by Alex Schwartz

Yes, it is a bit late, but better late than never! Last Saturday I went to Widener University in Chester, Pennsylvania for five games at the Pete Nelson Classic, a part of the Scholastic Play-by-Play. The games featured 10 Philadelphia-area teams, with nine of them coming from Pennsylvania. I will provide a brief recap on the event, with some stat lines, box scores, and standout performers. Note that all box scores and stats are unofficial.

Game one featured two teams ranked in the top 10 of my Pennsylvania Preseason High School Elite 11, in #8 Strawberry Mansion and #10 Girard College. Mansion features a big-time duo of DJ Newbill '10 and Khyree Wooten '12, while Girard College is led by Pitt-bound John Johnson '11 and Torrell Candaleria '10. Some other players also stepped up, in Amir Whiting '11 of Girard as well as Eric Jefferson '11 and Cedric Powell '10 of Mansion.

A back and forth affair that saw Mansion jump out to a big lead in the first quarter, only to watch Girard storm back and tie the game at 30 heading into the second half, it truly came down to the wire. Trailing by two late, DJ Newbill hit his first and only three-pointer of the night to take a one-point lead. John Johnson was fouled at the other end and stepped to the line at 11/13 for the game on freebies and proceeded to miss both attempts. Mansion added another point at the line and Candaleria missed a desperation three, giving Newbill and Co. a 74-72 win.

John Johnson started off the game very cold, but caught fire late in the second quarter and was on for most of the game. The 6'1 combo guard finished the game with the high total on the day of 34 points, shooting just under 50% from the floor. Khyree Wooten is certainly undersized as a wing at 6'2, but he uses his body well and that helped him hit two-thirds of his attempts from the field.

Team          1       2       H       3       4       F    
Mansion    16     14     30     26     18     74
Girard         8      22     30     21     21     72   

DJ Newbill: 20pts, 5/12 FG (41.7%), 1/4 3P (25%), 9/12 FT (75%), 6rb (2off), 2ast, 1stl, 1blk, 3to
Khyree Wooten: 16pts, 6/9 FG (66.7%), 4/7 FT (57.1%), 1rb (1off), 1blk

John Johnson: 34pts, 10/21 FG (47.6%), 3/10 3P (30%), 11/15 FT (73.3%), 8rb (3off), 2ast, 4stl, 2to
Torrell Candaleria: 15pts, 4/13 FG (30.8%), 3/8 3P (37.5%), 4/8 FT (50%), 2rb, 1blk, 1to

For the next game, which pitted Bayard Rustin against Norristown, I did not keep a box score or stat sheet, but there were a few players who caught my eye, starting with 6'5 forward Anthony Nash '12 of Rustin. Though he is a bit undersized, Nash has a long frame and nice athleticism.

Nash's fellow Rustin forward, 6'4 Cory Blake '11 was solid in his own right, displaying quality athletic ability and a strong build. Guard Rondell White '10, a 5'10 senior, distributed the rock well and also knocked down shots for Rustin. As for Norristown, which won the game 67-62 in overtime, it was tough and heady 5'9 point guard Sheldon Mayer '10 who led the way. A strong floor general with good quicks, Mayer is a nice talent despite being undersized.

In game three, two more teams ranked in my Pennsylvania Preseason High School Elite 11 squared off. Archbishop Carroll, ranked #6, took on #11 John Bartram. Carroll features Juan'ya Green '11 and Boston University-signee DJ Irving '10, along with under the radar wing Ben Mingledough '10. For Bartram, it all starts with Virginia Tech-signee Tyrone Garland '10, but Zaahir Allen '10 and Quasim Jones '10 are talented guards too.

Despite outscoring Carroll in three of the four quarters, Bartram's struggles in the second quarter had the team on the losing end when all was said and done. Garland—who had the most shots of anyone on the day—started out extremely cold, opening the game shooting 6/19 from the floor, but he really picked it up in the fourth quarter, single-handedly bringing Bartram back into the game, going 6/8 in the middle of the period (he missed his first and last two field goals in the 4th). At the other end, Juan'ya Green looked like a future Big East player and DJ Irving showed the potential to be a major impact player in the America East, as Ben Mingledough also had a quality outing and is deserving of some nice DIII and DII looks.

Team          1       2       H       3       4       F    
Carroll       11     21     32     10     18     60
Bartram     14     8       22     13     22     57

Juan'ya Green: 24pts, 7/15 FG (46.7%), 2/6 3P (33.3%), 8/9 FT (88.9%), 6rb, 2ast, 1stl, 1to
DJ Irving: 21pts, 6/12 FG (50%), 1/4 3P (25%), 8/9 FT (88.9%), 3rb, 2ast, 1stl, 1to

Tyrone Garland: 26pts, 12/28 FG (42.9%), 0/6 3P, 2/2 FT, 6rb (3off), 3ast, 3to
Zaahir Allen: 11pts, 5/11 FG (45.5%), 0/1 3P, 1/3 FT (33.3%), 4rb, 1blk

Game number four was the premier matchup of the day, as the best team in Pennsylvania, Friends Central met the #8 ranked team in my New Jersey Preseason High School Top 20, Life Center Academy. Friends Central, which was not ranked in my preseason PA ranks due to having a fifth year player, is team with five Division I players in Amile Jefferson '12, Devin Coleman '11, and the trio of Boston University-signees Dom Morris '10, Travis Robinson '10, and HJ Gaskins '10. LCA features Syracuse-signee Dion Waiters '10, UMass-Lowell signee Chris Thompson '10, Daniel Pitter '10, Stojan Gjuroski '10, and Rashawn Cunningham '11.

