Flyin to the Hoop Day 3: Ohio gets two more wins
Ohio made itself proud this weekend at the Flyin to the Hoop boys basketball invitational by going 5-11 against national competition. Although that’s well below a .500 finish, considering the opponents that record is “pretty” good.
On Monday, the final day of the event, Ohio went 2-4 with Chaminade-Julienne and Westerville North getting wins. Although Dayton Jefferson lost, the Broncos put on a great display taking two-time defending Florida state champion Pine Crest to the limit before losing 68-61.
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Kettering Flyin’ To The Hoop Tournament (Results and complete Box Scores)
Dayton Chaminade-Julienne 59, Centennial, Ga. 58
Miller Grove, Ga. 60, Wilmington 40
Montverde Academy, Fla. 53, Huber Heights Wayne 43
Pine Crest, Fla. 68, Dayton Jefferson 61
Westerville North 67, Flora Academy, N.C. 56
Wheeler, Ga. 69, Liberty Twp. Lakota East 54
GAME RECAPS (By Kurt Stubbs/OHSHoops.com)
Westerville North 67 Flora MacDonald Academy (NC) 56
Westerville North (10-1) used a strong 4th quarter to break a 41-41 tie to defeat Flora Academy, 67-56.
Flora, who finished its game Sunday night around 8 p.m., was back in action at 11:30 a.m. the following day. It was clear the Cougars had run out of gas in the final eight minutes showing numerous signs of tired legs. The Cougars struggled to get back on defense leading to several easy buckets for the Warriors.
With University of Dayton Head Coach Brian Gregory in the house, Flyer signee Ralph Hill put on a show. The 6-foot-6 senior scored 28 points and snared nine boards. Hill scored on a variety of inside buckets, catch-and-shoot foul-line jumpers, and a few highlight reel dunk-shots. He was 9-of-15 from the field and 8-of-8 from the charity stripe.
North also got 18 points and 11 rebounds from 6-foot-5 senior Kenny DeBoer, 10 points and five caroms from senior Brad Nettles, and 6-foot-6 senior Johnny Hochstetler added nine points and seven strays.
North Carolina State commit Luke Cothron led Flora with 23 points but on just 11-of-30 shooting including an 0-of-8 showing from behind the arc. Cothron managed to grab eight boards.
Rayvon Harris tossed in 14 points and six rebounds while Jerome Seavers was good for 13.
Another sign of Flora’s tired legs was its 3-of-18 output from three-point city and also getting out boarded 37-27.
Pine Crest (FL) 68 Dayton Jefferson 61
On Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Pine Crest (FL) was able to escape the Flyin to the Hoop Tournament with a hard-fought 68-61 victory over a game Dayton Jefferson squad.
Playing in front of University of Kentucky Head Coach John Calipari, Brandon Knight, was able to drop 39 points and grabbed six rebebounds to help the Panthers escape Kettering with a (2-0) mark for the weekend. Pine Crest (15-2) needed all of Knight’s 36 points on Saturday to knock off Ohio D-1 powerhouse, Cincinnati Princeton.
Needless to say, Knight found a liking to southwest Ohio. The 6-foot-3 senior is regarded by many services as the top point guard in the country.
It was sold as Knight versus Dayton Jefferson big man Adreian Payne, but in the first quarter the Broncos’ Joby Jackson stole the show. The 6-foot-3 junior helped fuel an 11-0 run to start the contest by knocking down two triples. Jackson scored 10 in the frame.
The comfortable margin was short-lived as Knight quickly responded with nine of his team’s 15 points in the opening period. The Panthers closed the quarter on a 15-5 run to close the gap to 16-15 after eight minutes of play.
A pair of free-throws at the start of the 2nd quarter by sophomore Traeveon Henry gave Pine Crest its first lead. Knight followed the freebies with a triple and the lead eventually grew to 33-23.
The Broncos were close to letting things slip away, but back-to-back-to-back triples by Terry Blythe and two from Devin Foster helped fuel an 11-2 run to end the half. The run drew the Broncos within one point (35-34).
Jefferson was able to hit three more bonus balls in the third and Jackson tossed in another seven lightings to counter Knight’s 12 points. Payne ripped down five boards in the quarter.
With the score knotted at 52, the teams were primed for the final eight minutes.
In the final stanza, the Panthers held Jefferson to just one field goal but the Broncos were able to get in the lane and draw several two-shot fouls. However, they were just 7-of-14 from the line in the final quarter. The missed free-throws were too much to overcome along with Knight’s 13 4th quarter points.
For the contest, Jefferson was just 10-of-22 from the stripe.
Knight’s top support was Henry with nine points, seven rebounds, six assists, and five steals.
Jackson led the Broncos with 21 points and Payne added 16 points and 12 rebounds. The lone 4th quarter bucket for the Broncos came with Payne taking one-dribble from the right wing and serving up a one-handed hammer-head dunk from well beyond the block. That type of play is what has Michigan State salivating.
Devin Foster also reached double figures for the Broncos with 11 points. Dwight Johnson contributed five and eight boards.
The loss dropped D-4 Dayton Jefferson to (8-2) on the year. The Broncos had previously won eight-straight, but should still be a heavy favorite in D-4.
Wheeler (GA) 69 Lakota East 54
There are bad quarters, and then there is the 4th quarter that Lakota East endured on Monday at the Flyin to the Hoop against Wheeler (GA) High School.
The Thunderhawks were leading 45-39 heading into the final frame, but a complete melt down in the 4th led to a 30-9 advantage for Wheeler in the final quarter. The Wildcats turned up the heat with a diamond press and forced East into several turnovers causing the demise and a 69-54 set back.
