Orrin C. Crooms Fall League Playoffs – Event Recap

NewEnglandBasketballServices.com | Friday, November 10th, 2006

George Jordan is a 6’5 junior forward for Marlboro High School. Tim McKinney is a 6’5 junior guard from Boston College High School. Both players are extremely talented division one prospects who stood out during Saturday’s action although Jordan needed to pull out a big performance to push his team through a double overtime victory while McKinney’s team had a much easier time.

The game of the day took place when the Lakers took on the Sixers. The Lakers are made up with players from both Shrewsbury High School as well as Jordan’s Marlboro High School, while the Sixers are comprised of players from Worcester North High School. The game went back and forth for all of regulation and two overtime periods before the Lakers were able to hang on to pull out the victory. Jordan was particularly impressive scoring 27 points and grabbing 9 rebounds. Jordan was at his best when crashing the offensive glass for tip-ins or elevating at the high post for his jump shot. College coaches will also love the power and athleticism that he brings to the table. Cris Pinsonault, from Marlboro, added 14 points from the perimeter while 6’5 center Nick Blockberg from Shrewsbury was impressive with his soft lefty touch for the Lakers. For Worcester North, Marcel Prince was very impressive with 18 points. The point guard’s game is reminiscent of a John Bagley or Kh alid El-Amin, as the little floor general is almost impossible to keep out of the lane. Victor Ramos also played a great game for the Sixers with 24 points and 11 rebounds.

Boston College High School’s game was not nearly as dramatic but did showcase some top prospects including McKinney and teammate Jake O’Brien a 6’8 junior center. Although McKinney only finished with 13 points he was the orchastrator for a BC team (Celtics) that dominated Milton High School (Mavs) throughout the game despite missing two of their top players in Chris Hurely and Andrew Yanulis. At 6’5 McKinney is an incredibly skilled and versatile offensive player who could have definitely been more assertive offensively had his team required it. Similarly, O’Brien is a very skilled player with good size who can pull the oppositions post player away from the basket. Nick Schmeimann and Ryan Sharry also played well for BC HS.

In other action, Thomas Deegan from Weymouth High School set a Crooms league record by scoring 35 points in the final game of the day. The opposing Nets team (North Quincy High School) was unable to keep Deegan out of the lane as he penetrated to the rim virtually at will in the second half leading his Bullets team to a 4 point victory. Also advancing to the next round of the playoffs were the Hornets (Worcester South High School), the Pistons (Quincy High School), the Knicks (North Cambridge Catholic), the Bucks (Boston Latin High School), and the Hawks (Archbishop Williams High School).

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