BARRINGTON, R.I. – St. Andrew’s was the destination on Sunday for the Hoop Mountain Prep Classic. The third and final day of the event had some good matchups in store among the seven games on the slate, and two games were one-possession affairs while another was close to that. A couple of them were big upset bids in matchups of teams from NEPSAC Class AAA and Class AA, and the day ended with a blowout that might surprise some people.
Sunday Scoreboard
Lee (ME) Academy 79, Phoenixville (PA) Mont Clare Academy 66
New Hampton (NH) School 60, Saxtons River (VT) Vermont Academy 58
Wolfeboro (NH) Brewster Academy 84, Worcester (MA) Academy 82
Tilton (NH) School 89, North Bridgton (ME) Bridgton Academy 74
Ashburnham (MA) Cushing Academy 61, Wilbraham (MA) Wilbraham & Monson Academy 41
Barrington (RI) St. Andrew’s School 77, Salisbury (CT) School 73
Putnam (CT) Science Academy 87, Fitchburgh (MA) Notre Dame Prep 66
Behind Jorgenson, New Hampton comes back to beat Vermont
Noah Vonleh (6’8″ Sr. SF-PF, Haverhill (MA)) understandably gets a lot of the pub on New Hampton’s team, but Travis Jorgenson (6’0″ Sr. PG, Columbia (MO)) is pretty good, too. Jorgenson showed that in being a key cog in New Hampton’s comeback on Sunday, as they trailed for most of the game before coming back to pull out a 60-58 win.
Jorgenson got them going in the first half with a few jumpers, including from long range, and he calmly ran the show and also sparked them on defense. He would finish with 21 points to lead the way.
New Hampton fell behind big early on, and despite leading before the half was up trailed 50-40 late in the second half before they changed the game with an 11-2 run. Vonleh led that part of the comeback with a couple of three-pointers and plays on the defensive end.
Jorgenson had committed to his hometown school of Missouri, but has since re-opened his recruitment. His play on Sunday reinforced the notion that wherever he does wind up, the school will be happy they have him.
McNeil’s big game not enough
On the other side of the ledger, Daquien McNeil (6’3″ Sr. PG-SG, Baltimore (MD)) might have played his best game since arriving at Vermont Academy. The Florida International-bound guard had 27 points and was a thorn in New Hampton’s side all afternoon.
McNeil has been at the school since coach Jesse Bopp arrived there and is the most mature player on this year’s team. They will need him to be a leader in addition to his talent, and on Sunday he was a big reason they had a chance to knock off New Hampton. He started by hitting jumpers, and after that he was able to get to the basket all afternoon for chances. Sometimes he did it with quickness, other times bouncing off defenders or finding gaps.
McNeil had good help from the likes of Dimitri Floras (Jr. PG-SG) and Richard Williams (Sr. SF), who each scored 10 points. Vermont ran out to a 13-3 lead and later led by 10 in the second half, but didn’t make enough plays to hold the lead in the final minutes.
Florida International will be getting a player whose best basketball is still to come. McNeil’s body isn’t there yet, so as he further develops he should be capable of having more games like the one he had on Sunday. And if he has more of them this season, Vermont Academy could well be in contention in NEPSAC Class AA, which doesn’t have a heavy favorite this season.
Brewster rallies late to hold off Worcester
Looking at the respective rosters, one would figure Brewster Academy would run away from Worcester. And early on, that appeared a likely result as Brewster was off and running early. That wouldn’t last, though, and Brewster needed a late rally to pull out an 84-82 win despite a 32-point effort from Butler-bound Rene Castro (6’2″ Sr. SG, Milton (MA)) for Worcester Academy.
Worcester rallied from the early deficit to take the lead before the half was over. It came from much more than Castro, as recent James Madison signee Tom Rivard (6’6″ Sr. SF, Worcester (MA)) was playing the game of a lifetime before getting hurt later, Matt Cimino (6’10” Jr. PF, Falmouth (ME)) was hitting three-pointers and making himself a factor at the defensive end, and others were hitting the open shots they got. They still led well into the second half.
But Brewster finally woke up and started rallying. North Carolina State-bound forward Kyle Washington (6’9″ Sr. PF, Champlin (MN)) scored all 10 of his points in the second and Chris McCullough (6’8″ Jr. SF-PF, Brronx (NY)) played better and so did others who got in the game. McCullough finished with 17 points.
With the game tied, Brewster ran a play and got the ball to Kevin Zabo (6’1″ Jr. PG, Gatineau (Que.)), who put up a mid-range jumper that went in. They held on at the end for the two-point win.
Joseph, Chrabascz impress in Cushing’s win
Cushing Academy ran out to a big early lead and was never seriously challenged by Wilbraham & Monson. Key to their efforts were a big game from Kaleb Joseph (6’3″ Jr. PG, Nashua (NH)) and Andrew Chrabascz (6’7″ Sr. PF, Portsmouth (RI)), the latter playing in front of his future college head coach. While both scored 18 points, that doesn’t tell the story of how they controlled the game.
Joseph was hot early, getting to the hoop at will and hitting any jumper he put up. Long and very athletic, he used all of his gifts to finish near the basket and impressed many in attendance. It’s clear he’s improved in the last year, and his body still has some maturing to do.
On the down side, he got away with a couple of taunts of opposing players, which could very well have earned him a technical foul. He also still has a pause at times when he goes around a screen and looks to shoot, and at the next level he won’t be able to get away with that pause. When he may have an open shot, he needs to decide and go up quicker.
