North Pole Hoops New England Showdown - Event Recap

New England Recruiting Report | Thursday, December 22nd, 2016

Vermont Academy held the inaugural North Pole Hoops New England Showdown this past weekend. North Pole Hoops, which is widely considered to be the #1 source for Canadian basketball, partnered with Vermont Academy on the event which featured a United States vs. Canada theme.

The Masters School from West Simsbury, CT and Sunrise Christian Academy from Wichita, KS joined the host Vermont Academy Wildcats as representatives from the US, while Bill Crothers Secondary School, Collége Jean-de- Brébeuf, and Toronto Basketball Academy represented Canada.

The weekend long tournament featured match-ups of top prospects from across North America, including a variety of committed players as well.

Some of the top prospects from teams in the United States included: M.J. Richardson, Nadir Dixon-Thompson, and Ben Eke from Master's; Bryan Trimble (FLORIDA STATE), Eric Parrish (AKRON), Derrick Walker, Samba Ndiaye, DJ Wilkins, David Jenkins Jr., and Steffon Mitchell from Sunrise Christian; and Jordan Nwora (LOUISVILLE), Christian David (BUTLER), Marcus Santos-Silva (VCU), Bailey Patella (VERMONT), Corey Romich (JACKSONVILLE), Kendrick Gray, and Simisola Shittu From Vermont Academy.

Some of the top prospects from teams in Canada included: Stefan Smith (VERMONT), Jayden Coke, and Emanuel Miller from Bill Crothers; Nathan Cayo (RICHMOND), Emmanuel Bandoumel, and Guillaume Pepin from Jean de-Brebeuf; and Adham Eleeda, Cordell Veira, Lascel Tyndale and Jace Colley from Toronto Basketball Academy.

Saturday December 17th Results

Jean de-Brébeuf 78 – Sunrise Christian Academy 74

In the opening game of the New England Showdown, Nathan Cayo was the spark for Brébeuf with 18 points showing off his athleticism and ability as a lockdown defender, while Emmanuel Bandoumel and Guillaume Pepin backed him up adding 15 points apiece in the victory.   

Eric Parrish led the way for Sunrise with 22 points, while David Jenkins Jr. scored 18 points and Derrick Walker chipped in with 13 points in a losing effort.

Vermont Academy 99 – Toronto Basketball Academy 71

Jordan Nwora had the highest scoring output on the weekend dropping 34 points, including 9/13 from the Free-throw line to propel Vermont Academy to victory.

Marcus Santos-Silva added 22 points showing his continued dominance on the interior. However, the story of the game was the return of Christian David who contributed solid minutes for VA after recovering from his ACL injury suffered in last year’s NEPSAC AA Championship game.

For TBA, Lascel Tyndale dropped 18 points while Cordell Veira added 15 points in the loss.

Jean de-Brébeuf 85 – Masters School 84 OT

The game of the tournament came on Saturday night as Brébeuf edged out The Masters School in overtime. 7 players scored 8 points or more for the team from Canada, led by Emmanuel Bandoumel (15 points), Guillaume Pepin (13 points), Charles-Anthoine Gaba-Idiamey (11 points), and Nathan Cayo (10 points).

MJ Richardson kept Masters in the game scoring 32 points including 5 3-pointers, 2 of which came in OT. Rayon Christie added 17 points, while Ben Eke and Rodney Johnson contributed 15 and 13 points respectively.

Sunday December 18th Results

Sunrise Christian Academy 88 – Toronto Basketball Academy 54

The team from Wichita, KS bounced back from Saturday’s close loss to a talented Brébeuf squad to defeat TBA by 34 points. The game was close throughout the 1st half, but the Buffaloes turned it on the 2 nd , led by Florida State commit Bryan Trimble’s 18 points, including 12 from deep. Mattia Cafisi added 12 points, while Xavier Johnson and Derrick Walker each chipped in with 10 points.

Adham Eleeda dropped 18 points to lead TBA in a losing effort, while Eman-Yak Eman and Jace Colley contributed with 9 points apiece.

Vermont Academy 122 – Bill Crothers 83

In the final game of the New England Showdown, the Wildcats put on a show in front of their home crowd, putting up an unprecedented 122 points in the victory. The matchup featured two future University of Vermont Catamounts in Vermont’s Bailey Patella and Bill Crothers’s Stefan Smith.

The #1 player in Canada’s Class of 2018 Simi Shittu led VA with 26 points, while Marcus Santos-Silva tallied 24 points, Louisville commit Jordan Nwora added 21 points and Patella scored 15 points on his 19th birthday.

Stefan Smith did all he could for the Colts, scoring 30 points in front of Coach Becker and the entire UVM coaching staff, including 17 in the 2nd half.

Emanuel Miller scored 12 points in the 1st half before leaving the game with an apparent hand injury while Jayden Coke added 10 points.

North Pole Hoops New England Showdown All-Tournament Team

Team U.S.

MJ Richardson – Masters School

Bryan Trimble and Derrick Walker – Sunrise Christian Academy

Jordan Nwora, Simi Shittu, and Marcus Santos-Silva – Vermont Academy

Team Canada

Stefan Smith – Bill Crothers

Emmanuel Bandoumel, Nathan Cayo, and Guillaume Pepin – Jean de-Bréuf

Adham Eleeda – Toronto Basketball Academy

North Pole Hoops New England Showdown Tournament MVP:

Marcus Santos-Silva – Vermont Academy