By: Zachary Adams
12/29/18
RALEIGH, NC -- It wasn’t pretty, but Prolific Prep (18-4) held on to defeat Word of God (15-6) 60-59 in the David West Bracket fifth place game.
Word of God has a track record of making their Holiday Invitational finales interesting. A season ago, the Holy Rams defeated Cannon School 68-64 in double overtime. The Holy Rams tried their best to repeat that same entertainment factor today, but fell just short.
10 days ago in Vegas, the Prolific Prep Crew thrashed the Holy Rams by 30, 86-56. Prolific Prep started today’s game off with their foot on the gas. The Crew held the Holy Rams scoreless the first 4:49 of game action, leading 13-0. Word of God used a pair of threes by junior Lance Anthony Jr. to spark the comeback. After one, Proflic Prep had the 10-point advantage at 21-11.
The Holy Rams came out firing in the second quarter. Word of God outscored Prolific Prep 17-9 in the quarter, where they actually managed to take the lead with less than a minute to go behind a Chase Forte pull-up jumper. Prolific Prep went up two, 30-28, at the break after Kuany Kuany beat the horn with a corner triple.
Word of God remained hot, as they came out of intermission clicking on all cylinders. The Holy Rams went on a 10-4 run the first 5:17 of the second half to go up 39-34. The Crew called timeout, leading to a miniature comeback from the squad that hails from Napa Valley, CA. Junior Nimari Burnett goes a bank shot to fall just before the third quarter buzzer to put Prolific Prep on top by two, 46-44.
The play of the game came with five minutes to play in the ballgame. Word of God’s Quandre Bullock put Prolific Prep’s Kuany Kuany, who is 6’11”. The Crew used free throws and lock down defense in the final minutes to seal the one point victory to earn fifth place in this year’s David West Bracket.
Nimari Burnett tallied a game-high 27 points to lead Prolific Prep, while Max Farthing led Word of God with 16 points.
Saturday, December 29, 2018
Cannon downs Downey Christian 66-60 to take 7th in David West Bracket
By: Zachary Adams
12/29/18
RALEIGH, NC -- With Jarius Hamilton and Qon Murphy both moving on to play Division-1 basketball, Cannon School was left with a huge scoring void. In came two freshmen by the name of DJ Nix and Jaden "Silk" Bradley. This morning, Nix and Bradley combined for 45 points in Cannon's 66-61 win over Downey Christian School to take seventh place in the David West Bracket.
Cannon School (11-7) were led by 6'5" freshman DJ Nix and his 23 points on 9 of 17 shooting from the field. Nix was also a force on the glass, as he grabbed a team-high six rebounds. Despite a limp, point guard Jaden Bradley poured in 22 points on 9 of 16 shooting from the field. The 6'2" freshman also dished out seven assists and grabbed five boards in this morning's game. Definitely a big day for the Cougars' fabulous freshmen.
Downey Christian School (8-9) lost their sixth straight game overall and their sixth straight Holiday Invitational game. Senior Eduardo Peralta owned the post for the Patriots today, scoring a team-high 20 points and grabbing seven boards. The YouTube sensation Julian Newman had his best shooting game of the tournament, going 4 of 13 from the field en route to his 17 points. Newman tallied four assists as well, but committed six turnovers. Emmanuel Maldanado's stellar tournament concluded with a 12 point performance. Maldanado left the game for a few minutes in the early in the foruth with a calf injury, but did return to finish the game.
Cannon led the entire game until until the 2:18 mark in the third quarter when Emmanuel Maldonado sunk his first of two threes in the game. The Downey Christian Patriots had the three point advantage going into the fourth, but just couldn't hold on. The Cougars outscored the Patriots 20-12 in the final quarter to put the ballgame away.
This was Cannon's third consecutive appearance in the Holiday Invitational. In 2016, the Cougars finished fourth, a school's best. Cannon finished in sixth in 2017 and seventh in this year. Downey Christian is the first team in Holiday Invitational history to go 0-6 in their school's first six games.