Chrabascz simply looked like the mature player that he is. Matched up often on fast-improving big man Goodluck Okonoboh (6’8″ Jr. PF, Boston (MA)), Chrabascz used a variety of good moves and fundamentals to score inside. Simply put, he knows how to play, and Butler head coach Brad Stevens, who he will play for next year and was in the gym, had to like what he saw.
Bonzie Colson doesn’t pass the “look” test but knows how to play – and win
Bonzie Colson (6’6″ Jr. SF-PF, New Bedford (MA)) doesn’t exactly have the prototypical forward body by any stretch. He isn’t the most athletic player, although he is more athletic than he looks, and at 6’6″ he’s not the biggest for playing the power forward spot at the next level although plenty do that. But what he lacks in physical gifts, he makes up for with basketball I.Q., and that was noticeable in St. Andrew’s win over the Salisbury School on Sunday.
Colson got the better of Samuel Dingba (6’6″ Jr. SF-PF, Yaounde (Cameroon)), although the two weren’t always matched up on one another. In going for 17 points, the biggest thing he did was take shots he could make. He often shot close to the basket, but took jumpers when he had a chance and was open, and while the numbers aren’t available he likely had a pretty good shooting percentage.
While not very athletic, Colson does well playing at the fast pace the BABC team often plays at during the travel circuit. He runs the floor fine, even though he won’t blow by a defender to get a layup, and has shown he can score in the post. On Sunday night, he did some of that as well as finding ways to score in the halfcourt.
What position Colson plays at the next level, or indeed what level he projects to, is difficult to figure. But it’s clear he knows how to play the game, knows where he can score and will do what he must to be maximally effective. Sunday night was just one more demonstration of that, and it shouldn’t surprise anyone considering he’s the son of a coach and has been around the game for much of his life.
New Yorkers lead Putnam Science in the last game
It was a night to forget for Notre Dame Prep, as Putnam Science blitzed them 87-66 and head coach Ryan Hurd was ejected in the second half. But this was really all about Putnam Science, who has picked up some talented local kids in recent years. This win was fueled largely by a New York connection that seems poised to keep this program rising.
The biggest name among them is Dayton signee Dayshon Smith (6’2″ Sr. SG, Bronx (NY)), who is long and athletic. He’s also crafty at getting to the basket and finishing, and he did that and shot the ball well en route to 23 points. His body isn’t there yet, so Dayton is getting a player that has a good deal of upside to go with the ability he already shows.
Smith has plenty of help on the perimeter, however, emanating from the New York City area. Jemal Mosley (6’1″ Sr. PG, Spring Valley (NY)) appears to be shooting the ball better than ever if Sunday’s game isn’t an isolated case, as he scored 25 points with the aid of several from long range. Malrega Clarke (6’5″ Sr. SF, Queens (NY)) looks like a fine complementary player and added 15 points, scoring in traffic and using his length to finish at times. Jonte Rutty (6’5″ Sr. SF-PF, Newburgh (NY)) had a nice night shooting the ball en route to 20 points, further showing how far his jumper has come. The problem is that he seems to have settled into being just a spot-up shooter, masking other things he’s shown he can do in the past.
For good measure, they have another native New York native in Joel Angus (6’6″ Sr. SF, Brooklyn (NY)), who wasn’t a big factor on Sunday but has had some good games on the travel circuit.
Tony Espinosa has this program on the rise, and this time around some New Yorkers are driving the train. If Sunday’s game is any indication, that rise is only about to continue.
Other Notes from Sunday’s Games
- In the opening game of the day, Lee Academy got a balanced attack en route to their win. Charles Foster (5’11” Sr. PG, Louisville (KY)), a plus athlete, led the way with 19 points, while Rashad Andrews (6’4″ Sr. SF, Jamaica (NY)), who has a good body and showed a little range on his jumper, added 13 and Vermont signee Kiefer Douse (6’1″ Sr. SG, Brampton (Ont.)), who has some length and will need to add strength, added 11.
- For Mont Clare Academy, Dequan Doyle (6’6″ Sr. PF, Forestville (MD)) looks like he could be a nice low- to mid-major player for someone. A well-built post player with some good fundamentals, he could stand to get in a little better shape and improve his post work, but he already showed something good to work with there en route to 12 points in the game.
- Early in Brewster Academy’s win, Martez Harrison (5’11” Sr. PG, Kansas City (MO)) was getting in the lane and finding teammates anytime he wanted to. He is very quick and used that quickness well.
- Bridgton Academy doesn’t have the talent it used to, but they can certainly hang their hat on Chris Lee (6’5″ Sr. PF, Lexington (MA)) inside. The bruising post player, who scored 17 points in the losing effort on Sunday, may be undersized, but he can score well inside and rebounds, while also playing assertively.
- Joseph’s backcourt mate at Cushing, Jalen Adams (6’2″ So. SG, Boston (MA)), had some impressive moments along with some that show he still has a lot to learn. His shot selection and overall decision-making left something to be desired.
- About the only bright spot for Notre Dame Prep was Jarrel Marshall (6’5″ Sr. SF, Mount Vernon (NY)), who scored 15 points. Included in his jump shooting were a couple of fade-aways as he continued to show an expanding offensive game.
- One nice thing to notice was a couple of players who are highly-touted and were also the first players up off the bench to greet teammates when a timeout was called. One was the aforementioned Kyle Washington, another was Tilton’s Terance Mann (6’4″ So. SG-SF, Lowell (MA)), who also scored 12 points in their victory.
