hampered by COVID issues and another cancelations) held serve for much of the way behind the play of juniors Devin Vanterpool (21 points, including five 3s) and Brandon Williams (15 points, seven rebounds and three steals).
Wilbraham (MA) & Monson Academy 72, Kissimmee (FL) Life Christian Academy 42: Six-ten Kyle Filipowski – one of six current signed or committed members in Duke’s recruiting Class of 2022 – whipping a crowd jammed with his classmates into a frenzy with every dunk, rebound or “flex” – scored 28 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and blocked five shots to help his team overpower its opponent from Florida.
The other two posts in the Blue Devils’ class, 7-1 Derreck Lively (Westtown) and 7-0 Christian Reeves (Oak Hill Academy), also played in the event.
Branson (MO) Link Prep 70, Napa (CA) Prolific 64: University of Michigan-bound center Tarris Reed scored 16 points and grabbed 13 rebounds, while junior point guard Trey Green had 15 points with six assists to lead the winners in the event’s final game Monday evening.
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