#5 St. Patrick (NJ) Vs. #3 St. Benedict’s (NJ) Final 88-62

Dexter Strickland (St. Patrick, NJ)

In one of the most highly anticipated games of the season two national powers met last night at the “RAC” on Rutgers campus.

This game was between # 3 St. Benedict’s (NJ) and # 5 St. Patrick (NJ) each team boost numerous division one players across their rosters. Some of these talented players include Dexter Strickland (2009/UNC/St. Patrick), Michael Gilchrist (2011/St. Patrick), Kyle Irving (2010/St. Patrick) and Paris Bennet (2009/GM/St. Patrick) from St. Patrick, NJ. The standout players from St. Benedict’s, NJ are Tristan Thompson (2010/Texas/St. Benedict’s), Myck Kabongo (2011/Texas/St. Benedict’s), Tamir Jackson (2009/Rice/St. Benedict’s) and Lamar Patterson (2009/Pitt/St. Benedict’s).

The game ended up drawing in some of the area’s top college coaches and staff, coaches in attendance included Rutgers head coach Fred Hill, Seton Hall head coach Bobby Gonzalez and staff, UConn assistant Andre LaFleur, St. John’s assistant Fred Quartlebaum and Penn assistant Mike Martin.

At the beginning of the game it looked like this one would live up to the hype with each team going back and forth at each other in the first quarter with St. Patrick holding a slim 21-17 lead over St. Benedict’s. Kyle Irving had 10 points in the opening period for St. Patrick and Tristan Thompson led St. Benedict’s with 9 points.

St. Patrick blew a close game wide open in the second quarter outscoring St. Benedict’s 24-8 in the period. They went into the half with a 45-25 lead and never looked back from then on cruising to a blowout victory 88-62.

It seemed like after the first quarter when St. Benedict’s was getting the ball inside to Thompson and scoring buckets they went away from that. It also seemed like they just didn’t come to play last night and were disinterested in the game.

This was a big-time statement game for St. Patrick, NJ who is predicted to win the Tournament of Champions of New Jersey. They showed everyone in the state that when there at full strength they are a team to be wrecking with when it comes playoff time.

The leading scorers for St. Patrick, NJ were senior Dexter Strickland 21 points and junior Kyle Irving 21 points. Super sophomore Michael Gilchrist chipped in 8 points.

The leading scorers for St. Benedict’s, NJ were junior Tristan Thompson 13, sophomore Myck Kabongo 13 points and senior Tamir Jackson added 10 points.

Each of these teams has big-time match-ups coming up in the next week. St. Benedict’s takes on undefeated and #1 team in the country Mater Dei (CA) at the Nike Extravaganza this Saturday February 7^th at 12:00 a.m. eastern time on ESPNU. St. Patrick faces NYC powerhouse Lincoln on Friday February 13^th at 7:00 p.m. eastern time on ESPN 2.

2007 Charm City Classic Loyola,MD Recap

 Gonzaga (D.C.) 73 vs. Calvert Hall (MD) 37

In this game Gonzaga which is always one of the better teams in the region came out strong and took over and never looked back. Calvert Hall had no answer for the pressure defense that Gonzaga put on them from the start. Gonzaga just ran Calvert Hall out of the gym on Saturday night it was 28 to 3 after the 1^st quarter. The 2^nd quarter was nothing different Gonzaga was able to get everyone involved in the game early and led 46 to 12 at the half. Some of the key players in the first half for Gonzaga were Ian Hummer (09), Max Kenyi (Harvard), Tyler Thornton (10) and Cameron Johnson (08). The standout for Calvert Hall was Jon Graham (10). In the 2^nd half Gonzaga was able to sit most of their starters early on to allow some bench players to get a nice amount of playing time. One bright spot for Calvert Hall was the sophomore Jon Graham who was a force on the inside. He has a lot of upside to his game and is a player to watch in the class of 2010. Gonzaga led 59 to 20 at the end of the 3^rd quarter.  This game finished with Gonzaga winning 73 to 37. The game MVP awards went to Ian Hummer (09) from Gonzaga who totaled 17 points in about 2 quarters time and Jon Graham (10) from Calvert Hall who finished with 18 points and was the only bright spot for his team. Some players who stood out for Gonzaga were Max Kenyi (08) an athletic combo/guard who had a smooth mid-range game, Ian Hummer (09) is a skilled forward who used a nice array of post moves to score easily on the inside and Tyler Thornton who was the floor general for Gonzaga who showed a nice change of speed with the ball and had good court vision, he will be a player to watch in the class of 2010.

Recap of Charm City Classic, MD coming tomorrow

I will be posting a recap from each game tomorrow morning. These are the game results Game 1: John Carroll (MD) defeated St. Mary’s (MD) 85 to 72, Game 2: Gonzaga (DC) defeated Calvert Hall (MD) 73 to 37, Game 3: Neumann-Goretti (PA) defeated St. Frances 62 to 57 and Game 4: Rice (NY) defeated Towson Catholic (MD) 70 to 53.

Grassrootsballin will be covering the Charm City Classic Today in MD

 I will be attending the 2007 Charm City Classic today at Loyola College, MD. I will be posting all my reviews of players and scores later on tonight when I return home from the event. I am also going to get some video coverage at this event so, I will be adding that to my youtube this week. This is the link to The Hoop Group site for Charm City Classic, http://www.hoopgroup.com/hoopgroup/hg_charmcity.php

The Hoop Group presents Charm City Classic on Dec 1, 2007

This is a rebirth of a classic tournament that hasn’t happened in a couple of years. The games begin at 3 p.m. on Saturday afternoon at Loyola College in Baltimore, MD. The teams in this event include some of the top programs in the area, game 1 is John Carroll, MD #21 vs. St. Mary’s High, MD, game 2 Calvert Hall, MD vs. Gonzaga College, DC, game 3 St. Frances Academy, MD vs. St. John’s Neumann Goretti, PA, game 4 Towson Catholic, MD vs. Rice, NY # 11. This event will also have a bunch of talented players from each class in it. Tickets cost $ 12.00 and can be bought on ticketmaster or at the door. This is the link for more information http://www.hoopgroup.com/hoopgroup/hg_charmcity.php