Bullis Holiday Classic – First Day
Ron Bailey, Publisher
December 16, 2006 – Yesterday’s first round of the Bullis Holiday Classic was chock-full of good hoops action. Following is a recap of the boy’s games.
Archbishop Spalding (Severn, MD) 48 Woodrow Wilson (Wash, DC) 45
After a first half that saw numerous scoring advantages, the game settled into one marked by defensive effort. Wilson, led by Jarrell Baltimore’s (Jr.) 14 points went on a 7-3 third quarter run, in part due to their 1-2-2 press. Carlton Cole (Jr.) added 10 points for the game.
Spalding - without their junior standout Kevon Moore due to an ankle injury - finished the quarter strong, reducing their deficit to two. The other Moore sibling on the team, sophomore Andre, was key, providing a jump step shot and three pointer, in addition to active all around play. He finished with 10 points.
Dale Chambers (center), Spalding’s coach – formerly of Annapolis High – has brought a new ethos to the team. “The adjustment has been more on them” he shared. “We are trying to fast break and play man to man defense. They have to be accountable, to each other”.
Only trailing two to start the final quarter, Spalding’s first year coach Dale Chambers relied on a number of backups to secure the win. “We pulled it out, but I was disappointed in the effort of our starters” he said.
One reserve that answered the call was Brendan Bald (So.), who responded with nine points, including two jump shots – one of the fast break, pull up variety. “He hadn’t played much this year” said Chambers. “Today, he played well”.
Archbishop Carroll (Wash. DC) 82 Our Lady of Mt. Carmel 68 (Baltimore, MD)
Carroll jumped out to a 30-17, based in large part to their defensive pressure, which started with an effective 2-1-2 press, backed with a man-to-man defense. According to their first year coach, Clinton Perrow, defense is the team’s mandate. “What we said from the beginning is our focus is our defense. Our offense will be our defense” he shared.
Nobody epitomized that orientation more, than senior Travis King. Perrow commented “He’s makes the wheel roll” when asked about his floor leader’s impact, and King did nothing to disprove that assertion: The young guy repeatedly got into the passing lanes, creating steals leading to fast break finishes, as he did on back to back second quarter possessions.
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Senior Travis King led Carroll as senior's
should.
Offensively, Carroll enjoyed 18 points from King, 19 from Rodney McGruder (So.), as well as the 20 supplied by Kistopher Joseph (Jr.). While King excelled in an up tempo setting, as did Joseph, the latter also did a lot of damage in the half court, where he used his impressive ball handling skills to either get to the cup and score or draw fouls, and find open teammates. McGruder repeatedly pulled up for open mid-range jumpers, many times after facing up and attacking.
Mt. Carmel was led by Troy Franklin’s (Jr.) 29 points. Despite Carroll’s defense being highly effective on Mt. Carmel in general, Franklin distinguished himself by getting to the rim, finishing, shooting from the perimeter, and finding open teammates.
Carroll's Perrow, (center) revealed to defend Mt. Carmel's Franklin and that team's pick and roll, he instructed his team to "skinny up", and split the pick.
Carroll’s King thought highly of Franklin, remarking “He was a competitor” capable of “penetrating and driving”.
Afterward, despite his individual success, Franklin only commented on his team’s play, lamenting Mt. Carmel “didn’t play well at the start. We came out slow”.
Troy Franklin showed he is one of the best guards in the DC/Baltimore area.