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NEWARK INVITATIONAL RECAP

Intro by Ray Floriani
Recaps by Matt Whitfield

NEWARK, NJ- The first Newark National Invitational proved to be a well-received, successful event. It was not a tournament per se. The event matched up a New Jersey power against a strong program from out of state. There were six games and the one girls matchup saw a battle of Garden State powers. Actually, these were elite programs that call the City of Newark home. Shabazz and Bloomfield Tech squared off in that lone girls meeting.

This invitational originally started as the Brian Doherty classic and was held at St.Benedict’s. It expanded this season and with a national theme was held at the Prudential Center. Doherty was a member of the St.Benedict’s class of 1966. He passed away in 2001 but for many years was a friend of the St.Benedict’s and St.Anthony’s programs. Simply, Doherty was a special person whose achievements and impact would take a great deal more space.

St. Peters Fall Short Against Pinewood Prep

The action tipped off Saturday with a match-up of local St. Peter’s Prep against Pinewood Prep of South Carolina. St. Peter’s is led by sophomores Myles Davis and Keith Lumpkin and junior Ronald Roberts, one of the fastest rising 2010 prospect in the Garden State. The visitors from South Carolina would rely on the experience of seniors Kenneth Manigault and Milton Jennings and it was too much to overcome down the stretch.

The first half gave a glimpse in to how special St. Peter’s is going to be as they held a 41-37 lead going into the third quarter. The sophomore Davis was the early star as he was on fire with his three-point shot early on. Davis had already hit for 20 points in the opening have and Kevin Walker, also with a hot-hand, added 11 in the high-scoring first half.

Pinewood did a better job in the second half defensively on the pair, limiting Davis to just five points and shutting out Walker.

Despite that, St. Peter’s kept it close down the stretch and even was in the ball game until the end. St. Peters Prep was down five, 65-60 with around one minute left. Ronald Roberts would try for a basket, however his shoot rimmed out and Pinewood Prep recovered. Pinewood Prep then just kept the ball taking as much time off the clock as possible. St. Peters finally fouled at the forty-five second mark. Kenneth Manigault went to the line hitting both foul shoots, thus putting the game out of reach for St. Peters. Pinewood Prep won this one by a final of 67-62.

In the win Wichita State-bound Kenneth Manigault had 21 points, and Clemson-bound teammate Milton Jennings had 16. Myles Davis led all scorers with 25 in the loss, and teammates Ronald Roberts and Kevin Walker also added 11 a piece.

Roberts continues his strong season and the 6-foot-6 junior forward indicated after the game that he has received scholarship offers from St. Joseph’s and Fordham of the Atlantic 10. Schools like Indiana and Penn State of the Big 10 as well as Big East programs such as Pittsburgh, Seton Hall and Rutgers are also showing more and more interest.

Roberts, while scoring 11 points, showed the willingness to sacrifice his body to make plays and some crafty moves with the dribble to avoid defenders when on offense.

Big sophomore Keith Lumpkin had a quiet game battling Jennings in the paint. He was limited to two points. Usually an animal inside that can rebound in traffic with his size, he was not overly noticeable today going up against the more experienced Jennings.

Neumann Goretti Defeats New Jersey Foe Don Bosco Prep

Don Bosco Prep faced off against Neumann Goretti next in a slow-paced, uninspired basketball game. Top Philadelphia program Neumann Goretti, led by 2010 Wake Forest-commit Tony Chennault, always had this game in their grasp despite what the final score might indicate.

Despite being tied at halftime and having played the night before, Goretti still had this game won easily. Don Bosco Coach Kevin Divero, on several occasions, had to yell at his players to sprint back on defense and it showed as Bosco was out-scored in every quarter of the game except for the second. Still, Bosco, led by the senior leadership of Mike Dudas, had a chance to win. Dudas had seven points in the final minutes to put Bosco within a basket several times. However, too much talent and too many weapons for Neumann Goretti would prove the difference as Don Bosco would lose this game by a final of 52-47.

Tony Chennault and Daniel Stewart led winning Neumann Goretti with 12 points a piece. Mike Dudas lead all scorers with 18 in the losing effort.

St. Anthony’s Edges Whitney Young, 52-43

In the day’s first marquee matchup, highly ranked New Jersey program St. Anthony’s, led by legendary coach Bob Hurley, faced off against a top ranked Illinois team, Whitney Young High School of Chicago. The Illinois school headlined by Marcus Jordan, son of Michael, as well at least four other division one prospects held their own in St. Anthony’s back yard.

Early on it was all St. Anthony’s. Marcus Jordan’s shot was off and Dominic Cheek kicked things off with a dunk that lead to a 9-2 St. Anthony’s run. Whitney Young came back however led by 2010 Purdue-commit Anthony Johnson and his eight points in the quarter to go ahead 14-11 after one period.

