Holiday Tournament Recaps

New England Recruiting Report | Sunday, December 22nd, 2013

Earlier this weekend we recapped the St. Andrew’s School Holiday Classic, but that was just one of several holiday tournaments going on last week.  Here’s a rundown of some of the other action:

Brewster at City of Palms

Brewster Academy was in Fort Myers, Florida this week for the prestigious City of Palms tournament.  They opened with a 73-43 win over Oldsmar Christian in the Signature Series Bracket.  Jared Terrell scored a team high 20 points along with 4 steals while Isaac Copeland had 19 points and 7 rebounds while Devonte Graham added 15 points and 10 assists.  The Bobcats dropped a 58-43 decision to Sunrise Christian on Saturday.  Copeland and Graham led the way with 15 and 11 points respectively.

BasketBull Hosts Strong Field

The BasketBull Hoopfest welcomed a wide range of teams extending throughout the northeast region and into New England, New York, and Canada.  After three days of action Wilbraham & Monson emerged as one of the big winners, knocking off both Putnam Science Academy and St. Thomas More despite the recent loss of Mustapha Heron as well as being without Goodluck Okonoboh for the opening round of action.  Curtis Cobb exploded for 35 points and 8 rebounds in the win against STM while Marcel Pettway and Taylor Fortin both stepped up in a big way as well.  Northfield Mount Hermon dominated a pair of teams from Canada with Jackson Donahue scoring a team high 17 points over Champlain St. Lambert and Daquon Ervin going for 14 against Thornlea Secondary.  New Hampton also picked up a pair of wins, knocking off Champlain behind 21 points and 10 rebounds from Tyler Lydon and also defeating Cheshire Academy 66-56.  

In public school action, MIAA favorite got perhaps its best test of the season, scoring an overtime victory over Nazareth Regional from New York.  Dizel Wright and Tyonne Malone both contributed 18 points and 7 rebounds while Ki-Shawn Monroe and Jonathan Garcia also finished in double figures.  Levy Gillespie Jr. scored 25 points to lead Capital Prep over Springfield Cathedral while Luis Rodriguez delivered 30 in an East Longmeadow win over Shepherd Hill.  Hillhouse also came north from Connecticut to score a convincing win over Springfield Central behind 25 points from Shane Christie and 19 from Raiquan Clark.  

Seacoasts Classics Host Class A Schools

Phillips Exeter Academy and Tabor Academy hosted many of Class A’s top programs this weekend.  Trinity Pawling picked up a trio of wins, including one against the defending NEPSAC champions, to punctuate a terrific weekend.  Noah Woods had 15 in a 50-46 win over Exeter while Justin Cooper had 18 points against St. Paul’s.  Jeremy Arthur scored a game high 20 points in a 56-50 win over Andover.  Hotchkiss also went a perfect 3-0 on the weekend with Makai Mason leading them to wins over Belmont Hill, St. Paul’s, and Phillips Andover.  At Tabor Academy, the hosts would end the weekend with three double digit victories over Taft, Deerfield, and Brunswick respectively as they continued to get strong play from Miles Wright, Jesse Bunting, Rodney Morton, and Bryce Boggs.  

KUA Takes Southall

Kimball Union Academy won three consecutive games late last week to win the Bob Southall Christmas Classic held annually at Loomis Chaffee School.  The Wildcats opened with a 72-49 win over the Hyde School on Wednesday as Abdul-Malik Abu led the way with 23 while Crew Ainge added 15.  Duby Maduegbunam chipped in with 11 while Oliver Tot had 8 points and 6 assists in one of his first full games of the season.  Abu, Ainge, and Maduegbunam continued to set the tone in the scoring column a day later, finishing with 19, 14, and 12 respectively as KUA knocked off Salisbury 53-30 after holding the Knights to 16 second half points.  They would run away with Friday’s final, knocking off Westminster 74-40 as Ainge led the way with 20 and Abu and Maduegbunam added 18 and 12.  

Brooks Wins KIT

The Brooks School made the trip to West Hartford, Connecticut to take part in the Kingswood Oxford Invitational Tournament.  After scoring consecutive hard fought victories over St. Luke’s and Nobles, they would go on to run away with the championship game, handing Canterbury a 98-48 result.  The championship takes Brooks into the holiday break with a record of 6-1 after suffering their only loss of the season to Class AAA Northfield Mount Hermon.  Lavar Harewood reportedly earned MVP honors while sophomore point guard Ikenna Ndugba was named to the all-tournament team.  

GFA Claims Farroba

Greens Farms Academy traveled to Rhode Island to take the championship at the Farroba Classic after scoring a 68-50 win over the Wheeler School in the final.  Wheeler opened the game with a 20-10 run and led early in the second half as well before GFA took a 68-50 decision.  Four players scored in double figures as Zach Baines led the way with 15 points and 9 rebounds while Matt Tate added 15 and 5 assists.  Jim Djema led the team in scoring with 16 points while Andrew Chase contributed 12 of his own.  

BCD Takes Rivers’ Tourney on Buzzer Beater

Beaver Country Day and the host Rivers’ School locked up in a back and forth final after both squads earned a pair of opening round wins.  The game wasn’t decided until the very last possession when junior guard Keyshaun Jacobs came off a down-screen to drill a three-pointer that gave BCD the 52-50 win.  Ballas TV had the highlights: