by Brian Crownover
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Lamar Trice

Scores:

Boys & Girls HS 47 CBA (NJ) 45
Imhotep Charter 48 Monsignor Donovan 47
Linden 59 Neptune 57 OT

Imhotep Charter

Rashad Savage (2008, 6-5 PF)
With his teammates struggling from the outside, Rashad provided just what the Panthers needed on the interior to pull this game out. The undersized forward was a monster on the interior. He opened with a nice pull up mid range jumper, but then went to work in the low block. He showed a short left handed hook shot. Later Rashad hit a nice fade away jumper. He was very efficient on the interior as he possesses good touch and a feel around the hoop. He also has a good set of hands. Rashad did a lot of his damage on offensive rebound follow ups. He had a monster game on the boards and his second chance opportunities were huge for a struggling offense. The athletic forward really caught the crowd’s attention with a high flying alley oop dunk. He also blocked several shots as well. Rashad finished with an impressive 14 points, 15 rebounds (9 offensive) and 2 blocks.

Lamar Trice (2008, 6-0 PG) Committed to Mt. St. Mary's
Lamar is a quick ball handling point guard. He can get into the lane in a hurry and change directions as well. When breaking down the defense, Lamar loves to dish off to his teammates. He possesses good vision to go along with his ball handling skills. He threw a beautiful alley oop assist to Savage. The Panthers offense really seemed to pick up in the second half when he looked to attack more. Lamar also showed some ability to score. He hit a couple of runners, a deep pull up two pointer and also had a reverse lay-up. Lamar does appear to need a more consistent jumper, but his form appears okay. He ended the game with 8 points and 5 assists in the victory.

Will Adams (2009, 6-3 SG)
Will looked like he would be in for a huge day after driving left and hitting a high degree of difficulty pull up three pointer. He followed that up though with a couple of misses on similar shots. His shot selection was poor. Will continued to struggle with a missed runner and then was called for a charge. He missed what could’ve been the game winning runner, but then recovered on another opportunity as he banked in a runner on the final inbounds play. He did finish with 7 points (on 3 of 10 shooting) with 4 turnovers. We have really liked what we’ve seen of Will in the past, but on this day he clearly struggled. 

Miquel Bocachica (2008, 6-5 SF) Committed to Long Island
This was our first chance to see the sharpshooter in his new uniform with the Panthers. He did manage to knock down a three, but overall was ice cold from the perimeter (1 of 6). He didn’t put the ball on the floor too often, but on one play that he did, he managed a nice drive through the lane. Unfortunately he failed to convert the basket. Miguel had a pair of blocks and pulled down several rebounds. He had a quiet 3 point day though.

Kenny Battle (2009, 6-1 SG)
Kenny opened with an impressive drive and finish in traffic. That would be the only bucket of the day for him though. He had a nice drive left on one play and later on used a spin move in the lane to draw a foul. Kenny really struggled with his perimeter jumper though as he missed a number of pull ups all throughout the court. He really needs to work on that area of his game.  

Boys & Girls HS

David Imes (2008, 6-6 210 SF/PF)
This big forward was tough on the interior. He scored on a reverse lay-up early in the second. He scored on an offensive rebound putback. He also followed his own miss with a bank shot off the glass. Also usual, the big and strong Imes battled on the boards. He ended the contest with 8 points, 9 rebounds and a blocked shot. 

Christian Brothers Academy (NJ)

Brian Neller (2009, 6-3 SG)
We only managed to catch the second half of this game and for a brief period Brian was torching the nets. He opened the half with a three pointer and followed that up with another from NBA range. He then went cold though as he missed several from deep. He also mixed in a missed pull up mid range jumper in there too. He has good size for a guard and a smooth stroke. Brian had an assist on the break and drove left on one occasion before finishing. He can do some other things, but is still mainly a spot up jump shooter. Brian finished with 13 points in the loss.

Linden

Des Wade (2008, 5-10 PG) Committed to Houston
Few people can match this speedy point guard when it comes to jaw dropping plays. He’s super quick and has a real knack for adjusting in traffic. He scored on one of the more spectacular plays we have seen all season. He scooped in a terrific shot around several defenders and was fouled. We’re not even sure how he was able to get the shot off. Des had another impressive play with a drive left, dribble behind the back and banked in runner from the right side to score. He had several other nice drives and finishes. Des also dished out a few assists after attacking the hoop. When he is on the attack, he’s clearly at his best. Although he did miss a few runners, overall he had a strong game going at the rim. Where he has really struggled in the three games we’ve seen this year has been with his jumper. He opened with several missed three pointers in this game. He continued to miss from the outside as the game went on and he took a lot of shots from the outside too. His form isn’t bad, but he takes a lot of off balance shots. If he’d work on taking better shots from the outside, he’d be more efficient there and have a terrific all around game. The talented guard was still MVP for his team with 19 points and 5 assists in the loss.

David Bruce (2009, 6-9 PF)
David had a rough game for the Tigers. The skilled post player scored early on a putback. When we’ve seen him earlier in the year, he was a very efficient finisher on the inside. That wasn’t the case today as he missed a number of shots. He took a few of the shots from farther away from the hoop than we had seen and he didn’t look too comfortable with those. He did show some very good hands as he scooped some difficult passes off the ground. David also showed us the ability to put the ball on the floor from the perimeter on one occasion. He picked up two fouls in less than a quarter and just never really got on track after that. He then fouled out late in the game after having little impact.

Neptune

Terry Hicks (2008, 6-4 SG/SF)
Terry has impressive size for a guard. He didn’t put together a great game, but showed some skills. He has a solid handle and decent jumper. Terry had a steal and pushed the ball ahead for a basket on one occasion. He did have a costly double dribble late. 

Jabari Joyner (2009, 5-8 PG)
We really liked this guard’s quickness early on. He can get into the lane off the dribble and change directions in a hurry. Jabari played the role of setup man early on with a few nice passes to his teammates. He was quiet in the scoring column and had less of an impact as the game wore on though.

Monsignor Donovan

Sean Grennan (2011, 5-11 PG)
This young freshman didn’t have a stellar game, but he was solid in a starting role for Monsignor Donovan. He picked his play up in the second half. He had a pair of three pointers and possesses a good stroke on his shot. Sean is a solid ball handler too. He isn’t going to blow by people consistently though. The youngster had several impressive passes, including a long pinpoint pass on the break for an assist. He can drive either direction and found open teammates a few times after going at the hoop. Sean does need to cut down on the turnovers though as he had 4 in the game. He played a pretty poised game though and looks like he’ll have a bright future ahead of him.