200212

12/31/02 Coach Ted Gustus: 'On Monday, October 30, 2002 the New York Knicks defeated Tim Duncan and the Spurs. This was a special game, as I witnessed Eric Hicks and his Game Over Shakin' Kids absolutely turn the Garden out! Once again, kudos to the Game Over Shakin' Kids who had the opportunity to demonstrate their Shakin skills, combining hip hop break dancing with slick ballhandling and dribbling. Many of these youngsters come from the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens and Staten Island. They were absolutely terrific. For 50 seconds these young boys captured 19,500 spectators and brought them to their feet with some dazzling display of dancing and dribbling. Eric Hicks, President of Game Over created the Shakin Contest long before the Nike commercials and the And 1 tapes. His Shakin kids have been on WPIX, NBC, Fox-5, and CBS. For more information and exciting pictures check out GAMEOVERNYC.COM. If you are interested in being a part of the Shakin competition go to the site and sign up.'

12/31/02 John Sce, Varsity Basketball Coach New Utrecht High School: 'I would like to take this opportunity to thank John Browning and his staff for running an exceptional High School Basketball Tournament. The competition is well rounded with teams from the PSAL, Private Schools, and CHSAA A/B Divisions. New Utrecht has participated in this tournament for many years and I have found the competition to be among the very best. I look forward to participating in this tournament for many years to come. Once again congratulations on a job well done!'

12/31/02 Raleigh NewsObserver: Seniors lead St. Raymond to title. Experience key as N.Y. team tops DeMatha in GlaxoSmithKline final.

12/31/02 Houston Chronicle: Comeback lifts Oak Hill. Virginia team nips St. Patrick for Academy National title.

12/31/02 DelawareOnline: St. Benedict's wins Slam Dunk title. Former Hodgson star, Art Bowers, helps New Jersey team pick up championship

12/31/02 InsidersHoops: Dan Hurley's St. Benedict's team remained undefeated this season and defeated a tough Archbishop Spalding crew 49-48 to win the 2002 Slam Dunk To The Beach.

12/31/02 NJO: St. Patrick's falls to Oak Hill 62-59 in final of the Academy National Tournament in Houston.

Junior guard Ahmad Mosby scored a season-high 21 points and Terrence Roberts added 13 as St. Anthony defeated De La Salle of California, 58-44, yesterday in a consolation game of the National Prep Classic in San Diego.

Darryl Watkins, a 6-11 senior center, totaled 18 points, seven rebounds and two blocks as Paterson Catholic recorded a 65-46 victory over Wilcox Central of Alabama in the Slam Dunk to the Beach Tournament yesterday in Lewes, Del.

Ibrahim Jaaber hit for 30 points and Jamaal Hilliard scored 28 to rally Peddie past Neptune, 81-73, in the final of the Holiday Jubilee yesterday in Neptune.

J.R. Smith and Stanley Branch scored 13 points apiece to lead St. Benedicts Prep to a 49-48 victory over Archbishop Spalding of Maryland last night in the championship game of the Slam Dunk to the Beach Tournament in Lewes, Del.

12/31/02 Coach Eric 'Rock' Eisenberg: 'Yesterday a young man using the screen name "Crooklyn" talked about St. Edmund Prep and the "B" CHSAA Division and today he looks really on the money with coach Brian Mullen's St.Edmund Prep team beating a young Grady squad on Monday night at the "King" classic. Crooklyn is telling the truth about St. Edmund having some real talented kids on the team. Matt Irwin can pass, shoot and make pressure shots, Chris Bernard is a quick scoring combo guard who is starting to play up to his "Rep, Andy Louison is a small Larry Johnson in the post and they also have a young shooter named Shane Gauvard who can really fill it up. However the best thing they have is coach Brian Mullen. Brian is a "teacher" in the true sense of the word he is a great social studies classroom teacher and an even better teacher of the game of basketball. When I came back from Buffalo Brian and the St.Edmund family let me help out with their program and it was a great two years for me. I had coached Brian at N. Y. U. in 1988 and always was impressed with his heart and desire, well let me say his team is a reflection of him and his first class family. Go Eagles!'

12/31/02 Coach Kevin Pigott: 'Just to let you know - I try to accurately keep the CHSAA "B" standings on my site, Fordham Prep Basketball. The "Journal News" does a great job with their high school sports reporting. It is here that one can track the Westchester and Rockland teams as well as most of the CHSAA North "B" teams.'

12/31/02 Newsday: Less than 24 hours after suffering its first loss of the season, the Christ the King boys basketball team rallied to a 56-52 win over Seton Hall Prep (N.J.) in a consolation game of the Beach Ball Classic in Myrtle Beach, S.C., last night.

12/31/02 Coach Mike Collins: 'Monsignor King Tournament -- First consolation game had Bishop Ford 56, New Utrecht 54 - second game had Poly Prep 69, Bayside 63 - third game had St. Edmund's Prep 66, Grady 62. The championship game had Xaverian led by a dominating Chris Taft beating a tough St. Francis Prep team 54 to 43. The all tournament players were Iwin & Bernard from St. Edmund's, White from Grady, Geffen from St. Francis & Mitchel from Xaverian. The high scorer was Noah from Poly & the tournament MVP was Taft from Xaverian. Congratulations to coach Jack Alesi & his staff for again winning the tournament. Thanks to John Browning & the tournament committee for a well run tournament, the 41st year it has been played.'

12/31/02 Coach Eric 'Rock' Eisenberg: 'A few weeks ago a friend asked me hey! What's up with Ed Cota? Well I just wanted to let him and the rest of our little hoops family know that "EC" is back in the "House". Ed is playing and doing very well in Lithuania. His team is doing well in their league but not so well in the Euro League. Most importantly Eduardo is back in top shape on and off the court and has done all the right things to help his family and friends back in Brooklyn. On Christmas eve Ed and his family surprised my wife Karin and me with a great visit and some very kind words that all of us in coaching hope to get from our former players. Seeing Ed on that special night and having him come and practice with our team at Tilden this week really helped get my team back on track for our push to the playoffs. Ed also came with my team and me to the Holiday Festival at the Garden on Sat. My fantasy week continued when I had a chance to have dinner with Ed, his nephew Josh his girlfriend Kim, U. N. C. radio legend Mick Nixon and Hall of Famer the great and classy Phil Ford. What really made the night even better was eating at Carmine's Uptown where former N.Y.Tech coach Sammy Stern always makes you feel special and like part of the family.Yes,the food was great!

