Nike Super Six News & Notes
by Ray Floriani
NEW YORK – For just over three quarters Paterson Catholic did what was needed. The Cougars were running the break, penetrating and taking care of the defensive end.
Then in the final six minutes it all came unglued.
Mount Vernon rallied down the stretch to post a 66-60 victory in the opening game of the Nike Super Six on Sunday. The triple header featuring six of the New York/New Jersey-area elite prep programs was staged at Madison Square Garden with three fine games. The first was arguably the best.
Mount Vernon trailed 48-37 after three quarters and still had an eleven-point deficit with 5 and a half minutes to play. From that point the Knights went on a furious 21-4 run to take the lead and seal the victory.
“We didn’t get too much tape on Paterson Catholic,” Mount Vernon coach Bob Cimmino said. “We did know about their quickness because some of our kids faced them in AAU and in a league at IS8.”
Given PC’s quickness Cimmino did not want to trap or press. “It got to the point,” Cimmino said, “where we just had to do something.”
The full-court pressure and traps on the ball-handlers worked. Partially due to PC point guard Justin Theodore spending a few minutes of the fourth quarter on the bench with four fouls. Even with Theodore back in the lineup, the Cougars struggled. On the offensive end, even good looks that went down earlier were no longer falling.
Mount Vernon also got a lift from big man Kevin Jones. PC did a good job collapsing on Jones, headed to West Virginia, the first three quarters. In the fourth Cimmino started him outside on the offense. Jones had the green light to shoot from the perimeter or drop down in the low post. The move gave him more room and made it difficult for PC to locate Jones. He finished with a game-high 25 points and 19 boards, with most of the damage done the final eight minutes.
“We couldn’t match their intensity the last three or four minutes,” Paterson Catholic coach Damon Wright lamented. “We just couldn’t close it out. We are young and their maturity just paid off especially the last quarter.”
Notes
- Cimmino used a little ploy to get Sherrod Wright going. “He’s a North Carolina native and wants to play for UNC,” Cimmino said of Wright. “At the start of the fourth quarter I pointed out to Sherrod who was in the stands.” It was none other than North Carolina coach Roy Williams, who saw the junior swingman score 13 of his 20 points the final quarter and play a huge role in the Mount Vernon comeback.
- PC was led by Lance Brown, a junior forward, with 16 points and 8 rebounds. Brown did a nice job getting in the lane and finishing.
- Seton Hall got a really nice lead guard in Jordan Theodore. The PC senior runs the break well and gets in the lane. Whether in transition or breaking down defenses Theodore finds teammates with beautiful fingertip pinpoint passes. He scored 12 points with 5 assists and 5 steals. I spoke to a PC assistant who feels Theodore will get appreciable minutes at the Hall, either spelling Eugene Harvey or teaming up with him in stretches. “The thing about Jordan,” the coach added, “is he also plays outstanding defense.”
- No need to motivate players on this date. “At Madison Square Garden, a top-notch opponent, the kids are in a ‘candy store’,” said Cimmino.
Late Game Notes
- In the second game St. Patrick’s of Elizabeth, N.J. stopped St. Raymond’s of the Bronx 64-56. Kevin Boyle’s club got off to a rough start and struggled early. Gradually, St. Pat’s found the way largely on the inside play of Kansas-bound Quintrell Thomas, who led the way with 25 points.
- The final contest saw St. Benedict’s of Newark edge Rice 55-52. Rice came from eight down in the final period to draw even with just under two minutes left. Louisville-bound Samardo Samuels made a conventional three-point play with 29 seconds remaining to seal the win for Danny Hurley’s club.
Samuels had a 14-point, 13-rebound outing over the final three quarters. Hurley sat the Gray Bees’ big man the first quarter for missing a practice. UConn-bound KembaWalker of Rice led all scorers with 18 points. - The night before Rice edged St. Raymond’s in a tough overtime contest.
- Dexter Strickland of St. Pat’s announced after the St. Raymond’s game that he would attend North Carolina. Strickland originally was heavily involved with Michigan.
- Among the college coaches in attendance was UConn assistant Patrick Sellers. He was still replaying the action of a day ago when Georgetown knocked off the Huskies on a Roy Hibbert trey. “That’s a shot myself, coach Calhoun, our whole team would give anytime,” Sellers said, “and he (Hibbert) goes and hits it.”
- Even with 6 outstanding programs, the Super Six drew just about 4,000.
