Middlesex Magic Take BasketBull Championships

New England Recruiting Report | Tuesday, July 12th, 2016

The Middlesex Magic took the championship of the varsity division at the BasketBull Summer Championship last weekend. In fact, they took both with Magic Crotty winning one side of the bracket and Magic Walch taking the other side.

Cormac Ryan was named the event's MVP and was followed by the likes of Michigan, Boston College, Georgetown and Rice among others throughout the weekend while adding George Mason to his list of offers.

Patrick Harding was named first team all-tournament as he showed off his combination of size and skill while averaging 12 rebounds per game. He had a steady diet of both division I and II coaches watching. His frontcourt mate, Owen de Graaf, led the team in scoring with 17.5ppg on the weekend and was also named to the event's all-tournament team. His performance was followed by unofficial visits to both Stonehill and Bentley in recent days.

Brendan Hoban and James Mortimer were also valuable contributors as Hoban continued to show his ability to score at all three levels and Mortimer rebounded, defended multiple positions and showcased his mid-range game.

Magic Walch was led by a core including Jackson Mannix, Colin Donovan, Jacob Ashworth, Brandon Kolek and Justin Connolly. Mannix, Donovan and Kolek are all high level shooters from behind the three-point line, and they proved it this weekend, combining to set their team apart from all others behind the arc. Ashworth ran the show from the point and was widely recognized as one of the toughest players in the entire field. Connolly, the skilled 6-foot-7 forward, anchored the inside with his rebounding, shot-blocking and finishing abilities while also mixing in some timely threes of his own.

Both Magic teams return to action this week as Crotty's team heads to the Big Apple Summer Showcase and then the Hoop Group's Summer Jam Fest while Walch's team returns to Springfield for the Hall of Fame National Invitational. Both teams will finish the month in Orlando for the AAU Super Showcase.