What I will take away from these last few days is just how lucky those of us who coach or work with the young people of our city are to have a chance to influence these youngsters in the right direction. Even though all of us, coaches and players may make mistakes the true love and respect that we have for each other never dies!'

12/31/02 Brooklyn Scout: 'Chazz Cozart drained a three-pointer from the top of the key with five seconds left to lift Team Roc to a 79-76 victory over Hamilton in the 13-under championship game of the Entertainers Basketball Classic ("EBC") Youth Holiday Tournament at Minisink gym. After the first quarter ended in an 18-18 deadlock, Team Roc took a 35-33 halftime lead and gradually expanded it to a 57-46 margin entering the final period. Malcolm Pope then brought Hamilton back, scoring 12 of his game-high 31 points in the fourth quarter. Pope's three-point play capped a 15-3 run that gave Hamilton a 61-60 lead with 5:46 remaining. The two teams then traded big baskets the rest of the way until Cozart hit the biggest one of the night. Curtis Loving scored 12 points and grabbed 20 rebounds to snare MVP honors for Team Roc while Pope took MVP honors for Hamilton, which defeated the Panthers 74-69 in the semifinals.

In the 11-under championship game, the Gauchos took control in the third quarter with a 13-2 run and held off Team Roc 47-41. Kevin Parrom was named MVP for the Gauchos following his 10-point, 14-rebound performance while Tyreak Johnson scored 13 points and Doron Lamb added 11 points and 9 rebounds for the winners. Russ Smith led Team Roc with a game-high 16 points and teammate Tevin Mackey registered a game-high 16 rebounds.'

12/30/02 NJO: Undefeated St. Benedicts rallied from a seven-point deficit at halftime to beat St. Andrews of Rhode Island, 62-58, in the semifinal round of the Slam Dunk to the Beach in Lewes, Del., late Saturday night.

Jamar Nutter of Seton Hall Prep scaled 1,000 points for his career, but his teams furious comeback effort in the second half fell short in a 61-58 loss against McQuaid Jesuit of New York last night in the semifinals of the Beach Ball Classic in Myrtle Beach, S.C.

12/30/02 InsidersHoops: Slam Dunk Day Four with Adrian Joseph, Sean Banks, Will Sheridan, Tello Palacios, Konimba Diarra, Miles Orman, JR Smith, Stanley Branch and Bashir Mason.

12/30/02 Raleigh NewsObserver: Blair Academy boasts two of the best -- Luol Deng, Charlie Villanueva ranked Nos. 2 and 3 in the country by some analysts.

12/30/02 Coach Mike Collins: 'Last night's action saw Poly Prep defeat NewUtrecht, St. Francis Prep beat Grady and defending champs Xaverian beat St. Edmund.s Prep. There will be four games today starting at 2:30. The championship game is at 9:00 p.m. Xaverian will defend their title against St. Francis Prep.'

12/30/02 National Prep Basketball Poll - Week 5 lists # 2. Elizabeth, N.J., St. Patrick (4-1) , faces No. 4 Oak Hill in final of Academy National Invitational in Houston. # 3. New York, Rice (8-1) , has split games with No. 2 St. Patrick. # 8. Newark, N.J., St. Benedict's (7-0) , advanced to finals of Slam Dunk to the Beach tourney in Lewes, Del. # 20. Bronx, N.Y., St. Raymond (6-2) , both losses to top-5 teams.

Northeast -- 1. Elizabeth, N.J., St. Patrick, 4-1 2. New York, Rice, 8-1 3. Newark, N.J., St. Benedict's, 7-0 4. Bronx, N.Y., St. Raymond, 6-2 5. Rochester, N.Y., McQuaid, 9-0 6. Philadelphia, Saint Joseph's Prep, 10-0 7. Middle Village, N.Y., Christ the King, 6-1 8. Brooklyn, N.Y., Lincoln, 11-1 9. Jersey City, N.J., St. Anthony, 2-1 10. West Orange, N.J., Seton Hall Prep, 4-1.

12/30/02 Crooklyn: 'I am a D3 star who played on the Varsity Class B level at St. Edmund Prep. I feel that the Class B teams deserve more recoginition. My senior year, we won the class B city championship and throughout the season beat some top class A schools, and still didnt get the recognition we deserved. Right now there are 2 players for St. Edmund's that are getting D1 looks and they get no love on any of the NY hoop websites. Can my man Matt Irwin and Chris Bernard get some love. Irwin had 30 the other night to lead his team to a first round victory in the Monsignor King Tournament, and Bernard threw in 21. This backcourt duo can contend with any in the city. Give them some love.' Web note: If I got more info on the 'B' division (or any other group of teams in the region) I'd post it. I'm easy. I post most of the email I get. St. Rays, Loughlin, McClancy and Tilden get the love because Keith Mason, Ted Gustus, Louis Xifares and Rock Eisenberg send the mail. If you want love, don't whine; send information.

12/30/02 COACHROB61: Three southern New Jersey updates on the class of 2007 page.

12/29/02 Delaware News Journal: Sebastian Telfair -- Lincoln guard lives up to lofty accolades.

12/29/02 Coach Ted Gustus: 'The first annual Phil Hayes/Game Over Memorial Basketball Classic was played at the Brooklyn Hoops Hall of Fame Center on Saturday, December 28, 2002. In the first game Banneker defeated Newtown 67-47. First half Newtown led Banneker 30-28 with game MVP Gary Forbes on the bench with three fouls. Forbes returned to score 15 of his 21 points in the last 10 minutes to lead Banneker to victory. In the feature game Loughlin (3-3) defeated Cardoza (9-2). Despite Loughlin Lions not having 6'5 Kirk Bunn, missing due to injury, the Lions played aggressive defensive ball and fastbreak offense. The first quarter, Andrew Wright came out on fire, hitting four (4) three point shots putting Loughlin ahead 21-16. The second quarter featured senior guard Kojo Mensah who scored 11 points to give Loughlin a lead at half time 50-31. As Cardoza began making their charge back, behind Cameron Tyler's 14 second half points, game Classic MVP Courtney Johnson scored 16 second half points and finished with 24 points. Loughlin displayed a team effort with four players in double figures including senior Jamael Lynch with 10 points. Loughlin will be competing in the Longwood Classic January 2-4, 2003.'

12/29/02 Houston Chronicle: Shagari Alleyne's game growing up. Towering New York star learning to take advantage of 7-2 size.

12/29/02 InsidersHoops: The game was played way down here in the Lone Star State. But this one was for bragging rights back home. And Elizabeth (NJ) St. Patrick came out on top in its second meeting with New York (NY) Rice in less than a week.