Cannon School will host United Faith Christian Academy in Concord next Friday, while Downey Christian will partake in the Grind Session Tournament in Kentucky next weekend.
12/29/18
RALEIGH, NC -- With Jarius Hamilton and Qon Murphy both moving on to play Division-1 basketball, Cannon School was left with a huge scoring void. In came two freshmen by the name of DJ Nix and Jaden "Silk" Bradley. This morning, Nix and Bradley combined for 45 points in Cannon's 66-61 win over Downey Christian School to take seventh place in the David West Bracket.
Cannon School (11-7) were led by 6'5" freshman DJ Nix and his 23 points on 9 of 17 shooting from the field. Nix was also a force on the glass, as he grabbed a team-high six rebounds. Despite a limp, point guard Jaden Bradley poured in 22 points on 9 of 16 shooting from the field. The 6'2" freshman also dished out seven assists and grabbed five boards in this morning's game. Definitely a big day for the Cougars' fabulous freshmen.
Downey Christian School (8-9) lost their sixth straight game overall and their sixth straight Holiday Invitational game. Senior Eduardo Peralta owned the post for the Patriots today, scoring a team-high 20 points and grabbing seven boards. The YouTube sensation Julian Newman had his best shooting game of the tournament, going 4 of 13 from the field en route to his 17 points. Newman tallied four assists as well, but committed six turnovers. Emmanuel Maldanado's stellar tournament concluded with a 12 point performance. Maldanado left the game for a few minutes in the early in the foruth with a calf injury, but did return to finish the game.
Cannon led the entire game until until the 2:18 mark in the third quarter when Emmanuel Maldonado sunk his first of two threes in the game. The Downey Christian Patriots had the three point advantage going into the fourth, but just couldn't hold on. The Cougars outscored the Patriots 20-12 in the final quarter to put the ballgame away.
This was Cannon's third consecutive appearance in the Holiday Invitational. In 2016, the Cougars finished fourth, a school's best. Cannon finished in sixth in 2017 and seventh in this year. Downey Christian is the first team in Holiday Invitational history to go 0-6 in their school's first six games.
Cannon School will host United Faith Christian Academy in Concord next Friday, while Downey Christian will partake in the Grind Session Tournament in Kentucky next weekend.
Wednesday, December 26, 2018
2018 John Wall Holiday Invitational Day 1 Rundown: Ranney wins how?? + Leesville sophomores impress!
By: Zachary Adams
12/26/18
RALEIGH, NC — Day 1 of the 2018 John Wall Holiday Invitational is in the books and man, was it a terrific day of hoops or what? Fans and fellow media members were treated to some great action on the hardwood between some of the Hoop State’s best and some of the best talent in the country. To think that today was only the first day and we saw all of that great action leads me to believe we are in for a treat over the next three. Anyways, let’s rundown Day 1, shall we?
Results:
West Charlotte 57, Panther Creek 43 // TJ Warren Bracket
Quick Wrap-Up: West Charlotte (5-3) used a 32-point second half to knock off Panther Creek (9-2) in the Tournament opener. Neither side scored the opening two minutes and change of the game, but both the Lions and Catamounts got strictly buckets after that. Three double figure scorers paced the Lions, including 16 points from Florida State signee Patrick Williams. Penn State signee Justin McKoy was the lone Catamount in double figures with 17 points, which was also a game-high.
Leading Scorers: Patrick Williams (WC) with 16 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 steals (6/10 FG) // Justin McKoy (PC) with 17 points (7/15 FG)
Virginia Episcopal 61, Cannon School 55 // David West Bracket
Quick Wrap-Up: VES (10-2) led Cannon (10-6) wire to wire in their David West Bracket quarterfinal clash. Despite the sluggish start, the Cougars showed signs of life in the second half behind the great guard play of frosh Jaden Bradley. Bradley scored a game-high 19 points. By the way, his Twitter handle (@JBsmoovve) is insanely accurate because his handle and decision making ability is uncanny for a kid his age. The Charlotte area best be on the look out for the youngster in years to come. As for VES, guard Ismael Plat was a problem on the inside all afternoon long. The 6’7” junior poured in 17 points to go along with his eight rebounds. The Hoop State has belonged to the VES Bishops over the past six days. VES earned two hard fought victories last weekend at the Crown Town Classic in the 704. Now they’ve arrived at the John Wall Holiday Invitational in the 919 and were victorious.
