Day 2 ARS/Rescue Rooter National Hoop Fest at Berkeley Prep

On the last day of the National Hoops Fest presented by ARS Rescue Rooter which benefits St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital we got to see some top teams in the nation.  The event was held at Berkeley Prep to a sold out crowd.  Its not often you can come watch top high school talent play in one building.

Huntington St. Joseph Prep (WV) vs. Oldsmar Christian (FL)

2016 6’4” PG Eric Hester of Oldsmar Christian was active in the first half, setting the pace and being patient in the offense.   With the scoring of 2015 6’7” SG Justin James with 11pts and 2015 6’8” PF Andrew Moemeka with 6pts in the first half, Oldsmar made it hard for the 16-2 Huntington Prep to keep up. HP was unable to establish their interior play the first half.

HP was unable to establish their interior play the first half however, the aggressive 2016 6-7 SF Miles Bridges who is ranked 7th in is class by ESPN created match-up problems for the Eagles by dropping 12 pts and finishing the game with 16pts.  2016 6’1” PG Ivan Gandia added 15 points; it was all 3 pt shots for HP and most were in the first half.  At the half Oldsmar lead Huntington Prep 32-31 and looked in control of the game.

As the 3rd quarter started Huntington Prep established themselves on the glass and in the paint.  2015 6’10” C Thomas Bryant who was held to 2 pts in the first half exploded the second half and finished with a total of 17.  2016 6’4” Curtis Jones was an impact for HP with 14 total pts.

2017 6’5” SF LJ Figuerora of Oldsmar Christian played with a sense of passion and gave 17 pts with most of them coming in the second half to keep it close.  Oldsmar Christian definitely competed but came up short, loosing to Huntington Prep 68-62

Bartow (FL) vs. Lakewood(St.Petersburg)

This game stayed close until the 4th quarter.  Lakewood consistently attacked Bartows defense for the first 3 quarters.  6’7” 2015 SF Anthony Lawrence ended with 30 pts and was the driving force for Lakewood.  6’10” 2016 C Tony Bradley struggled early but stepped up in the 4th quarter to close out Lakewood.   Bartow started to pull away from Lakewood in the beginning of the 4th 51-44.  2015 6’1” Deyontre Jordan added 20 pts for the game and 6’0″ 2017 PG McKinley Harvin shot well from the outside.  Bartow CoachTerrence McGriff made an effort to close the game out by pushing the ball to center Tony Bradley.  Tony Bradley of Bartow was not only a rim protector he was hard to guard in the post he was the difference in the game.  Lakewoods 2015 6’5” Kevon Woods added 11 pts.  Tony Bradley poured in 20 pts, 13 rebs and 7 blks for the night and Bartow defeated Lakewood 65-59

Montverde Academy (FL) vs. Tampa Prep

Top ranked Montverde Academy was phenomenal from the start.  Tampa Prep had difficulties guarding their big front court.  Top player in the nation 2015 6’8” SF Ben Simmons demonstrated all his abilities to score either from the perimeter or in the post.  Simmons scored an impressive 25 pts in the first half and finished with 31 for the game(only played 3 quarters).

Like what we saw from the young 2016 6’3” PG Howard Washington, 2018 6’10” EJ Montgomery and 2015 7’0” Doral Moore.  2016 6’10” F Juwan Durham of Tampa Prep finished with  18 pts, 10 rebs and 2 blks.   At about the 7:18 mark of the 4th quarter there was a running clock in place with MV leading Prep 65-30.  2015 6’3” G Michael Fridella had 8pts and 3 rebs.  Montverde Academy defeated Tampa Prep 77-42. 

When asked about the game Juwan Durham mentioned “We fought against good competition and we most likely won’t play a team as talented as Montverde again this season so we have to be ready for the rest of the season and prepare for states”.  Tampa Preps Coach Joe Fenlon was asked how he felt about the games outcome;  Coach Fenlon said “Great learning experience. It is always important to play great competition at the end of the year in order to be ready for the tourney.  Going 1-1 this weekend was a great accomplishment. We will have some take aways that will make us better.  Juwan showed people why he is one of the top players in his class in the country. I was happy with the way we competed against quality comp”.
Berkeley Prep vs. Simeon (Chicago)

2015 6’7”SF Edward Morrow had 21 points for Simeon and 2016 6’4” F Jacob Mathis had 18 for Berkeley Prep.  Simeon beat Berkeley Prep 76-32.