InsidersHoops: Slam Dunk Saturday's Senior Standouts included Oumar Sylla, SF, Our Savior: He shot 8-for-13 from the field and finished with a game-high 21 points. He was 3-for-4 from downtown.

InsidersHoops: Saturday was a big day for underclassmen at the Slam Dunk including Sebastian Telfair, Tello Palacios, AJ Price and JR Smith.

12/29/02 NJO: Jason Patterson scored 15 points, nine on 3-pointers in the final two minutes, to help St. Patricks avenge its only loss with a 55-52 victory over Rice of New York last night in the semifinals of the Academy National Invitational in Houston.

Terrence Roberts scored a season-high 15 points and Obie Nwadike contributed 12 to help St. Anthony recover from a loss a day earlier.

Charlie Villanueva and Luol Deng combined for 49 points and 14 rebounds to lead unbeaten Blair to its 11th victory in the semifinals of the GlaxoSmithKline Tournament in Raleigh, N.C.

East Side cruises, 99-62 past Weequahic in the semifinals of the Newark Public Schools Tournament at Essex County College.

Max Schaffer scored 16 points and John Kelly added 15 to lead DePaul to a 76-50 victory over Montville in the championship game of the Parsippany Hills Tournament yesterday in Parsippany.

12/29/02 Myrtle Beach Sun News: McQuaid knocks off champs (White Station, Tenn). N.Y. team advances to semis matchup with Seton Hall Prep.

12/29/02 Myrtle Beach Sun News: 'What is a Stanner? According to the Archbishop Molloy High School Website, the school began as St. Anne's Academy in 1892. The name was later anglicized to St. Ann's. Archbishop Molloy offered the school a six-acre site in Queens County, N.Y., where the school moved to in 1957, and was renamed in honor of the Archbishop. After the relocation, many St. Ann's traditions continued, including the moniker of the school's pupils. Today, students are still known as Stanners (St. Anner's).'

12/29/02 Inquirer: Michael Haddix has fit right in as freshman at Siena. The St. Augustine grad is one of several thriving area stars.

12/29/02 NJ Hoops: Teaneck beat Ferris 73 - 65 in the semifinals of the James Kay Holiday Tournament in Hackensack.

12/29/02 Newsday: Copiague's Role Players -- Chris Lipski and Sean Smith -- Shine Versus Longwood.

12/29/02 Rodrick Bussey: 'I am the executive director of Scholars Through Sports Foundation and the coach of the Brooklyn-Queens Warriors AAU team. One of my players, Marques Damon - an 11th grader from Benjamin Banneker, has just recently been cleared to play for his varsity team. Marques transferred from LaSalle Academy in Manhattan. The transfer to Banneker was not based on basketball. The transfer was based on Marques' parents not being able to afford the tuition at LaSalle. Marques has been an exemplary student. His SAT score will make Marques eligible to get a D 1 or D 2 scholarship if he continues to progress athletically.

The bureaucracy of the PSAL caused Marques to miss at least 7 games. His parents did everything by the book (contacting LaSalle via letter before school started). Yet the PSAL ruled against Marques. They attempted to force Marques to his zone high school (Boys and Girls), even though his parents gave legitimate reasons why they wanted Marques to attend Banneker (mainly 1,500 less students and smaller class size). Fortunately, Marques parents were relentless in making sure that Marques received the best opportunity for his educational success. Remember, Marques was not a varsity player at LaSalle. What would have happened if Marques didn't have parental involvement? That is my concern with the PSAL.'

12/28/02 Coach Mike Collins: 'There were three games last night, game one had Bayside defeating Bishop Ford 62 to 58. The second game was an overtime thriller that had St. Edmund's Prep defeating Poly Prep 78 to 74. In this game point guard Matt Irwin scored 16 points in the 1st quarter, but Poly Prep adjusted & came back from a 20 point deficet behind the play of Joaqin Noah & Dan Corrigan. St. Edmund's managed to play well enough to come away with a hard fought victory. The third game was Xaverian vs.New Utrecht won by Xaverian 66 to 37. The semifinals have Grady vs. St Francis Prep at 7:00 pm Sunday & Xaverian vs. St. Edmunds Prep at 9:00 pm. There is also a consolation game at 5:00 with Poly Prep facing New Utrecht. The finals will be played Monday.'

12/28/02 Robert White: 'St. Edmunds edged Poly Prep in a OT thriller last night 78-74. Xaverian rolled over New Utrecht and Bayside held off Bishop Ford on Day 2 of the Monsignor King Holiday Tournament. Pictures and info at www.nyhoops.com.'

12/28/02 Houston Chronicle: A freshman in age only. New Jersey's Caracter, at 14, already has the look of a star. And Today's semifinals National Division 8 p.m. Rice ... vs. ... St. Patrick

Day One: Academy National Invitational -- Shagari Alleyne. Last year at this tournament - and a bunch of other places, too - the 7-3 center would sit on the bench and watch Rice run teams to death. Now he helps the Raiders do that. He's come a long way, baby, from his days as a goofy, goggle-wearing sophomore. The Rutgers signee had 20 points, eight rebounds and three blocks in Rice's 52-51 win Friday night over Westchester.

12/28/02 NJO: Andrew Pusar scored 16 points and Brandon Costner came off the bench to lead a key first-half run when Seton Hall defeated Archbishop Molloy, 70-57, in the quarterfinals of the Beach Ball Classic yesterday in Myrtle Beach, S.C.

NJO: Dave McSwain steered defending-champion East Side to a 19-8 lead with eight of his 16 points in the first quarter of the Newark Public Schools Tournament at Shabazz.

NJO: Jason Patterson led four scorers in double figures with 19 points and helped St. Patricks roll to a 67-46 victory over Westbury Christian of Texas last night in the opening round of the Academy National Invitational in Houston, Texas.

NJO: Obie Nwadike matched his career high with 18 points, but it wasnt enough as St. Anthony fell to Fairley of California, 42-38, and had its 20-game winning streak snapped last night in the first round of the National Prep Classic in San Diego.

12/28/02 Newsday: Gugliotta Tourney Goes to Uniondale 76 - 70 in overtime over Walt Whitman and Antoine Agudio.

12/28/02 NorthJersey: All of Englewood's starters play a role in topping Passaic Tech.

