BOSTON – The last 33 seconds of regulation saw just about everything you can imagine. Overtime seemed inevitable, and it wasn’t a surprise when that happened. After the extra session, the South all-stars took home an 80-79 victory over the North in the Boston City League All-Star Classic at Northeastern.
With 33 seconds left and the North leading 70-68, an inbounds pass went off a South player, then the North nearly lost the ball via a tie-up near their own bench, but it went out off a South player. Seconds later, a tie-up did happen and the South got the ball back via the possession arrow. But they turned it right back over as they couldn’t get the ball in. Two missed free throws were followed by a foul and a missed front end of a one-and-one, giving the North another chance. But they turned it over right in front of the South bench, and Osmel Odena drove in for a layup to tie the game at 70.
The North almost pulled it out, as they got the ball up the court for a breakaway, but a layup and tip-in both missed, and New Mission’s Charles Gunter then got a decent look for the South before the buzzer. The game was still tied at 70.
All that in 33 seconds.
The extra session had plenty of drama as well before the South held on for an 80-79 win over the North in a game that became in part a battle of big men late. That all came after the South jumped out to a big early lead and lead by 16 at one point in the first half before taking a 38-27 lead at intermission. The North would score the first 11 of the second half, but the South scored the next nine and at one point in the fourth quarter had a 62-50 lead.
The game MVP was Ousmane Drame (6’8” Sr. C, New Mission School), fresh off helping his team to a Division 4 state title. He came up big in the clutch with a key block and several big rebounds in the extra session to go along with a team-high 13 points. He’s right on the border of project/prospect, as he’s long and can block shots and showed some skills here at times, but he also made an errant pass late and is mechanical on the low post offensively.
On the other side was David Campbell (6’6” Sr. PF, Madison Park HS), who really came on in the fourth quarter in carrying his team to a near-victory. The well-built big man ran the floor well and got several transition field goals, at times from leaking out. When he stayed inside, he rebounded, blocked shots and took charges while also making a couple of nice outlet passes. He finished with a game-high 18 points.
Also playing well for the South was Jason Hall (Jr. SF, West Roxbury HS), as the lefty was very active and had a nose for the ball. He’s small for the wing position, so his shaky jump shot release will need improvement, while he did make a nice baseline drive on one play.
While the big men seemingly took over the game late, Osmel Odean (Sr. G, New Mission School) came alive on the perimeter for the South. He scored the game-tying layup in regulation and added more clutch driving layups in the extra session.
Kenny Jean (Sr. SG-SF, Brighton HS) scored 12 points, showing a nice touch on mid-range jumpers although he has a slight fade on his shot.
Helping Campbell for the North was high school teammate Spencer Braithwaite (Sr. PG, Madison Park HS). Not the quickest guard, he made some big plays late en route to scoring 11 points. He played well but didn’t shine here.
