Team Philly vs. Team Maryland AAU Shootout A Success
Ron Bailey, Publisher
October 29, 2006 – Oxon Hill High School (Oxon Hill, MD), was the sight of a basketball confab never before seen in the Washington, DC area, as high school athletes from metropolitan Philadelphia traveled south to battle counterparts from the Maryland (DC and Baltimore metro areas) region. The first annual We R One & Universal Madness Team Philly vs. Team Maryland AAU Shootout allowed fans in attendance to witness four games chock full of future college basketball student-athlete, in an environment tailored to showcasing their ability.
Freshman Game
Team Maryland 92 Team Philly 86 (OT)
In the first of two overtime games, Team Maryland prevailed after squandering a 15 point fourth quarter lead. Their coach, Nick Myles - the junior varsity coach at St. Frances Academy (Baltimore, MD) – attributed their late to slide to a change in personnel. “We had a couple of our guards foul out” he said. “So we had to tell the kids to settle down, and spread the floor”.
During Team Philly’s run over the last 6:02 of the game, they were able to create turnovers after continual Team Maryland drives to the hoop. Myles attributed his team’s offensive aggressiveness, despite turning the ball over with a lead, to the event’s free-wheeling atmosphere, then said “But in the fourth quarter, you have to win the game. A lot of kids wanted to score and do their thing in the end. I wanted to pull it out, and get the fouls and easy free throws. And when we did that, that’s when we finally won”.
Team Maryland was led with Brian Allen (Dematha) and Roscoe Smith (Walbrook), who had 20 and 16 points respectively. Team Philly was paced by Zaahir Allen’s (Cardinal Dougherty) 20 points, and Deon Walter’s 18.
The two Allen’s received MVP honors. Brian is a 6’4” swing man who excels at attacking the rim in both full and half court settings, as sell as defend. Zaahir is a shooting guard that can handle the ball, defend, find the open man, and score.
When asked their opinions of the game, Zaahir proudly
stated “We had to comeback. In Philly we have heart”, while
Brian shared “We had to strap up, and play ‘D’”,
to secure the game.
The future is bright for Zaaihir (left) and Brian Allen (no relation), who have known each other for several years, after meeting on the basketball circuit.
Sophomore Game
Team Maryland 73 Team Philly 64
Dave Esmyer (O’Connell) scored 12 points, while teammate Maurice Creek (Oxon Hill) dropped 10, to lead a balanced Team Maryland attack. Team Philly’s offensive output was more skewed, with Scooter Gillette (Neumann-Goretti) scoring 24, and Kashief Festus providing 20.
Team Maryland’s coach, Ron Winbush prepared his squad for the challenges they would face from Team Philly. “I just told the kid, because Team Philly is a real, real tough team, when it comes to AAU (action)…and they don’t quit” he said. “I think they took it to heart, because they played hard, all the way through”.
Ron Winbush, a talented assistant at St John's High School (DC), mandated, as he does there and with Triple Threat AAU, that his Team Maryland (Soph) charges "share the ball".
Esmyer showed potential to become an offensive minded small forward, capable of playing at various tempos. Gillette, is another in a long line of Philly players equally adept at getting to the rim or scoring from the perimeter. He is in capable hands at Neumann-Goretti, where assistant coach Aaron Abbott will teach him the finer points of the sport (as he did with Syracuse bound Scoop Jardine).
An Oxon Hill, MD native who attended Mt
Zion Academy last year, Maurice Creek, a 6’4” all court player,
is looking to “bring a championship back” to Oxon Hill High
School.