12/28/02 Coach Hamilton: 'We at the NYC Jaguars, are proud of Joe Mackey and his scholarship to Union College. Joe is a fine young man from a solid family. Joe along with Donald Brown (St Thomas Moore) going to Bucknell in 2003 shows how hard work can pay off. Joseph worked very hard on his game this summer and was a leader for the Jaguars. Donald Brown showed how you always have confidence in your ability, talent always comes out in the end. Both of these guys & their families were great to work with. The Jaguars expect big things from some other Jaguars who are having good senior seasons thus far: Otoja Abit (Molloy), John Miller (Molloy), Patrick Houlihan (Chaminade) and Nick Rollins (Holy Cross). Good luck to them all. Look for some feature stories on them in the new year at our website nycjaguars.com.'

12/27/02 Mike Collins: 'Monsignor King Tournament -- Last night's results were St.Francis Prep 69 - Bayside 47, Grady 63 - Bishop Ford 41. Tonight's games, Bayside vs. Bishop Ford at 5:30, Poly Prep vs. St. Edmunds at 7:00 P.M & defending champs Xaverian vs. New Utrecht at 9:00 P.M. Semifinals are on Sunday, finals are on Monday. The Tournament is played at St. Thomas Aquinas on Flatbush Ave. & Flatlands. If you have the time & are interested in how these teams are shaping up stop by.'

12/27/02 Robert White: 'Last night St. Francis Prep defeated Bayside and Grady handled Bishop Ford in 1st round games of the Monsignor King Annual Basketball Classic. More info and pictures at www.nyhoops.com.'

12/27/02 NJO: 'Jamar Nutter scored 16 points and sparked a late surge that gave Seton Hall Prep a 56-50 victory over North Augusta, one of South Carolinas top teams, in the first round of the Beach Ball Classic yesterday in Myrtle Beach, S.C.'

12/27/02 NJO: 'Dashawn White scored 22 points and Courtney Nelson had 18 for Bloomfield Tech, but it was not enough as Amityville of New York pulled away in the fourth quarter for a 72-63 victory in the first round of the Slam Dunk to the Beach Tournament in Lewes, Del., last night.'

12/27/02 Myrtle Beach Sun News: Stanners surge past Ironmen. Pep talk produces big results.

'Tournament Glance -- Thursday's scores: Seton Hall Prep 56, North Augusta 50, Archbishop Molloy 67, Don Bosco 51, White Station 83, Wilson 32, McQuaid Jesuit 68, Socastee 44, Today's schedule: Noon: North Augusta vs. Don Bosco, 1:45 p.m.: Seton Hall Prep vs. Archbishop Molloy, 3:30 p.m.: St. John Neumann vs. Scott County, 5:15 p.m.: Villa St. Joe vs. Denham Springs, 7 p.m.: Christ the King vs. Calhoun County and 8:45 p.m.: Bishop O'Connell vs. Myrtle Beach'

12/27/02 DelawareOnline: Bobby Jacobs dodges weather; All teams arrive in Lewes on time.

12/26/02 HoopsUSA: Houston Nike Heads after Christmas Events with Rice, Oak Hill and St Patrick.

12/26/02 Orlando Sentinel: Lake Mary, N.J. (St Benedict) school earn titles.

12/26/02 Thanks to Coach Kevin Pigott for his Fordham Prep team profile on the team page.

12/26/02 CLJSchneider: 'Props to Big Apple Ballaz' Keith Mason for having St. Mary's in his top 10 in the NY Metro area. Many other scouting and rating services have ignored this team despite the fact that Rice had to hit a shot at the buzzer to beat them 2 weeks ago. The Gaels have won 5 consecutive LI CHSAA titles (Tim Cluess passing his former coach and Long Island hoops legend Frank Morris of St. Agnes who won 4 in a row) and have won 2 of the last 3 NY State B titles with wins over Jason Frasier's Amityville squad both years. The Gaels may be the best shooting team you'll see this year.'

12/25/02 Lonnie Webb: 'Thank you for acknowledging Mt. Vernon H.S. as your # 7 team. It's gonna be very interesting so see if anyone on their schedule can test them before they reach the state final four. They are in the "Jimmy V Tourney" in Troy, New York at LaSalle Academy. I don't know much about the teams up there, however, when they win that tournament, will you consider that their so called "test"? Because no team in Westchester will be able to stay with them this year. They are for real, they are ready and they will continue to "dominate" the rest of those teams who remain on their schedule. They are well coached and very disciplined. I can't wait to quiet all those who doubt Mt. Vernon this year. They only know how to play one way and thats with a very positive ("we don't know how to lose") attitude. I don't see anyone preventing them from winning a 4th consecutive section & regional title this year because Mt. Vernon is simply too talented and too deep for them.' Web note: This site has Mt Vernon as the # 16 team in the region.

12/24/02 iHigh.com National Boys Basketball Poll from 12/16/02 # 2. St. Benedict’s (Newark, N.J.) – (1-0), # 4. St. Patrick (Elizabeth, N.J.) – (0-0), # 13. St. Raymond’s (Bronx, N.Y.) – (3-0), # 21. Christ the King (Middle Village, N.Y.) – (4-0), # 22. St. Anthony (Jersey City, N.J.) – (0-0). Others to Watch: Life Academy Center (Burlington, N.J.); Rice (Manhattan, N.Y.) – (3-0); Lincoln (Brooklyn, N.Y.) – (7-1); Paterson Catholic (Paterson, N.J.).

12/24/02 Sporting News: Recruiting Dish: Juan Palacios and Gary Ervin.

12/24/02 Ft Myers News Press: Hot Rice rolls to title 64-51. New York City school cruises past St. Patrick

12/24/02 Darryl (DJ) Brown: 'I just love it when people rate players probably cause I don't get it, but that's personal. I was wondering if anyone who claims to rate the class of 2007 (8th graders if I've got it correct) has been uptown to the District 10 tournament (largest school district in the city)? They have a 6th grade league, also. Or have you been to the Citywide Young Athletes JHS tourney held at Mullaly Center on Jerome and 163rd? I believe that Jose Geronimo, Jabar Forde, and Augustus Wilson are among the better players uptown. All are from I S 162. I can't tell you where they rate as I haven't seen the others which you speak or don't know them by name. I think that you would do your credibility a serious service by checking these tournaments and the participating schools.'

12/24/02 Coach Eric 'Rock' Eisenberg: 'I just wanted to thank Richard Leu and Bill Savarese for inviting us to 2nd Annual Blazers Classic.I also want to congratulate my friend Rick Swillinger and his hard working Walton team.Their never say die attitude helped them defeat us on Sat. I hope my team learned a lesson from the highly motivated Walton team who never stopped playing hard.'

