BABC Rules New England
MANSFIELD, Mass. – Championship Sunday at the New England AAU Regional Qualifier was dominated by the premier team in the region. All three gold divisions were won by the team expected to win, although one team did have a blemish along the way. Another team won a silver bracket without its best player.
Here is a look at the five championship games in the high school divisions played on Sunday.
15-Under Gold: BABC 74, Mass. Bearcats 52
Despite not having several top players, BABC ran out to a big early lead behind the hot shooting of eighth grader Pat Gordon (Springfield (MA) Cathedral HS) and the solid point guard play of Marcus Grant (6’2″ Fr. PG-SG, Groton (MA) Lawrence Academy) and never looked back. BABC held a 44-17 lead at halftime and coasted in the second half.
Gordon finished with a game-high 26 points, barely missing a shot as he hit from long range in the first half and then started scoring on drives to the basket. He was joined by another member of the class of 2012, Shane Sims (Brockton (MA) Tilton School), who had 15 points and has plenty of potential as he’s a baby physically. Grant added 14 points, hitting several mid-range jumpers while finding teammates.
BABC’s run to the final wasn’t one of perfection, as they lost by one on Friday night to CMAC before rebounding to win each game the rest of the way.
16-Under Gold: BABC 78, MB Nation 39
In the first half, Denzel Brito (6’1″ So. SG, Groton (MA) Lawrence Academy) got hot from long range, opening up the game quickly for him and his teammates as BABC led by 26 at halftime and cruised to a 78-39 win in the 16-under Gold final.
Brito scored a game-high 28 points and played with the kind of aggressiveness on offense that allows him to be as good as he can be. Once he made his jumpers, a couple from a few feet behind the arc, it opened up his driving and he also hit teammates with nice passes.
Jeremy Driscoll (6’3″ So. SG, Dracut (MA) High) added 14 points and Marcus Grant added 10 for the winners. BABC held another opponent below 40 points, which they have done in all but two games this spring.
16-Under Silver: Mass Premier Gordy 90, Fidelity House 59
Just like its Gold counterpart, the title game in the 16-Under Silver wasn’t a competitive one, as Mass Premier jumped out early and held a big halftime lead en route to a 90-59 romp over Fidelity House.
Mass Premier went up 50-27 at halftime and cruised in the second half behind 22 points from Michael Adams (So. SG, Attleboro (MA) Bishop Feehan HS) and 17 points from versatile wing Matthew Dean (So. SG-SF, Franklin (MA) High), who also had some good showings in the state AAU tournament earlier in the month.
17-Under Gold: BABC 94, MBR.org 75
BABC completed a Gold sweep on Sunday with a 94-75 win over a good MBR.org team in a game that was still in doubt early in the second half.
BABC ran out to a 45-27 lead at the half and looked to be in control. But Jamal Coombs-McDaniel (6’7″ Jr. SF, Tilton (NH) School) came in on a fast break and looked to be fouled intentionally. He argued and got a quick technical, then another one as he kept arguing. That got his coach, Leo Papile, going, and he was tossed from the game as well. Keegan Hyland (6’3″ So. SG, South Portland (ME) High) hit all eight free throws resulting from the four technical fouls, and suddenly BABC’s lead was down to 49-45.
But that seemed to fire them up, as they quickly capitalized on turnovers and broke the game open to win going away. The lead reached double digits just a couple of minutes later and was never in doubt after that.
Gerard Coleman (6’3″ So. SG, West Roxbury (MA) High), who recently re-classified into the class of 2010 and will be at the Tilton School next year, led BABC with 37 points. He continues to have an excellent spring, and here he did more than just finish close shots as he knocked down several jumpers, including one where he stopped and hit from short range instead of charging into a defender. Malik Smith (5’11” Jr. PG-SG, Fitchburg (MA) Notre Dame Prep) had 20 points and ran the show capably, although his shooting was a little on the feast or famine side as he missed badly on some shots.
Darryl Cato-Bishop (6’3″ Jr. SG-SF, Dorchester (MA) Lawrence Academy) added 17 points, once again showing that he just wins. He always seems to turn it up another notch when a championship game arrives, and his scoring numbers don’t tell the whole story of how he impacts a game.
Hyland led MBR.org into the finals with 18 points in a win over BABC South, and also led them in the final with 24 points in a losing effort. He shot the ball well, but also showed he’s more than just a shooter as he’s a scoring threat off the dribble.
Thomas Knight (6’8″ Jr. PF, Dixfield (ME) Dirigo HS) had just 10 points in the game and didn’t make himself a factor inside. Rather than test BABC’s Alex Oriakhi (6’9″ Jr. PF, Tilton (NH) School), he stayed away from the basket and settled for jumpers. Not only was he not hitting them, but several were contested. We would like to have seen him try to score inside on Oriakhi, who has a big-time reputation but still hasn’t shown that the light bulb has gone on yet. If past viewing of both players is any indication, Knight might have been able to have some success inside, as he has a good ability to score down low and Oriakhi hasn’t shown he can consistently dominate.
MBR.org also got solid games to close the weekend out from Derek Libbey (6’1″ Sr. SG, Lincoln (ME) Mattanawcook HS), as he scored 16 in the semifinal and added 15 in the title game loss.
17-Under Silver: Mass Hoop Elite 72, Hoopz Excellence 60
Without their top player, Mass Hoop Elite used a big second half to take home the 17-Under Silver with a 72-61 win over Hoopz Excellence.
Michael Carter-Williams, who impressed in the state AAU earlier this month, was in North Carolina with another team on the weekend. His backcourt mate, James Rodriques (5’9″ So. PG, Hamilton (MA) Hamilton-Wenham HS), led the way in his place, scoring a game-high 20 points. Mass Hoop Elite had to hold off Hoopz Excellence late, and made several free throws to keep a safe lead.
