Pool Play at the Hall of Fame National Invitational

July 12, 2009 Kevin Doyle

Brookwood Elite 55 Connecticut Gold 54 (16U)

Paced by steady point guard Corey Simmons’ 16 points (12 coming in the 1^st half), the Brookwood Elite evaded a late run by the Connecticut Gold in the early morning affair at Springfield College. Brookwood actually needed some late game heroics by Fred Dure (9 points) to get past the Gold. After the Gold got down by 9 points early in the 2^nd half, they came all the way back to take a one point lead with 21 seconds remaining in regulation, but Dure came to the rescue as he laid in a reversal lay-up with 11 seconds to win it.

The Gold had a very balanced scoring attack for much of the 1^st half, as nine players scored (none more than four points), but Al Torrens (15 points) heated up in the late stages of the 2^nd half where he poured in 13 points to bring his squad back into the game.

Vermont Basketball Group 71 Ste-Foy (Canada) 51 (16U)

Josh Varney (26 points) was a man among boys in a contest between two of the northern-most teams in the Invitational. Ste-Foy, while undersized, made up for their deficiencies down low with their outside shooting that saw them make a barrage of 3-pointers. Ste-Foy was neck and neck with the talented VT Basketball Group for the entire first half as they trailed by just a point, and was still close with just over 7 minutes remaining down by 7 (49-42). Varney began to assert himself more down low as he called for the ball on almost every possession; VT ended the game on a 21-7 run to win the game easily. Ben Ferris added to the effort for VT with 16 points.

Brookwood Elite 56 New York Elite 55 (16U)

Just hours earlier, Corey Simmons and Fred Dure were impressive as they fended off a late Connecticut Gold run, against the New York Elite both of these young players from Canada built upon their earlier performance and were nothing short of brilliant in victory over the Elite. It was Simmons running the show from the Point and Dure slashing and shooting from the wing; this young tandem will certainly turn some heads in the coming years. Simmons (20 points) and Dure (14 points) combined for 34 of Brookwood’s 56 points.

New York was not daunted in the slightest by the team from Canada as they had some formidable players of their own. Angel Nunez (12 points) and Franklin Milian (22 points) were both strong for New York, but perhaps the strongest player who truly made the Elite’s offense go was point guard Antione Slaughter. Unfortunately for New York, Slaughter went down with an injury to the head with 5 minutes remaining and New York had trouble containing Simmons the rest of the way.

New Heights 50 Ste-Foy (Canada) 19 (16U)

New Heights exerted their superior athletic ability from the opening top and ran away from Ste-Foy. It was 17-3 six minutes into the game and more than a 20 point advantage at the half for New Heights. The suffocating defense from New Heights caused Ste-Foy to struggle to simply get a decent look at the basket, let alone score. New Heights had a very balanced scoring attack with the leading scorer being Marquise Barnett at 11 points.

Positive Image 63 The Dukes (The Netherlands) 47 (17U)

After upsetting Mass. Rivals at the First Eight tournament on Friday, The Dukes were one of the surprise teams of the tournament as little was known of the team all the way from The Netherlands. Positive Image welcomed The Dukes to Philadelphia basketball by running the floor exceptionally well and scoring in transitional with several nifty lay-ups. Kenny Johnson (18 points) could not be contained by The Dukes as he was very quick off the dribble and got to the hole with ease.

The Dukes kept it close for the 1^st half as they trailed by just 4 points at the break (29-25), but Positive Image went on a 31-14 run to begin the 2^nd half and never looked back en route to the 16 point win. Damiel Ermen led The Dukes with 13 points.

Connecticut Basketball Club—Holly 72 MAD (My Athletic Desire) Basketball 58 (17U)

One of the most athletic teams in the entire tournament, CBC took advantage of their athleticism by instilling a full-court trapping press against MAD for much of the game en route to a 14 point victory. With the likes of Dominique Langston, Denzell Jones, and Chris Evans gracing your roster it would be foolish to not apply pressure and force opponents to play at a pace they are not comfortable with; this is exactly what CBC did. After being up by 9 points at the half (34-25), CBC came out firing in the second half as Langston (17 points), and Steve Glowiak each hit two 3’s apiece in the opening minutes to give their squad a comfortable cushion for the rest of the contest.

Langston and Evans (12 points) were very hard for MAD to defend as each player possesses the ability to get to the bucket off the dribble, as well as pulling up for the jumper.

MAD was led by Osmell Odena who dropped in 16 points.

MBR (Maine) 74 Hartford Knights 70 (17U)

When thinking of Maine sports, one immediately thinks of ice hockey, not basketball, but MBR can easily change this perception as they play a brand of basketball that is very effective and fun to watch. Behind the strong backcourt duo of Indiana Faithful and Keegan Hyland (12 points, 2 3-pointers), as well as Dominic Borelli (28 points) up front, MBR stormed back to beat the team from the Nutmeg state by four.

After trailing by 13 points (36-23) at the half, and then as many as 17 points in the early stages of the 2^nd half, Borelli converted on several tough put backs and Hyland hit some critical buckets in the final minutes to give MBR the win. Hyland, who is being recruited by several Atlantic 10 schools among others, hit a 3 pointer with just under a minute left in regulation to give his squad a one point lead. Hartford would never score again, nor would they even get a shot off, and Hyland hit two free throws to put the game on ice for MBR.

Hartford was led by the strong shooting and driving ability from David Hanson who finished with 21 points.

Top Performances:

Corey Simmons (Brookwood Elite): 16 points vs. Connecticut Gold (16U), 20 points vs. New York Elite

Brandon Stolz (Renaissance Warriors): 20 points vs. Connecticut Gold (17U)

Josh Varney (VT Basketball Group): 26 points vs. Ste-Foy (Canada)

Franklin Milian New York Elite): 22 points vs. Brookfield Elite

Rob Bier (Connecticut Hoopstars): 18 points (3, 3’s) vs. Expressions Elite

Dominic Borelli (MBR): 28 points vs. Hartford Knights

Matt Conway (Connecticut Gold 17U): 20 points vs. Renaissance Warriors

Kenny Johnson (Positive Image): 18 points vs. The Duke (The Netherlands)

Dominique Langston (CBC): 17 points vs. MAD Basketball

Alex Murphy (Expressions Elite): 20 points vs. Connecticut Hoopstars