12/23/02 National Prep Basketball Poll - Week 4 has # 1. Elizabeth, N.J., St. Patrick (2-0), advanced to City of Palms Classic final in Fort Myers, Fla. # 3. New York, Rice (6-0), knocked off then-No. 1 Mater Dei at City of Palms # 11. Bronx, N.Y., St. Raymond (5-1) , beat No. 16 Bartram before losing to top-ranked St. Patrick, and # 24. Newark, N.J., St. Benedict's (4-0), plays in finals of Great Florida Shootout.

Northeast: 1. Elizabeth, N.J., St. Patrick, 2-0, 2. New York, Rice, 6-0, 3. Bronx, N.Y., St. Raymond, 5-1, 4. Philadelphia, Bartram, 6-1, 5. Newark, N.J., St. Benedict's, 4-0, 6. Philadelphia, Saint Joseph's Prep, 10-0, 7. Barrington, R.I., St. Andrews, 3-2, 8. Jersey City, N.J., St. Anthony, 1-0, 9. Paterson, N.J., Paterson Catholic, 1-0, 10. Oradell, N.J., Bergen Catholic, 1-1.

12/23/02 Coach Butler on the class of 2007 ratings: 'I'm not trying to bash you or disrespect you but I do think that you have missed some, excuse me, a lot, of the better basketball talent in the metro area.' More on the class of 2007 page.

12/23/02 NJO: Neptune trailed by as many as 15 points early in the third quarter but stormed back to win by 8 against Don Bosco Prep. DePaul takes Linden by 15. St. Anthony got a 62-46 victory over Morristown in the Tip-off Classic at Seton Hall University in South Orange. And Jamar Nutter scored 10 in the opening quarter of Seton Hall Preps 64-33 victory over St. Josephs of Metuchen at the Tip-off Classic.

12/23/02 NJ Hoops: More Tip-Off Classic Results -- St Anthony and Seton Hall Prep Win.

12/22/02 NorthJersey: Comeback kids. The Paterson Catholic Cougars trailed top-ranked Bergen Catholic by 15 points heading into the fourth quarter Saturday night.

12/22/02 dentiff@yahoo.com: 'Led by MVP Juan Diego Placios (pictured left) Our Savior New American (right with trophy and banner) outlasted Thunder Ridge (CO) 61-47. Next up for OSNA Slam Dunk to the Beach.'

12/22/02 Rice and St Patrick will play at 9:00 PM tomorrow for the City of Palms championship. St Patrick took St Raymond in overtime 70 - 67 and Rice 'upset' Mater Dei 88 - 76.

12/22/02 NorthJersey: Devon Moffatt tallied 22 points to lead Clifton to a 64-51 win over Bloomfield in Friday's opener of the high school boys basketball season.

12/22/02 Brooklyn Scout: 'In the opener of the Big Apple Sports/Queens SUBOA Girls Holiday Classic at Fashion Institute, Lincoln took control early and defeated Manhattan Center 60-54. Janae Jones led the Railsplitters with 21 points and Shaquana Morgan added 16. Nakia Baker tallied a game-high 26 points for Manhattan Center, which trailed 34-22 at the half. The second game saw Francis Lewis run away from Midwood 63-42. Jasmin Lawrence drilled a three-pointer that broke an 8-8 tie with 1:46 left in the opening period and gave Francis Lewis the lead for good. Lawrence and Alaina Davis each had 12 points to lead the winners while Melanie Murphy topped Midwood with 10 points.'

12/22/02 FTGON@cs.com: 'Last week Joseph Mackey, 6'2" senior guard at Molloy H.S. signed to play basketball at Union Coll., in Schenectady, NY. He completed his junior year with an overall 92 average, started the first marking period of his senior year with a 93 average. Joseph averaged 12 pts/game with the NYC Jaguars. Thanks to the exposure of the Jaguars and Kevin Hamilton, Joseph received contacts from over 15 colleges, from all three divisions.'

12/21/02 Coach Will Stasiuk: 'Today, the 2nd Annual Blazers Christmas Jamboree took place at Murry Bergtraum HS in Manhattan. In the opening game Coach Chris Weil's Telecommunications Yellow Jackets defeated George Washington 62-41 behind 26 points from game MVP Barnaby Collins. The second game was an interesting one, as Coach Rick Swillinger's Walton squad overcame a 13 point first half deficit and defeated Brooklyn power Tilden 68-61. Teddy Ellis had 18 for Walton, while Nathaniel Sudlow scored 25 for Tilden. In the third game the Automotive Pistons defeated Marta Valle (Formerly Comprehensive Model) 103-36. Freshman Tola Lawal was named game MVP as he finished with 14 points on 7 for 7 shooting, and 6 assists. For Marta Valle, Leron Barino finished with 27 points. In the final game former Murry Bergtraum coach Frank McQuail returned to play the host school with his new team, Cathedral Prep. Bill Savarese's Bergtraum squad remained undefeated as they pinned Cathedral with its first loss 70-61. Kawan Stonman of Bergtraum was named game MVP. Murry Bergtraum Associate Coach Richard Leu did a fantastic job putting the entire tournament together and running it flawlessly.'

12/21/02 InsidersHoops: St. Patrick Has Great Caracter -- St. Andrews, St. Patrick Game An Instant Classic.

12/21/02 HoopScoop: 'Everything has gone pretty much true to form after the first two days at the City of Palms Classic in Ft. Myers, FL ... We also were very impressed with the balanced attack by Bronx (St. Raymond's) NY, which featured six players - Daon Merritt with 17 points, 6'5 soph Chris Bethel with 14 points, 6'4 Tariq Atkins with 13 points, 6'5 Louie McCroskey with 12 points, 6'5 Jr Brian Laing with 12 points, and 6'6 Jr Gavin Grant with 10 points. But we still think the team to beat is Elizabeth (St. Patrick's) NJ, which, ironically, is the only team we haven't seen yet in the tournament (St. Patrick gets a first round bye and won't play until tomorrow when they face St. Andrews at 7:25 PM). And the game between St. Patrick and St. Raymond's, which is potentially the best game of the entire tournament, will take place in semi-finals on Saturday night. In the other semi-finals game it should be Santa Ana (Mater Dei) CA versus the winner of tomorrow's quarterfinals match-up between Fairburn (Creekside) GA and New York (Rice) NY. And we're predicting an upset in that game, because Creekside's strength is Rice's weakness. Remember, Creekside has a terrific point guard in Mike Woodard and Rice is inexperienced in the backcourt after Jason Wingate, Keydren Clark, and Steve Burtt Jr all graduated last spring. Creekside also is better inside with 6'8 Gary Springer and 6'4 Jeff Trotter, both of whom are more athletic and tougher on the boards (they combined for 15 boards versus Dunbar) than Alleyne. Speaking of Alleyne, he reminded us more of the major disappoint that we saw last summer at the NIKE All-American Camp than the dominating force that we heard about when he led Rice to the Catholic League Championship in New York City last March. Alleyne did finish with a near triple-double, but it was due more to the fact that he's almost a foot taller than anybody on Woodham's team than anything he did to dominate the game.'