Lakota East was in the midst of playing five games in eight days. The Thunderhawks played in the Mercy Medical Classic at North Canton Hoover less than 24 hours before its meeting with Wheeler. East fought hard but came a short against a powerful Mentor team. Perhaps, it was the travel and fatigue that caught up with East in the 4th quarter.
Wheeler’s star Jelan Kendrick, who is a Memphis signee, was held out of the line up in the first half for reasons unknown. Kendrick did manage to score 14 points in the 2nd half.
Joey Jerome led the Wilcats with 15 points and 10 rebounds, followed by Kendrick and 14 from guard Phil Taylor, and Karl Cochran added 11 and six rebounds.
Lakota East’s 6-foot-5 senior Trae Broadnax did his best to battle inside with a much taller Wheeler line up. Broadnax finished with 17 points on 8-of-13 shooting and added seven rebounds.
Talented 6-foot-4 sophomore Mark Minch added 13 points and guard Cameron Lee tossed in nine points and six rebounds.
The Wildcat pressure forced 24 Thunderhawk turnovers with a plethora of them coming in the final eight minutes.
Dayton Chaminade Julienne 59 Centennial (GA) 58
Dayton CJ’s magical season appeared it was going to take a slight hit on Monday evening at Trent Arena, however, Joe Staley and his teammates decided it wasn’t going to go down like that.
Trailing 50-37 in the 3rd quarter and then 56-48 half-way through the 4th, it was looking as if the Eagles would suffer its first loss since a five-point set back to Dayton Dunbar earlier in the year.
However, CJ scored on its final six possessions which was capped off by Staley canning the second of two free-throws to give the Eagles a thrilling 59-58 win over Centennial (GA).
It appeared Centennial’s athleticism and quickness was really getting to the Eagles, but once again, CJ (11-1) overcame the odds to score the victory.
Staley, a 6-foot-3 senior, scored 27 points on 10-of-14 shooting and yanked down five rebounds to lead the Eagles. Staley, who is the son of Head Coach Joe Staley Sr., showed tremendous foot work through out the day in the paint and uncanny ability to create space allowing him to score over taller and longer players for Centennial.
Wright State commit, Matt Vest, added 16 points and four rebounds. The 6-foot-4 senior also sealed the win by blocking a Knights three-point attempt.
Centennial guard Devonta’ White was outstanding, just as he was Saturday against Marion Franklin, scoring 26 points on 11-of-13 shooting. White, who scored 28 against Franklin, is a Georgia State commit.
White was backed by Adrian Rodgers with 11 points and six rebounds.
Miller Grove (GA) 60 Wilmington 40
It may have been the fact that is was Game 17 and Day 3, but Miller Grove and Wilmington was anything but exciting in the 1st half.
Wilmington, playing without Ashland signee Jordan Berlin, was able to keep things close trailing just 26-21 at intermission thanks to some aggressive defense.
Though, the Wolverines size, length, and athleticism began to take its toll on the Hurricane in the 2nd half.
Wilmington, who had lost to national-power The Christ School on Saturday, was having a hard time stopping penetration which led to several easy drive-and-dish dunks for the likes of 6-foot-8 junior Henry Brooks and 6-foot-9 senior Donte Williams. Not to mention the presence of 6-foot-9 and 260-pound sophomore Tony Parker, who is regarded as one of the 2012 prospects in the country.
To say that Wilmington was ice-cold from the field would be an understatement, as the Hurricane shot just 30% from the floor including 3-of-20 from the arc and 7-of-16 from the foul-line. The sharp-shooter, Berlin, certainly would have helped but the shooting woes had a lot to do with Grove’s size and length really bothering the Hurricane shots.
Not only were the shots not falling, it was nearly impossible for Wilmington to get a rebound allowing for several one-and-dones on the offensive end. Miller Grove out boarded the Hurricane, 40-20.
This led to a 18-7 advantage in the 3rd quarter to blow the game wide open.
Sophomore guard Justin Coleman finished with a team-high 13 points and Brooks contributed 10. Williams added seven points and a game-high 10 rebounds.
Miami (OH) signee Quentin Rollins led Wilmington (8-3) with 14 points on just 6-of-18 shooting and Malcolm Heard and Nyles Williams evenly split 20 markers.
Miller Grove finished the weekend (2-0) with the win over Wilmington and a Saturday afternoon thumping of Cincinnati Aiken. It would have been interesting to see the Wolverines face Dayton Dunbar.
Montverde Academy (FL) 53 Huber Heights Wayne 43
In the weekend finale, it was Montverde Academy taking on once-beaten Huber Heights Wayne in a game that had 11 lead changes but in the end the Eagles talent won out.
Montverde took a one-point lead (9-8) after one quarter, and the teams played even in the 2nd period giving the Eagles a 21-20 lead at the break.
Wayne having a hard time finding an answer for 6-foot-5 Villanova signee James Bell, who finished with 22 points and five rebounds.
The Eagles did an excellent job of defending Wayne’s high-scoring junior guard Travis Trice holding him to just six points on 2-of-14 shooting.
6-foot-5 junior Markus Crider tried his best to keep the Warrios close scoring 16 points and grabbing six rebounds. Senior guard Xavier Jones had 11 points and five rebounds but seven of those points came at the charity stripe.
For the game, Montverde held Wayne (8-2) to just under 33% shooting and 2-of-15 from distance.
The Eagles didn’t shoot it much better firing shots in at just under 38%, but did manage to knock down seven more free-throws and three more triples which was the difference.
Rebounding and turnovers were nearly equal.
Montverde finished the weekend (2-0) with the win over Wayne and a Saturday evening defeat of Trotwood-Madison.
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