CHSCA All-Star Games – Event Recap

NewEnglandRecruitingReport.com | Wednesday, March 19th, 2008

In the highest scoring game in the history of the event, the West defeated the East 163-139 in the L/LL game.  B.J. Monteiro (19 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists) and RJ Evans (23 points) received the Most Outstanding Player awards.  However, it was a relative unknown in Russell Rosenband, who we thought was the game’s best player.  Greenwich’s senior guard scored a game high 31 points including 7 three-pointers as he delighted the capacity crowd with his seemingly flawless stroke. 

But that wasn’t the only thing that brought the crowd to their feet as the game featured lots of highlight reel material and little defense.  Evans and Chris Prescott put on their own shows from behind the three-point line, Evans with his practically limitless range and Prescott with his ability to shake and bake with the dribble before pulling up. 

There was also plenty of playmaking on hand as guards and big men alike did their best to show their prowess off the dribble.  Whether is was Monteiro with his slippery smooth drives, Daquan Brooks with a lightning quick crossover, or Drew Billington with a spin move there was plenty of showmanship all around.  Big men Brian Fitzpatrick and Nick Greenbacker even did their best to get into the act as Fitzpatrick showed a pretty impressive killer cross-over move while Greenbacker playfully executed a step-back jumper from behind the three-point line. 

And of course there were plenty of explosive finishes taking place above the rim.  Evans really got things going early in the second half when he threw down a one handed dunk on top of Marcus James in transition.  A good natured James didn’t get angry, he just got even.  Two possessions later he reached back behind his head with two hands before pounding it home on Ryan Olander.  A few minutes after that, he followed up with another rim rocker as he again went up with two hands before changing to one in mid-air while Greenbacker decided to let him go rather than risk being his next victim.  The fun continued from that point on as Cornelius Brown caught an alley-oop from Monteiro who was just inside half-court and Markus Wright tried to rip the rim down with a couple of two handed power dunks. 

While the first game of the day lacked the entertainment value of the second, there were certainly some impressive performances to get the crowd going as the East defeated the West 129-104.  Coventry’s Jamie Kohn scored 22 points en route to being named the Most Outstanding Player for the east.  Meanwhile Andrae Beckford earned similar honors for the west as he scored 19 points, grabbed 9 rebounds, and handing out 4 assists.  But the real story may have been the second half performance of Shane Gibson, who showed why he was one of the state’s leading scorers this year.  22 of his game high 27 points came in the last 20 minutes as he showed his soft shooting touch from behind the three-point line, off his dribble pull-up, and with a runner inside the lane.  Also impressive was Kevin Donahue as the lefty has an equally impressive shooting touch, although he was content to serve as a playmaker today, looking to set up his teammates. 

Rosters and Stats:

L/LL West
Drew Billington, Fairfield Ludlowe High School (Fairfield, CT), 3 points
Daquan Brooks, Bristol Central High School (Bristol, CT), 11 points
Cornelius Brown, Harding High School (Bridgeport, CT), 20 points
Andre French, Torrington High School (Torrington, CT), 10 points
Brian Fitzpatrick, Xavier High School (Middletown, CT), 15 points
Will Hanley, New Canaan High School (New Canaan, CT), 15 points
Marcus James, Wilby High School (Waterbury, CT), 16 points
Greg Mangano, Notre Dame High School (West Haven, CT), 14 points
B.J. Monteiro, Crosby High School (Waterbury, CT), 19 points
Andrew Roell, Avon High School (Avon, CT), 6 points
Russ Rosenband, Greenwich High School (Greenwich, CT), 31 points
Steve Zazuri, Masuk High School (Monroe, CT), DNP due to injury
Jerome Mitchell, Holy Cross High School (Waterbury, CT), DNP

L/LL East
Raymond Askew, Career High School (New Haven, CT), 16 points
Johrone Bunch, Maloney High School (Meriden, CT), 7 points
Chris Canino, Glastonbury High School (Glastonbury, CT), 7 points
R.J. Evans, Norwich Free Academy (Norwich, CT), 23 points
Nick Greenbacker, East Catholic High School (Manchester, CT), 19 points
Kelvin Henry, Windsor High School (Windsor, CT), 6 points
Ryan Olander, E.O. Smith High School (Mansfield, CT), 8 points
Chris Prescott, Northwest Catholic High School (West Hartford, CT), 20 points
Rashamell Vereen, Maloney High School (Meriden, CT), 14 points
Justin Wilson, Windsor High School (Windsor, CT), 9 points
Markus Wright, Wilbur Cross High School (New Haven, CT), 12 points
Eliseo Nieves, Bulkeley High School (Hartford, CT), DNP
Nick Talbert, Weaver High School (Hartford, CT), DNP

S/M East
Marcus Cooper, Bloomfield High School (Bloomfield, CT), 5 points
Corey Dilweg, Plainfield High School (Plainfield, CT), 10 points
Kevin Donahue, Stonington High School (Stonington, CT), 17 points
Alvin Durrett, Windham High School (Windham, CT), 4 points
Shane Gibson, Killingly High School (Killingly, CT), 27 points
Mark Hales, East Haven High School (East Haven, CT), 9 points
Jamie Kohn, Coventry High School (Coventry, CT), 22 points
Jordan Krogh, East Granby High School (East Granby, CT), 12 points
John Matheney, Hyde Leadership Academy (Hamden, CT), 10 points
Tyrece Nickson, Windham High School (Windham, CT), 2 points
Zach Wright, Old Saybrook High School (Old Saybrook, CT), 4 points
Lorenzo Hemingway, Capital Prep (Hartford, CT), DNP

S/M West
Andrae Beckford, Kolbe Cathedral High School (Bridgeport, CT), 19 points
Sean Bertanza, Seymour High School (Seymour, CT), 8 points
Jim Bunel, Gilbert High School (Winstead, CT), 5 points
Bryant Corcoran, Sacred Heart High School (Waterbury, CT), 16 points
Tim Deacon, Litchfield High School (Litchfield, CT), 2 points
T.J. Doyle, Litchfield High School (Litchfield, CT), 5 points
Kolin Ebron, Stratford High School (Stratford, CT), 14 points
Ryan Gonzalez, St. Paul’s High School (Bristol, CT), 6 points
R.J. Marsh, O’Brien Tech (Ansonia, CT), 4 points
Jeff McDonald, Granby High School (Granby, CT), 6 points
Ryan Rose, Bethel High School (Bethel, CT), 8 points
Mike Shaker, Brookfield High School (Brookfield, CT), 8 points