12/20/02 NorthJersey: JFK Paterson, Passaic -- Same rivalry, different faces.

12/20/02 Inquirer: Camden gets coach Clarence Turner an opening-day win.

12/20/02 Newsday: St. Dominic 67, Coral Springs (Fla.) 63: Bobby Kiernan made a three-pointer with 2:30 left to break a tie at 60 for St. Dominic in a Kreul Classic game in Coral Springs, Fla. Kiernan had 11 of his 14 points in the fourth quarter.

12/20/02 Dennis Fields: 'Our Savior New American (Centereach, NY)-68 / Carver (New Orleans, La.)-63. Walter Murray led OSNA with 20 points and OSNA held off Carver with key free throws in the last 2 minutes from DJ Fields (4 of 5) and Omar Sylla (2 of 3). Next up for OSNA, El Camino (Oceanside, CA).'

12/20/02 Keith Mason, Apple's Best Ballaz': 'Today I went down to Basketball City mainly to check out Blair Academy, and 6'7 SF Luol Deng who I had yet to see. As for Blair they won both of their games by about 20 points against good teams, Lawrenceville Prep, and Boy's Club, which consists of players that aren't playing high school basketball right now -- to name a couple, 6'2 SG Benny Utley and 6'4 PF James Barrett (Lincoln). I came into the day expecting to see a player that was on the same level as LeBron James, and I did but it wasn't Deng as I thought it would be, it was 6'9 SF Charlie Villanueva. Charlie has gotten even better since I saw him at ABCD, he runs the floor, handles, passes and shoots like a guard and blocks shots, rebounds and finishes like a big man. The only weakness in his game is his slight build, and he tends to give up position in the post from time to time, but he makes up for with his length which allows him to block shots, whether it is his man or weakside. After seeing him today he is at best 1 and done on the college level. As for Deng, while I was disappointed in what I saw, I did only see a game and a half, and one the full game I saw he was in foul trouble, so I probably haven't seen him at his best. But from what I can tell he has a nice stroke, but his jumper wasn't falling, and he is very comfortable playing in the post. He doesn't block many shots, and he has trouble handling full court pressure, I saw him get ripped twice, bringing it up court against the press.

On the Boys Club side, Benny Utley needs to get into a school because he is a solid mid major prospect, he can get to the rack, and finish against bigger players and he can hit the 3. Utley who attended Robeson high school never played one high school game, because of grades, I just hope he doesn't become a player who had a bright future but never got anywhere because he couldn't get the grades. James "Goo" Barrett, who right now is ineligible at Lincoln played pretty well, and showed a much improved outside touch, and as usual played strong inside. If and when he gets eligible this season, Lincoln will be tough to beat. They probably won't lose any games to PSAL schools, but without "Goo" they have no hope of beating the best teams outside the PSAL, as was evident when they lost by 21, to St. Ray's at Fordham University.

Speaking of St. Ray's they are currently in Florida playing in the City Of Palms Classic. They won their first two games by 6 and 5 points respectively, and are likely headed into a matchup with St. Patrick's who had a bye in the first round and will meet St. Andrews (RI) in the quarters, which should be a great game. In their first game against Andew Jackson (Florida) six players were in double figures and 6'3 Ricky Torrres pitched in with 9. The players in double figures were 5'9 Daon Merritt with 17, 14 from 6'5 Chris Bethel, 13 from 6'3 Tariq Atkins, 12 apiece from 6'4 Louie McCroskey and 6'4 Brian Laing and 10 from Gavin Grant. In their second game against John Bartram (PA), the Ravens got all but 2 of their 71 points from their starting 5. McCroskey led the way with 18, Merritt scored 16, Grant had 14, Atkins got 12 and Laing added 9. Rice is also at the City Of Palms Classic and they won their first game 81-48 over Woodham (Fla), led by 6'2 Russell Robinson who finished with 20, Shagari Alleyne nearly posted a triple double with 19 points, 12 rebounds and 8 blocks. Up next for Rice is Creekside (GA).'

12/20/02 CLJSchneider: 'Where is the respect for Long Island powerhouse St. Mary's? Student Sports Updated Fab 50 has Rice at #2 and USA Today's Regional Rankings puts Rice at #4 while St. Mary's, who lost by 1 at the buzzer recently to Rice is nowhere to be found. This team has won 5 consecutive LI CHSAA titles and 2 out of the last 3 NY State "B" Titles. During the last 3 years they've hung with St. Raymond's, blew out Lincoln, blew out Banneker, hung with Rice, blew out Robeson, blew out Boys & Girls, beat Jason Frasier's Amityville club twice, and beat numerous top West coast teams at the Vegas Reebox Classic. Time for recognition with the rest of the NYC elite. If you didn't know, you better ask somebody.'

12/20/02 Dennis Fields: 'Our Savior New American (Centereach,NY)-69 / Heritage Christian (Cleveland,TX)-61. Oumar Sylla (Game MVP) led OSNA with 19 points 9 rebounds. OSNA broke open a tight game with with a fourth quarter run to build the lead to 17. Heritage fought back, but OSNA made late fourth quarter free throws to seal the win. Next up Dorsey (Los Angeles,CA).'

12/20/02 NJ Hoops: Game of the Weekend -- Tipoff Classic final game on Saturday night, 8:15 featuring NJ Hoops #3 Bergen Catholic vs. #4 Paterson Catholic.

12/20/02 Inquirer: Openers in hoops offer good matchups including Camden Catholic on Sunday at the Palestra with a 2:45 p.m. game against St. Joseph's Prep of Philadelphia. St. Joseph's Prep is ranked No. 1 by The Inquirer in Southeastern Pennsylvania.

12/20/02 Newsday: Cardozo Rips F. Lewis. Cameron Tyler needed just 14 minutes to show the PSAL that he's back.

12/20/02 Journal News: Slam Dunk tourney @ Westchester County Center keeps things close to home.

