ZG Prep Classic - Day 1 Recap

by Luc Smith | Sunday, December 6th, 2015

In the first game of the Zero Gravity Prep Classic, Lee Academy faced off against Masters School. Masters was led by the play of Monmouth commit Sam Ibiezugbe, Stony Brook commit Andrew Garcia, and uncommitted 2016 Dimencio Vaughn. 6’10 Ibiezugbe altered and blocked shots by Lee Academy players and also made big contributions on the offensive end, scoring 12 points.  Andrew Garcia attacked the rim hard, finishing strong, and showing his shooting ability hitting from 3, he also finished with 17. Dimencio Vaughn scored 19, finishing from all 3 ranges, while demonstrating his ability to catch and shoot or finish off the bounce. Vaughn’s coach, Tobias Ceasar, informed NERR that Vaughn has most recently heard from UNC Greensboro. With these 3 leading the way for Masters School they were able to build a strong lead and complete the 71-58 win. Lee Academy was led by post-grad Darrick Boyd who finished with 22, scoring with his vast array of skills

BTB Prep, from Ontario, Canada, faced off with Redemption Christian Academy. BTB took a big lead early on the play of Darkelle Brooks who finished with 15 and Michael Asante who contributed 11. Redemption Christian Academy made a late push, pressing and with the scoring of Ja’Kory Freeman and Hugues Mbumba, who both finished with 12. However, BTB’s early lead was too much to overcome as BTB won 54-41.

With Makai Ashton-Langford out for at least another 4 weeks with a broken right hand, Wabissa Bede has a bigger role to fill as a leader and floor general for Cushing. If last night was any indication, Bede seems ready to step up in big ways. Bede scored 17 points versus Milbrook School while also dropping some dimes along the way. Bede had some help from Greg Kuakumensah who also contributed 17 points and Jarrod Simmons with 10. Kuakumensah threw down some big fast break dunks while Simmons dominated the paint. With these three, and significant contributions from the entire Cushing squad, the Penguins won 77-49. Brendan Hobban led Millbrook with 19 points, demonstrating his ability get to the rim and a terrific stroke from three.

Worcester Academy led by Kevin Marfo, a George Washington commit, took on Bridgton Academy in the penultimate Friday night game. Marfo was dominant on the block --a familiar sight all last spring and summer -- again Friday night. Marfo finished with 14 points and 16 rebounds. Uncommitted 2016 James Wells came off the bench to drop 12 points, including a couple of highlight dunks and grabbed 8 rebounds. With these two frontcourt players and nice guard play from Nassir Barrino and a couple of timely threes from Bryant commit Tanner Johnson, Worcester was able to win 56-34. Kai Toews from Bridgton Academy led all scorers with 17 points while also grabbing 8 rebounds.

The final game of the night featured South Kent and Cheshire Academy. Tremont Waters completely stole the show and his play last night is the early favorite for performance of the year. Waters, with only minimal hyperbole, was Stephen Curry-ish, creating space off the bounce, hitting contested shots, and finishing spinning highlight buckets off the glass. Waters approached a triple double, scoring 41 points on 5-8 shooting from 3. And, he didn’t even play the final 7 minutes of the game!  His South Kent team took a commanding lead and got the win 108-60. Waters also had help from Georgetown commit Tyler Foster who chipped in 13 and East Carolina commit Elijah Hughes who scored 15 points.  Cheshire Academy was led by Holy Cross commit Clayton Le Sann and Hofstra commit Elijah Pemberton who both scored 11 points.