The first half was very low scoring, with only a total of 41 points being scored, but the action really picked up in the final 16 minutes. Dion Waiters played tentatively throughout despite being the best player on the court, while super sophomore Amile Jefferson struggled from start to finish, showing a few flashes here and there. Dom Morris looks like he has a shot to be a great player for BU, while LCA let it be known that it is much more than the Dion Waiters show. Led by a number of second half steals from Cunningham and Waiters, combined with the great performance of Thompson, LCA took home the upset victory, showing the strength of Garden State hoops.

Team          1       2       H       3       4       F    
LCA            12     10     22     18     16     56
Friends      13     6      19      18     12     49

Dion Waiters: 15pts, 5/14 FG (35.7%), 2/7 3P (28.6%), 3/8 FT (37.5%), 5rb (2off), 1ast, 2stl, 2to
Chris Thompson: 19pts, 6/12 FG (50%), 1/1 3P, 6/8 FT (75%), 2rb (1off), 1blk
Rashawn Cunningham: 9pts, 4/6 FG (66.7%), 0/2 3P, 1/3 FT (33.3%), 1rb, 1ast, 3stl, 2to
Daniel Pitter: 2pts, 1/9 FG (11.1%), 9rb (4off)

Amile Jefferson: 7pts, 2/5 FG (40%), 0/1 3P, 3/7 FT (42.9%), 4rb (3off), 1ast, 1stl, 2to
Dom Morris: 13pts, 4/8 FG (50%), 1/1 3P, 4/7 FT (57.1%), 4rb (1off), 1ast, 1to
Travis Robinson: 10pts, 4/13 FG (30.8%), 2/7 3P (28.6%), 0/2 FT, 2rb, 1ast, 1blk, 1to
Devin Coleman: 5pts, 2/8 FG (25%), 0/2 3P, 1/6 FT (16.7%), 6rb (5off), 2ast, 3to

The last contest of the evening was easily the most intense, as two more top 10 PA teams met, including the hometown squad, #9 Chester, though the favorite was #5 Plymouth-Whitemarsh. Chester is led by Maurice Nelson '11,
Laquan Robinson, and Erikk Wright '12, amongst others, while P-W has St. Joseph's-signee CJ Aiken '10, Jaylen Bond '11, Whis Grant '10, and Sam Pygatt '11. P-W dominated the first quarter and led 19-4 early in the second quarter before Chester fought almost all the way back, aided by Aiken's foul trouble that sent him to the bench.

In the third quarter, with Aiken back in, P-W built its lead back up to 20 and took complete control. Despite Aiken and Bond being the big names, it was Whis Grant who was easily the standout player. The senior guard was fantastic, getting to the cup with ease and scoring left and right in addition to distributing the ball. Grant has a chance to be a really good DII player from day one, yet there is always a chance a DI school will take a shot on him. Chester really had no one play outstanding, and I left after three quarter to beat the traffic. So thus, as noted below, the stats are only from the first three quarters.

Team          1       2       H       3       4       F    
P-W            15     13      28     22     15     65
Chester     4      16      20     10     16     46

Note: Stats are from the first three quarters only

CJ Aiken: 13pts, 5/8 FG (62.5%), 0/1 3P, 3/5 FT (60%), 6rb (2off), 1ast, 1stl, 2blk
Jaylen Bond: 9pts, 4/7 FG (57.1%), 0/1 3P, 1/1 FT, 6rb, 1stl, 2blk, 2to

Maurice Nelson: 8pts, 4/13 FG (30.8%), 0/6 3P, 1ast, 3to
Laquan Robinson: 4pts, 2/3 FG (66.7%), 0/1 3P, 0/2 FT, 1rb, 1ast

Throughout the day I also had a chance to catch up with a few players and get school lists. Take a look:

Juan'ya Green '11, Archbishop Carroll (PA): Maryland, St. Joseph's, Temple, Villanova, George Mason, Georgetown, Providence, Syracuse, Pitt, and Boston University
                               Offers: Maryland, St. Joseph's, Temple, George Mason, Boston University
                               Favorites: "Not right now, no."

Amile Jefferson '12, Friends Central (PA): Temple, Villanova, St. Joseph's, Wake Forest, West Virginia, Virginia Tech, Duke, Georgetown, Syracuse, and Penn State
                                 Offers: Temple, St. Joseph's, West Virginia, Virginia Tech, and Penn State
                                 Favorites: None
                                 Note- Jefferson, who said he has been to camp at Duke, Georgetown, and Syracuse, noted that there are other schools recruiting him that he could not think of, and also that he was not completely sure who has offered.

Khyree Wooten '12, Strawberry Mansion (PA): St. Joseph's, Drexel, La Salle, and Temple
                                Offers: None
                                Favorite: Temple
                                Note- Wooten does not have a dream school and would like to stay on the East Coast for college.

Note- photo is of John Johnson and is from http://scouthoops.scout.com/