12/20/02 Student Sports Updated Fab 50 Boys Basketball Rankings includes #.1 St. Patrick's (Elizabeth, N.J.) 0-0 (1) The preseason No. 1 team opens its season Friday night in the City of Palms Classic at Fort Myers, Fla., which should determine No. 1 in head-to-head competition between three of the nation's top four ranked teams. The Celtics will play FAB 50 ranked St. Andrew's of Barrington, R.I. # 2. Rice (New York, N.Y.) 3-0 (3) New York's top-ranked team competes this weekend in the City of Palms Classic at Fort Myers, Fla., after tuning up with a 68-47 victory over rival All Hallows. Shagari Alleyne, a 7-foot-2 senior, was benched for disciplinary reasons but his replacement, 6-8 Arturo Dubois, scored 22 points. Russell Robinson led the way with 23. # 18. St. Raymond's (Bronx, N.Y.) 3-0 (20) Under new head coach Oliver Antigua, St. Raymond's recorded a key 77-72 victory over rival Archbishop Molloy behind Tariq Atkins' 17 points and 11 rebounds. The City of Palms Classic is on tap this weekend. # 27. St. Anthony (Jersey City, N.J.) 0-0 (27) This periennial contender opens its season on Sunday vs. in-state rival Morristown. # 28. Lincoln (Brooklyn, N.Y.) 7-1 (18) After putting away the league's No. 2 team by more than 40 points, Lincoln, led by junior sensation Sebastian Telfair, is well on its way to a promising season. # 32. Christ The King (Middle Village, N.Y.) 4-0 (49). Japhet McNeil ran off 15 seconds on the clock with his dribbling ability, charged the net, was fouled and hit both free throws to send his team to a 50-48 win over host Gonzaga in the Gonzaga D.C. Classic finals.

12/20/02 School Sports Boys’ Basketball Top 25 with # 3. St. Patrick (Elizabeth, N.J.) – (0-0) *3. # 7. St. Benedict’s (Newark, N.J.) – (1-0) *8 # 10. St. Raymond’s (Bronx, N.Y.) – (3-0) *11 # 19. St. Anthony (Jersey City, N.J.) – (0-0) *20 and # 23. Rice (New York, N.Y.) – (3-0) *24

12/20/02 Coach Eric 'Rock' Eisenberg: 'Here is the info on round two of Tilden Vs Paul Robeson played on Dec.,19 at Robeson.Tilden raced out to 13-0 start and led 20-6 at the end of the first quarter.Robeson showed its champions heart and came back to cut the score to 28-27, Tilden at the half of this hard fought Bklyn.3 battle. Nathaniel Sudlow had 12 first half points and 5 assists, Andre King had 10 points and 9 boards to lead the way for the Blue Devils..Carlton Boney had 10 points to lead Robeson at the break. The second half had all any player. coach or fan could want. Fast paced action on both ends of the court and physical play inside and on the perimiter.at the end Tilden scratched and clawed it's way to a 68-64 victory in a great basketball game that was a joy to be part of.'

12/20/02 Lonnie Webb: 'Mount Vernon High School has a very talented and young team this year however, don't let that fool you. Coach Bob Cimino's Knights are for real. If you don't believe me, go check out one of their games. These are the same guys who played together this past summer in the IS8 summer league tourney and posted some outstanding wins. They have a solid team and lots depth coming off the bench. 6'2" junior Keith Benjamin, 6'5" junior Dexter Gray, and 6'6" freshman Johnathan Mitchell lead the way for this very talented team. Seniors Bryan Browne and Ernie Brown start in the back court and are lightning quick and have tons of experience. Seniors Chris Dozier and Dwaine Malcolm, juniors Chris Bradley, Shanty "Ravon" Robinson, Torian Kendall and Michael Watson, sophmores Chris Lowe and Johnathan Smith and one of the best 8th graders in the area, Michael Coburn come off the bench to help give the Knights a solid rotation and more fire power. They come at you relentlessly on the defense the entire 4 quarters with fresh legs which wears their opponents down. If there early victories are any indication of what's to expect from this westchester powerhouse, pencil them in for their 4th straight year in the state final four!'

12/20/02 mikesplayground@hotmail.com: 'We all know that Bergtraum's girls are the best girls' team in the city, but how about the boys. The Blazers are one of few still undefeated league and overall team in the PSAL. Led by Samuel Jenkins (avg 24pts and 6 rebs) is right now known as "The Best Kept Secret" of the PSAL. This kid can give you 20, 30, 40 even a 50 point night if asked of him. This kid takes on any challenge with best of the Telfairs and Forbes out there. They've beaten the supposely the best Manhattan team, next to FDA, twice already. With Jenkins leading scores with 34pts away and 18pts home. They are a senior oriented team, so results are expected from them this year. What makes them team so good, is not their scoring, but the outstanding defense. Jenkins has been off lately from the arc, still putting up big numbers but the defense is what wins the game for them. They are a smart and quick team, that know how to play together. The point guard, Kawan Stroman (avg 11pts and 6stls)is their court leader. He handles the rock really well and his man-to-man defense is very effective on opponents point guards. Another big factor in their success is Damian Bramwell (8pts and 9 rebs). He is their motivator. He plays defense with all his heart and soul. He dives for loose balls, snatches the ball out of center's handles and is really quick with his hands. He knows how to force turnovers. Also, Hector Diaz (avg 10pts, 6rebs and 3 asts) is a key factor in their success. He knows how to read the court offensively and defensively very well. Bergtraum Blazers are currently 10-0, 7-0. The have once of the best presses in schools today. They will give teams a run for their money in the playoffs this year. I just hope they don't give us the same result as of last year, losing first round spanking to Lincoln, but without Jenkins in the lineup. They are schedule to go Elmira, NY on 12/27/02. That will be their real challenge. They are holding a Christmas Classic on 12/21/02 at Bergtraum's Gym. They play Cathedral Prep, also undefeated, at 4:00pm.'

12/19/02 Courier News: Jersey basketball preview capsules. Web note: Updated Plainfield profile on the team page.

12/18/02 PrepStars Top 25 High School Poll has # 2. St. Benedict’s (Newark, N.J.) (1-0) *2 Results: Edged Simon Gratz, 59-57. Next: Dec. 19 vs. DeLand (Fla.) at the Great Florida Shootout (Orlando, Fla.); Dec. 26-30 at the Slam Dunk to the Beach (Del.) Notes: Junior forward Stanley Branch scored 14 points, including a tip-in with 1.6 seconds left, and grabbed 17 rebounds as St. Benedict’s avoided the upset. J.R. Smith added 15 points in the win. The game against Hun was canceled because of the weather.