Leading Scorers: Ismael Plat (VES) with 17 points and 8 rebounds (8/12 FG) // Jaden Bradley (CANN) with 19 points and 4 steals (6/18 FG)
South Central 65, Athens Drive 52 // TJ Warren Bracket
Quick Write-Up: Like Virginia Episcopal in the previous game, South Central (9-0) led the entire 32 minutes en route to a 13-point victory over Athens Drive (7-2). The Falcons are the defending 4A East runner-ups. From last year’s squad, the three core pieces are back and all three of them made an impact on tonight’s game. Shykiem Phillips led the way for South Central with 20 points. 11 of Phillips’ 20 piece came in the second half. UNC commit Day’Ron Sharpe added a double-double with 16 points and 11 boards. Sharpe did not have the only 16 spot for the pride of Winterville, NC. Jahzeer Baker also dropped 16 for the victors. Northern Kentucky signee DJ Robertson was “silenced” in the first half because of foul trouble. Robertson would go on to score a Jaguar high, 20 points. The trio of Phillips, Sharpe, and Baker was a problem all night for Athens, especially early. The opening 6:56 to the contest, South Central held Athens Drive scoreless. At that point, the Falcons were up 16-0. From the get go, no deficit seemed too large for the Jaguars, as they tied the game up at 34 at the 5 minute mark in the third quarter. To close, South Central outscored Athens Drive 21-13 in the final frame to keep their unbeaten season alive.
Leading Scorers: Shykiem Phillips (SC) with 20 points and 6 rebounds (7/10 FG) // DJ Robertson (AD) with 20 points (6/15 FG, 2/5 3pt)
Leesville Road 82, Raleigh Trinity Academy 63 // TJ Warren Bracket
Quick Write-Up: Sophomores Carter Whitt and Chase Hakerem sure didn’t show signs of a “sophomore slump” on Wednesday. Leesville Road (6-4) got a combined 45 points from the tenth graders to lift them past Raleigh Trinity Academy (9-6). The story of the Day 1 had to be the play of Chase Hakerem. When you look at the Pride, every prep basketball fan in the Triangle will think of Carter Whitt (holds multiple Power 5 offers) and Presbyterian signee RJ Wilson. So, Hakerem was not one who came to mind until the 5’8” guard began to get cold buckets under the lights of Broughton’s Holliday Gymnasium. These “cold buckets” I’m speaking of weren’t just lay-ups or open threes. No, no, no. Hakerem was putting dudes on ice skates and hitting contested triples. Point guard Carter Whitt put on a show, while filling the stat sheet. Whitt had 21 points to go along with nine rebounds, seven assists, and five steals. To speak volumes on how well Leesville’s underclassmen played, let’s now talk about the human unicorn himself, Isaiah Todd. Todd is currently the #7 on ESPN’s Top 60 list and holds offers from schools the likes of North Carolina, Kansas, and Villanova. Zay Todd led Trinity with 27 points and 18 rebounds (1 set of Leesville ankles). Oh yeah, Zay had a double-double in the first half. Jake Bertoli-Felice complimented Todd with 21 points and six rebounds.
Leading Scorers: Chase Hakerem (LR) with 24 points (7/10 FG and 8/10 FT) // Isaiah “Zay” Todd with 27 points and 18 rebounds (9/24 FG)
Ranney School 70, Garner Magnet 69 // TJ Warren Bracket
Quick Write-Up: Ranney School (5-0) goes four of six from the foul line in the final ten seconds to give the Panthers the one point victory over Garner (4-3). Ranney School was in the double bonus, so when the Trojans fouled Bryan Antonie, he was shooting two shots. Antonie missed the first shot and after the miss things got wild. Garner was given a technical foul for having too many men on the court, which gave Antoine now three foul shots. Antoine, a Villanova signee, sunk all three from the charity stripe to tie the game up at 69. On the ensuing in-bounds for Ranney, the Trojans fouled freshman Elijah Perkins. Perkins makes the first, misses the second, and Garner cannot get a shot off in the final 9.6 seconds to seal the win for nationally ranked Ranney School. The crazy finish overshadows the performance from previously mentioned Villanova commit Bryan Antoine. Antonie finished with 37 points, 23 coming in the second half. Florida commit Scottie Lewis contributed 15 points, 13 of those coming in the final 16. Garner’s Shamon Jackson led the 2017 David West Bracket champions with 23 points and 12 rebounds.
