Coaches vs. Cancer & Scholar Roundball Classic Preview

Friday, December 9th, 2016

The second annual NERR Coaches vs. Cancer Classic tips this afternoon at 4:30 at Babson College with four great prep games on tap all set to benefit Coaches vs. Cancer.

It all begins with a particularly intriguing opening match-up as the Brooks School faces Wilbraham & Monson Academy. Brooks, always a power in Class B of the NEPSAC, opened with a strong showing at the Zero Gravity Prep Classic while WMA scored a comeback victory over AA rival Master's earlier this week. Both teams are characterized by great depth as Brooks can go ten deep led by Brown commit Tamenang Choh and fellow seniors Adonis Williams, Isaiah Godwin, Fru Che and Ethan Gabert-Doyon. The Titans also have a strong senior core led by point guard Miles Lester along with Brycen Harris and Dakota Wheeler among others.

A local Western Mass rivalry is up next as MacDuffie and Williston Northampton square off. MacDuffie, who we profiled yesterday, has a highly talented sophomore trio with Dana Tate, Ismael Massoud and Dalano Banton. Meanwhile, first year head coach Ben Farmer is taking over on the sidelines for the two-time defending Class A champions and while he has a brand new roster, he also has a pair of division I players to build around in Duncan Lexander and Branislav Tarzic, committed to Presbyterian and Hartford respectively.

The third match-up of the evening features the South Kent School against the Knox School from New York. Cardinals head coach Bill Barton has made waves in his first season back on the prep sidelines, guiding his team to early wins over the likes of Vermont Academy and St. Thomas More alike, but they'll face another tough test this weekend as Knox features a roster with a heavy international flavor and scored an impressive win over Blair Academy last week.

The nightcap features St. Luke's School, led by Boston University pledge Walter Whyte, against Champlain St. Lambert, who makes the trip south from Canada again this year. Jonas Harper, who scored an offer from Boston University on Thursday, is another player to watch in this one as too is Nikita Kasongo from Champlain.

Friday night's Coaches vs. Cancer Classic is only the opening act to three full days of action at the 6th annual Scholar Roundball Classic as eight more games are on tap for Saturday with seven more on Sunday featuring some of the top academic and athletic institutions, not just in the northeast, but in the entire country including the likes of Phillips Exeter Academy, Phillips Academy Andover, Choate Rosemary Hall, Blair Academy, Hill School, Northfield Mount Hermon and numerous others.