#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.

Michael Gilchrist (St. Patrick, NJ) Recruitment Update

By: Alex Schwartz (Northstar Basketball Blog)

Michael Gilchrist

Michael Gilchrist ’11 of St. Patrick’s (NJ) is arguably the number one baller in the sophomore class. A 6’7 combo forward, the sophomore sensation has carried the St. Pat’s Celtics this year, as North Carolina-signee Dexter Strickland ’09 has missed a lot of time and Kyrie Irving ’10 is still out due to transfer rules. Just yesterday, Gilchrist led his team to a come-from-behind win at Trenton Catholic (NJ), leading a massive fourth quarter comeback along with Paris Bennett ’09, a future George Mason Patriot. After Michael’s impressive 22-point performance, he was kind enough to talk to me for a few minutes. The lanky superstar, who said the Celtics pulled out yesterday’s win due to “just heart, heart really,” gave me his college list. The five lucky schools to be mentioned by Gilchrist were Seton Hall, UMass, Syracuse, Villanova, and Memphis, claiming offers from all five of them. Many people think he will end up as a Memphis Tiger, but only time will tell.

Courtsey: http://blog.northstarbball.com/

2008 City of Palms Classic All-Tournament Team

The 36th annual City of Palms Classic wrapped up on Tuesday, after which the all-tournament team was announced. It was no surprise that super sophomore Austin Rivers (Winter Park, FL) who has committed to Florid, was named tournament MVP. He helped lead his team to a 3rd place finish after knocking off nationally ranked Duncanville, TX and Westchester, CA.

Here is the rest of the All-Tournament Team:

Austin Rivers, Winter Park (FL)

Lance Stephenson, Lincoln (NY)

Tyler Lamb, Mater Dei (CA)

Kenny Boynton, American Heritage (FL)

Michael Gilchrist, St. Patrick’s (NJ)

Gary Franklin, Mater Dei (CA)

Richard Howell, Wheeler (GA)

Tahj Tate, Wheeler (GA)

John Wall, Word of God (NC)

Roger Franklin, Duncanville (TX)

Maalik Wayns, Roman Catholic (PA)

Jordin Mayes, Westchester (CA)

2008 City of Palms Classic Day 3 Scores

This day belonged to the young guns with huge performances by class of 2011 standouts Austin Rivers (Winter Park, FL) who had 30 points and 3 rebounds in a upset of Westchester, CA and Michael Gilchrist (St. Patrick, NJ) who totaled 30 points, 14 rebounds and 7 blocks in a easy win over Word of God, NC. Derick Gordan (St. Patrick, NJ) also from class of 2011 had a big night with 27 points, 4 rebounds and 4 steals.

2008 Bank of America City of Palms Classic

2008 Tournament Teams

American Heritage HS (Plantation, Florida), 19-9: Kenny Boynton, HoopScoop’s No. 2-rated junior, had a 61-point game at last year’s COP, and is joined by pint-sized Ray Taylor.

Arlington Country Day (Jacksonville, Florida), 22-6: Apaches have won four consecutive state championships and boast 6-9 Wally Judge, Rivals.com’s 26th-rated junior.

Briarcrest HS (Memphis, Tennessee), 22-12: Leslie McDonald, HoopScoop’s 15th-rated junior, teamed with fellow juniors Johnny Williams and Gregg Wooten to win state title.

Dunbar HS (Fort Myers, Florida), 21-8: Tigers reached 3A state tourney behind sophomore David Paulk & juniors Melvin German, Dontel Singleton and Jeffrey Evans.

Duncanville HS (Duncanville, Texas), 36-2: Shawn Williams and Roger Franklin, both national top-75 juniors, are 75-2 with only one in-state loss during the past two seasons.

Fayette County HS (Fayetteville, Georgia), 23-10: Tigers rode 6-6 consensus top-30 junior Noel Johnson (25 ppg, 9 rpg, 3.6 apg) all the way to the Class AAAA state-title game.

Fort Myers HS (Fort Myers, Florida), 26-4: Green Wave reached Class 5A regional semis and will build around junior big men Josh Nicholas (6-11) and Steve Spline (6-7).

Lincoln HS (Brooklyn, New York), 28-4: Lance Stephenson, HoopScoop’s No. 1-rated junior, has led the Railsplitters to three consecutive city championships.

Mater Dei HS (Santa Ana, California), 35-1: Monarchs could be nation’s preseason No. 1 team, led by 6-9 brothers David & Travis Wear, who have committed to North Carolina.

Olympia HS (Orlando, Florida), 24-3: Titans won Tampa Hoops Classic and are state’s top young team, led by juniors Dexter Fields, William Green, Jamel Marshall and Martell Blue.

Roman Catholic HS (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), 19-6: Cahillites, upset in the Catholic playoffs after a 14-0 regular-season, boast HoopScoop’s No. 11 junior, Malik Wayns.

St. Patrick HS (Elizabeth, New Jersey), 25-5: Kevin Boyle’s Celtics will make record eighth City of Palms appearance, powered by consensus top-10 junior Dexter Strickland.

Westchester HS (Los Angeles, California), 28-5: Comets will put their 14-0 City of Palms record on the line, led by national top-5 sophomore Dwayne Polee.

Wheeler HS (Marietta, Georgia), 30-3: Highly touted juniors Ari Stewart and Richard Howell will be trying to give Coach Doug Lipscomb his fifth state title in 16 seasons.

Winter Park HS (Winter Park, Florida), 28-2: Wildcats won first 21 games and return national top-25 freshman Austin Rivers, son of Boston Celtics coach Glenn “Doc” Rivers.

2008 Sunshine Teams

Bishop Verot HS (Fort Myers, Florida), 16-11: Host school loses a lot of size, but return juniors Brennen Melvin and Ettiene Effenberg, plus sophomore Jacquard Hagan.

Dwyer HS (Palm Beach Gardens, Florida), 24-4: Panthers return 14 of 15 players, including 6-1 junior Ramon Galloway and 6-3 freshman Jacoby Brissett.

Montverde Academy (Montverde, Florida), 24-5: Nationally regarded Eagles program will build around 6-11 Ruslan Pateev and 6-foot Dmitry Zimin, both juniors.

North Port HS (North Port, Florida), 20-7: Shaun Noriega is widely regarded as Southwest Florida’s top junior, and will lead the Bobcats to their first-ever City of Palms.

For Tournament and Ticket Information Call:

Ron Riley, Executive Director, 239-671-9347
Kristi Hurd, Event Coordinator, 239-850-1707

For Tournament Team Information (Coaches) Call:

Donnie Wilkie, VP, 941-456-9388