A Weekend at Pro City

Ron Bailey, Publisher

DeMatha's Isaiah Tate (left) and Jerai Grant, pictured here after after their win Saturday, over St. Mary's Ryken.

June 12, 2006 – This weekend was an idyllic one in Washington, DC, for more reasons than one. Not only was it sunny with a temperature in the high 70’s, but the Nike Pro City High School League (commonly referred to as the Kenner League) was in full effect; meaning Georgetown University’s McDonogh Gym served as the site of major high school hoop action. Following are recaps for a trio of games:

Saturday, June 11, 2006

DeMatha 55 St. Mary’s Ryken 46

Dematha led throughout, with their lead swelling to 10 points midway through the second half. Leading the Stags scoring was rising senior Jerai Grant (17 points), once again showing he is one of the most steadily improved players on the East Coast. Grant converted post opportunity after post opportunity, cleaned the glass, and found open teammates for shots after drawing the defense after posting in the mid and low posts.

Despite not having the services of rising seniors Austin Freeman or Mike Peterson, DeMatha’s backcourt was a large factor in the outcome, and was led by Isaiah Tate (10 points). This soon to be senior swingman not only scored, but applied significant ball pressure throughout the contest, and even blocked several shots.

From a Ryken perspective, rising senior John Flowers (26 points) led the way, literally and figuratively. After arriving just after tip-off, Flowers displayed the ability to play both inside and outside, dunking and hitting jumpers out to 15 feet.

That this forward displayed a versatile offensive package is no surprise, given the work John has applied to his game. Last season at Ryken, he was primarily an athletic post player, capable of hitting outside shots when necessary. Standing 6’7”, and having accepted a scholarship offer to West Virginia in '07, Flowers knows more of a perimeter game will be necessary in the future. After the game, he indicated specific focus is being given to “working on going left (dribbling)” as well as improving/expanding his “pull-up jumper”, which in conjunction with his post moves will make him a tough cover in the Big East.

Class of '08 forward, John Flowers, is seen here at a PG 2A playoff game, this winter. Flowers has committed to West Virginia, where he will play the small forward position.

During a stretch of the second half when Ryken narrowed a 12 point deficit to six, John would score 10 of 16 points by dunking (twice), converting at the rim, hitting a layup, dropping a mid range jump shot, and posting a defender.

Flower’s barrage ended with: 55 seconds left and the score standing 50-44, but he and his teammates would get no closer. Aiding the Ryken effort was soon to be a pair of guards - junior Julius Brown (6 points), and super-frosh Elijah Mathews (6 points). Rising junior Chris Braswell, a forward/center (9 points) made a notable contribution for DeMatha.

O’Connell 44 Westfield 37

O’Connell jumped out to a 15-5 lead in large part due to the play of rising junior Jason Clark (13 points). Though he only scored 2 points during this stretch, Clark, a talented guard, controlled the tempo and played excellent defense - something he did all game long.

Jason would virtually dominate during the last four minutes of the contest, hitting an elbow jumper and scoring at the rim after executing a nice curl without the ball. Clark repeatedly found the open man, despite being doubled also, and was even instrumental in dribbling out the last 1:22 in regulation.

The backcourt of Jason Clark and Doug Howard (here shown last year in fall league action), were central to O'Connell's tough victory over a tough, well coached Westfield Crew.

Assisting Clark in the backcourt was soon to be sophomore, Doug Howard (7 points), who functioned as a player contributing energy, defensive intensity, and an outside shooting presence. Additionally, rising senior Zach Crimmins (11 points) showed early why the O’Connell staff, including assistant Ron Ginyard, has high expectations for him.

Zach, a post player, displayed a budding turnaround jumper, willingness to rebound offensively, and range out to about the elbow. Ginyard was pleased with the young guy’s offensive performance, revealing via telephone “We’ve been working very, very hard with Zach, to get him to play more aggressively on the offensive end”. When asked if Crimmins is beginning to respond to those expectations, Ginyard responded “I believe he is. Over the last several games, he’s made big strides”. O’Connell’s chief assistant coach then went on to opine Zach’s recent offensive performances were also due in significant part to his teammates starting to feed the big man, thereby showing more confidence in him.

O'Connell's Zach Crimmins, an improving post presence for that Washington Catholic Athletic Conference force.

Westfield received an impressive showing from rising junior Maurice Hubbard (15 points), a forward who exploded to the rim, hit mid-range shots, thereby showing he is comfortable facing the goal and operating away from the basket. Hubbard also rebounded, and displayed an increased level of quickness - a facet of his game that has improved steadily, since his freshman year.

Randy White is seen here providing instruction to Westfield's team. White is also NOVA United's head coach, and director.

Sunday, June 12, 2006

Largo 53 Blake 52

In a truly exciting overtime, see-saw battle, Largo prevailed, due in large part to soon to be senior, Brandon Dougherty (22 points). This budding, post-oriented forward was a terror rebounding and blocking shots, in addition to converting layups - of which several were facilitated by a nice spins - and sinking short jumpers. In fact, Dougherty’s shot with scant seconds in regulation sent the game into overtime.

Largo's Pro City team, with a few exceptions. Dougherty is the young standing on the back row, to the right.

When reached after the game, Brandon attributed “working out” to his game’s expansion from strictly the post area, and that his desire to play small forward in college has given impetus to his workouts. Dougherty is of the opinion that both “my left (hand dribble and shot) and mid range shot are coming along”.

After Dougherty’s game extending score, Brandon Woods (14 points) sank a foul shot and a three pointer in the extra session. Those four points would be the final difference between victory and defeat.

While rising juniors Evan Pugh (15 points) and Steve Nurse (14 points) paced Blake in scoring, their classmate Justin Creppie (10 points) provided a late scoring surge as well.