Whitney Young continued to lead at the half, 26-24, with Johnson scoring 15 points in the 1st half and leading his team through the full court pressure used by the Friars.

Led by junior Devon Collier, St. Anthony’s went on an 11-0 run and went into the fourth quarter holding a 38-32 lead. This game was far from over though because the way things were being played and the swings back in forth, the ball game was still really up for grabs.

St. Anthony’s continued its hot streak early on in the fourth quarter. Jamee Jackson hit a shot making it a ten-point game. Whitney Young came right back though. Marcus Jordan dazzled the crowd with real fancy ball handling skills and a slick looking lay-up to pull his team within five, 44-39, near the five-minute mark. The Friars big men however proved to be too much for Whitney Young as the guard-heavy line-up could not make a final run.

Cheek, and Jackson led St. Anthony’s with 14 points each and Collier added 10. Anthony Johnson led Whitney Young on the day with 18 points. Marcus Jordan finished with 6.

In this game, Cheek, the Villanova-commit, was the most aggressive play on both ends for the Friars. Came out hot and set the ton.

Collier had a big third quarter for the Friars and showed he can take the ball coast to coast himself. The transfer from All Hallows is rounding into game-shape and shows good size.

Derrick Williams and Ashton Pankey weren’t big contributors in this game as Young would use a guard-heavy line-up. Williams had trouble keeping up with the fast-pace of the smaller players, finishing with three points, and Pankey played sparingly.

Whitney Young sophomore Sam Thompson is highly touted in the 2011 glass and showed a willingness to compete in a game of highly touted players. Looks to have a bright future, but not a focal point of the Young attack at this time.

Kobango, Thompson Just Too Much For Lincoln

The next match-up on the day was featured as the main event of the Newark Invitational. Too bad it did not live up to the pregame hype.

Having played the night before at Rutgers, Lincoln took its game up to the turnpike to Newark to take on the host school, St. Benedict’s. Lance Stephenson was favoring, at times, the ankle he rolled the Friday Night at the Primetime Shootout in the loss to Paterson Catholic. When playing, ‘Born Ready’ did not show any weakness because of the ankle, but his squad was overwhelmed by the depth and talent of the Gray Bees.

St. Benedict’s came out flying in the first quarter. It was the Texas express show in the quarter and game, as Texas-bound Myck Kobango and Tristan Thompson would combine for 15 points in the opening quarter helping St. Ben’s grab a 25-18 lead after one.

Despite being down only seven, Lincoln was not really in the game, it would have been a 10-point game at the end of one if not for Darwin Ellis’ buzzer beater from just inside mid-court.

Tiny Morton’s squad competed well in the second quarter and kept the game within reach at the half, down 41-33. Stephenson scored seven of his 19 in the game in the second and Ellis added six of his 15.

The second-half was ALL St. Benedicts, as they ran away from the Railsplitters, outscoring them 48-20 after intermission. St. Benedict’s was just too strong and too much for Lincoln. With flying speed and momentum crushing dunks, St. Benedict’s was just way too much for the Coney Island Squad. Lincoln truly was not the test people though it would be for St. Benedict’s; however, we’ll find out how good they truly are in several weeks when they take on #1 ranked Master Dei on ESPN.

St. Benedict’s had five players in double digits in this game lead by Myck Kobango’s 23. Tristan Thompson and 2009 Pittsburgh-commit Lamar Patterson each scored 19. Patterson is really coming into his own with the Gray Bees, showing excellent hustle and has very good size for a wing. He also looks to have more offensive potential, but when you play on a team with seven division prospects displaying everything you have can’t be done on a game by game basis.

Also playing well in this one for St. Ben’s was sophomore Tavon Sledge, a 5’9 guard with blazing speed that will make some noise in the future. He finished with 11, he and Kabongo will be running like mad the next two years.

Another underclassman that was impressive was 6-foot-4 junior Aaron Brown, who scored 10. Brown showed good court sense and made things look easy. You can picture him averaging 20 points a game on many top-notch high school teams, easily. He mentioned Virginia Tech, Virginia, Florida State, Harvard, Penn, Miami and Kentucky as schools that offered. Big East schools Seton Hall, Rutgers, Connecticut, and Cincinnati have shown interest.

Union, No Match For Cousins, LeFlore

The last matchup up of the day was perhaps the biggest mismatch. USA Today ranked LeFlore, a team with only two players below six foot on their roster, faced an up and coming Union team, lead by Bobby Hurley disciple, Tony DiGovanni.

Union was outscored 27-15 in the first quarter, and after that LeFlore never let the Jersey school come within five points in any given quarter. DeMacrus Cousins had 20 already by halftime and his team rolled to an easy 88-57 victory.

Cousins led all scorers with 26, and teammates Gerald Watkins, Darryl Woods and Tycal Trash each had 9 apiece. Union was lead by Aishon White who had 15 in the losing effort.

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