Leading Scorers: Bryan Antoine (RANN) with 37 points (10/15 FG, 5/7 3pt, and 12/15 FT) // Shamon Jackson (GMHS) with 23 points and 12 rebounds (10/14 FG)
My Day 1 Starting 5:
2019 guard Bryan Antoine (Ranney School) —> You have to include the man who set the scoring precedent on Day 1 in your Starting 5. The Villanova commit shined in Ranney School’s 70-69 win over Garner by pouring in 37 points. Not only did Antoine get straight buckets, he sent the Holliday Gymnasium aroar with a reverse dunk in the first half.
2020 forward Isaiah “Zay” Todd (Raleigh Trinity Academy) —> The seventh ranked junior may have lost his tournament opener, but that did not stop him from stuffing the stat sheet and opening more eyes here in the 919. Todd went for 27 points and 18 rebounds, where he recorded a double-double in the first half. Absolute freak. Absolute unicorn.
2020 forward Day’Ron Sharpe (South Central) —> The UNC commit did not lead the Falcons in scoring, but he did record a double-double. The big man from Winterville went for 16 points and 11 rebounds in South Central’s 65-52 win over Athens Drive. Sharpe had 10 points and seven rebounds in the second half alone.
2021 guard Carter Whitt (Leesville Road) —> The Pride’s sophomore point guard impressed many, including myself Wednesday night. This was the first time I watched Whitt play in person without former backcourt mate Jalen Benjamin and Whitt sure is more effective now than before. 21 points, 9 rebounds, 7 assists, and 5 steals for Whitt tonight in Leesville Road’s 82-63 thrashing of Raleigh Trinity Academy.
2021 guard Chase Hakerem (Leesville Road) —> The kid who opened the most eyes on Day 1 had to be Chase Hakerem. If I had to choose a “player of the day”, he would be it. The 5’8” guard poured in 24 points off the bench, while also making Raleigh Trinity defenders look stupid left and right with his shifty moves. Hoop heads like myself love the “unexpected” factor to these tournaments or showcases, so Hakerem getting hot is fine by me.
12/26/18
RALEIGH, NC — Day 1 of the 2018 John Wall Holiday Invitational is in the books and man, was it a terrific day of hoops or what? Fans and fellow media members were treated to some great action on the hardwood between some of the Hoop State’s best and some of the best talent in the country. To think that today was only the first day and we saw all of that great action leads me to believe we are in for a treat over the next three. Anyways, let’s rundown Day 1, shall we?
Results:
West Charlotte 57, Panther Creek 43 // TJ Warren Bracket
Quick Wrap-Up: West Charlotte (5-3) used a 32-point second half to knock off Panther Creek (9-2) in the Tournament opener. Neither side scored the opening two minutes and change of the game, but both the Lions and Catamounts got strictly buckets after that. Three double figure scorers paced the Lions, including 16 points from Florida State signee Patrick Williams. Penn State signee Justin McKoy was the lone Catamount in double figures with 17 points, which was also a game-high.
Leading Scorers: Patrick Williams (WC) with 16 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 steals (6/10 FG) // Justin McKoy (PC) with 17 points (7/15 FG)
Virginia Episcopal 61, Cannon School 55 // David West Bracket
Quick Wrap-Up: VES (10-2) led Cannon (10-6) wire to wire in their David West Bracket quarterfinal clash. Despite the sluggish start, the Cougars showed signs of life in the second half behind the great guard play of frosh Jaden Bradley. Bradley scored a game-high 19 points. By the way, his Twitter handle (@JBsmoovve) is insanely accurate because his handle and decision making ability is uncanny for a kid his age. The Charlotte area best be on the look out for the youngster in years to come. As for VES, guard Ismael Plat was a problem on the inside all afternoon long. The 6’7” junior poured in 17 points to go along with his eight rebounds. The Hoop State has belonged to the VES Bishops over the past six days. VES earned two hard fought victories last weekend at the Crown Town Classic in the 704. Now they’ve arrived at the John Wall Holiday Invitational in the 919 and were victorious.
Leading Scorers: Ismael Plat (VES) with 17 points and 8 rebounds (8/12 FG) // Jaden Bradley (CANN) with 19 points and 4 steals (6/18 FG)
South Central 65, Athens Drive 52 // TJ Warren Bracket
Quick Write-Up: Like Virginia Episcopal in the previous game, South Central (9-0) led the entire 32 minutes en route to a 13-point victory over Athens Drive (7-2). The Falcons are the defending 4A East runner-ups. From last year’s squad, the three core pieces are back and all three of them made an impact on tonight’s game. Shykiem Phillips led the way for South Central with 20 points. 11 of Phillips’ 20 piece came in the second half. UNC commit Day’Ron Sharpe added a double-double with 16 points and 11 boards. Sharpe did not have the only 16 spot for the pride of Winterville, NC. Jahzeer Baker also dropped 16 for the victors. Northern Kentucky signee DJ Robertson was “silenced” in the first half because of foul trouble. Robertson would go on to score a Jaguar high, 20 points. The trio of Phillips, Sharpe, and Baker was a problem all night for Athens, especially early. The opening 6:56 to the contest, South Central held Athens Drive scoreless. At that point, the Falcons were up 16-0. From the get go, no deficit seemed too large for the Jaguars, as they tied the game up at 34 at the 5 minute mark in the third quarter. To close, South Central outscored Athens Drive 21-13 in the final frame to keep their unbeaten season alive.
Leading Scorers: Shykiem Phillips (SC) with 20 points and 6 rebounds (7/10 FG) // DJ Robertson (AD) with 20 points (6/15 FG, 2/5 3pt)
Leesville Road 82, Raleigh Trinity Academy 63 // TJ Warren Bracket
Quick Write-Up: Sophomores Carter Whitt and Chase Hakerem sure didn’t show signs of a “sophomore slump” on Wednesday. Leesville Road (6-4) got a combined 45 points from the tenth graders to lift them past Raleigh Trinity Academy (9-6). The story of the Day 1 had to be the play of Chase Hakerem. When you look at the Pride, every prep basketball fan in the Triangle will think of Carter Whitt (holds multiple Power 5 offers) and Presbyterian signee RJ Wilson. So, Hakerem was not one who came to mind until the 5’8” guard began to get cold buckets under the lights of Broughton’s Holliday Gymnasium. These “cold buckets” I’m speaking of weren’t just lay-ups or open threes. No, no, no. Hakerem was putting dudes on ice skates and hitting contested triples. Point guard Carter Whitt put on a show, while filling the stat sheet. Whitt had 21 points to go along with nine rebounds, seven assists, and five steals. To speak volumes on how well Leesville’s underclassmen played, let’s now talk about the human unicorn himself, Isaiah Todd. Todd is currently the #7 on ESPN’s Top 60 list and holds offers from schools the likes of North Carolina, Kansas, and Villanova. Zay Todd led Trinity with 27 points and 18 rebounds (1 set of Leesville ankles). Oh yeah, Zay had a double-double in the first half. Jake Bertoli-Felice complimented Todd with 21 points and six rebounds.
Leading Scorers: Chase Hakerem (LR) with 24 points (7/10 FG and 8/10 FT) // Isaiah “Zay” Todd with 27 points and 18 rebounds (9/24 FG)
Ranney School 70, Garner Magnet 69 // TJ Warren Bracket
Quick Write-Up: Ranney School (5-0) goes four of six from the foul line in the final ten seconds to give the Panthers the one point victory over Garner (4-3). Ranney School was in the double bonus, so when the Trojans fouled Bryan Antonie, he was shooting two shots. Antonie missed the first shot and after the miss things got wild. Garner was given a technical foul for having too many men on the court, which gave Antoine now three foul shots. Antoine, a Villanova signee, sunk all three from the charity stripe to tie the game up at 69. On the ensuing in-bounds for Ranney, the Trojans fouled freshman Elijah Perkins. Perkins makes the first, misses the second, and Garner cannot get a shot off in the final 9.6 seconds to seal the win for nationally ranked Ranney School. The crazy finish overshadows the performance from previously mentioned Villanova commit Bryan Antoine. Antonie finished with 37 points, 23 coming in the second half. Florida commit Scottie Lewis contributed 15 points, 13 of those coming in the final 16. Garner’s Shamon Jackson led the 2017 David West Bracket champions with 23 points and 12 rebounds.
Leading Scorers: Bryan Antoine (RANN) with 37 points (10/15 FG, 5/7 3pt, and 12/15 FT) // Shamon Jackson (GMHS) with 23 points and 12 rebounds (10/14 FG)
My Day 1 Starting 5:
2019 guard Bryan Antoine (Ranney School) —> You have to include the man who set the scoring precedent on Day 1 in your Starting 5. The Villanova commit shined in Ranney School’s 70-69 win over Garner by pouring in 37 points. Not only did Antoine get straight buckets, he sent the Holliday Gymnasium aroar with a reverse dunk in the first half.
2020 forward Isaiah “Zay” Todd (Raleigh Trinity Academy) —> The seventh ranked junior may have lost his tournament opener, but that did not stop him from stuffing the stat sheet and opening more eyes here in the 919. Todd went for 27 points and 18 rebounds, where he recorded a double-double in the first half. Absolute freak. Absolute unicorn.
2020 forward Day’Ron Sharpe (South Central) —> The UNC commit did not lead the Falcons in scoring, but he did record a double-double. The big man from Winterville went for 16 points and 11 rebounds in South Central’s 65-52 win over Athens Drive. Sharpe had 10 points and seven rebounds in the second half alone.
2021 guard Carter Whitt (Leesville Road) —> The Pride’s sophomore point guard impressed many, including myself Wednesday night. This was the first time I watched Whitt play in person without former backcourt mate Jalen Benjamin and Whitt sure is more effective now than before. 21 points, 9 rebounds, 7 assists, and 5 steals for Whitt tonight in Leesville Road’s 82-63 thrashing of Raleigh Trinity Academy.
2021 guard Chase Hakerem (Leesville Road) —> The kid who opened the most eyes on Day 1 had to be Chase Hakerem. If I had to choose a “player of the day”, he would be it. The 5’8” guard poured in 24 points off the bench, while also making Raleigh Trinity defenders look stupid left and right with his shifty moves. Hoop heads like myself love the “unexpected” factor to these tournaments or showcases, so Hakerem getting hot is fine by me.
Day 2 Schedule:
12:00pm = Athens Drive vs Raleigh Trinity Academy // TJ Warren Consolation Bracket
1:45pm = Garner vs Panther Creek // TJ Warren Consolation Bracket
3:30pm = Trinity Christian vs Prolific Prep // David West Bracket
5:15pm = Broughton vs Downey Christian School // David West Bracket
7:00pm = South Central vs Leesville Road // TJ Warren Bracket
8:30pm = Brewster Academy vs Word of God // David West Bracket
12:00pm = Athens Drive vs Raleigh Trinity Academy // TJ Warren Consolation Bracket
1:45pm = Garner vs Panther Creek // TJ Warren Consolation Bracket
3:30pm = Trinity Christian vs Prolific Prep // David West Bracket
5:15pm = Broughton vs Downey Christian School // David West Bracket
7:00pm = South Central vs Leesville Road // TJ Warren Bracket
8:30pm = Brewster Academy vs Word of God // David West Bracket
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