# 4. St. Patrick (Elizabeth, N.J.) (0-0) *3 Next Game: Dec. 20 vs. St. Andrews (R.I.)-Pahokee winner at the City of Palms (Fla.)

# 13. St. Raymond’s (Bronx, N.Y.) (3-0) *14 Results: Defeated Archbishop Molloy, 77-72; Beat Lincoln, 93-72; Defeated Bishop Loughlin, 72-60. Next: Dec. 17 at McClancy; Dec. 19 vs. Jacksonville Andrew Jackson (Fla.) at the City of Palms (Fla.) Dec. 28-30 at the GlaxoWelcome Holiday Invitational (N.C.) Notes: With senior point guard Daon Merritt sitting out because of injuries stemming from a car accident and Louis McCroskey (Syracuse) in foul trouble, sophomore forward Ricky Torres stepped up against Lincoln and finished with 22 points. Junior Gavin Grant had 22 points, 11 boards and 4 blocks as the Ravens held phenom Sebastian Telfair in check. McCroskey led the team with 22 points and 10 boards against Bishop Loughlin while Tariq Atkins (Iona) had 17 points and 11 rebounds in the win over Molloy.

# 21. Christ the King (Middle Village, N.Y.) (4-0) *NR Results: Beat Gonzaga, 50-48, to win the Gonzaga Classic; Defeated Paul VI, 74-52; Beat Potomac, 62-61. Next: Dec. 23 vs. St. John’s Prep; Dec. 27-30 at the Beach Ball Classic (S.C.) Notes: Senior guard Japhet McNeil hit a pair of free throws with 1.8 seconds left to give the Royals a win over Gonzaga. McNeil finished with 13 points, 5 assists and 3 steals. Brian Williams scored 17 and McNeil added 16 in the semifinal win over Paul VI.

# 22. St. Anthony (Jersey City, N.J.) (0-0) Next Game: Dec. 22 vs. Morristown at Seton Hall.

12/18/02 City of Palms Classic, Ft Myers, Fla. begins today through championship next Monday. Teams include St Raymonds, Rice and St Patrick.

12/18/02 NJO: Life Center 93, De La Salle 41: Rafael DaSilva scored 13 of his game-high 19 points in the first quarter as Life Center raced to a 31-8 lead in Burlington. Moussa Mbaye added 15 points and three other players reached double figures for Life Center.

12/18/02 Newsday: Cardozo's Late Rally a Winner -- a 69-68 road win against Bayside yesterday.

12/18/02 Reggie Murray: 'The Brooklyn Rams AAU basketball program will be holding another student-athlete orientation on Saturday, December 21, 2002 at 12:00 noon for players in grades 6-11 at Grand Street Campus High School, 850 Grand Street. Go to www.eteamz.com/brooklynrams or email brooklynrams@hotmail.com for more information.'

12/17/02 ablake@admin.bcny.org: 'Come see Carl "Duke" Elliott 6'3" Point Guard from Brooklyn, NY (Worcester Academy, Worcester, MA - Ranked #2 Prep School in the country) at The Boys' Club of New York's Holiday Classic @ Basketball City 23rd Street & 12th Ave. this Friday & Saturday from 1:30 - 7:00PM.... Oh by the way Luol Deng & Charlie V. will be playing as well as 14 other teams. For more information please call Shay Gattis at 212-677-1102 ext. 152. Game #1 Friday Court 6 (3:00 PM) Worcester Academy vs. Cushing Academy, Game #2 Friday Court 3 (3:00 PM) Trinity Pawling vs. Redemption Christian, Game #3 Friday Court 3 (1:30 PM) Blair Academy vs. Lawrenceville, Game #4 Friday Court 6 (1:30 PM) Northfield Mount Hermon vs.BCNY.' Updated on the calendar page.

12/17/02 USA Today: Super 25 boys basketball rankings list # 3. St. Patrick, Elizabeth, N.J. (0-0). Preseason: 4. Opens Friday at City of Palms Classic in Fort Myers, Fla. # 12. St. Raymond, Bronx, N.Y. (3-0). Preseason: 11. Three quality wins include a victory over Archbishop Molloy (Briarwood) 77-72. # 16. Rice, New York, N.Y. (3-0). Preseason: 15. The defending Federation Class A state champion has won its opening two league games by a combined score of 146-85. # 20. St. Anthony, Jersey City, N.J. (0-0). Preseason: 19. Opens Sunday vs. Morristown.

Regional rankings -- East 1. St. Patrick, Elizabeth, N.J. (0-0), 2. St. Raymond, Bronx, N.Y. (3-0), 3. Montrose Christian, Rockville, Md. (2-0), 4. Rice, New York, N.Y. (3-0), 5. St. Anthony, Jersey City, N.J. (0-0), 6. McQuaid, Rochester, N.Y. (4-0), 7. St. Andrew’s, Barrington, R.I. (6-0), 8. Christ the King, Middle Village, N.Y. (4-0), 9. Lincoln, Brooklyn, N.Y. (7-1), 10. St. Joseph’s Prep, Philadelphia (7-0).

12/17/02 NJO: Life Center 66, Roxborough 58: Arnaud Dahi scored eight of his game-high 22 points in overtime, when Life Center (6-4) outscored Roxborough, (2-2), 12-4, in Philadelphia.

12/16/02 Coach Will Stasiuk: 'In an exciting HS basketball game, with first place at stake in the Brooklyn II-A division, Erasmus was the better team in the last 2:45, defeating Automotive 76-68 in a jam-packed Erasmus gym. The game went back and forth with several lead changes until Erasmus went on a key 6-2 run, to turn a 60-58 lead into a 66-60 lead with 1:30 to go. Then in the next 21 second stretch, Automotive missed 4 consecutive foul shots and 4 putback attempts, sealing their fate. Erasmus calmly sank several free throws in the last 1:09 to seal the win. Coach Vic Butler's squad was led by the excellent play of Stephen Wilson 25 pts. (11 in the 4th quarter / 4-4 FTM) and Quincy Kingston 17 pts. (8 in the 4th quarter / 4-4 FTM). Erasmus is 7-1 in league play half-way through. Automotive in just its second year in the 'A' league played hard, but sloppy foul shooting (14 missed FT's) and an inability to put the ball in the hoop during the game's key stretch hurt them. Myles Nelson (23 pts.), Doug Townsend (17 pts.) and Herb Houchen (18 rebs.) had strong games for the Pistons, who are now 5-2. The Pistons, play Grand St. Campus at home Wed. with a chance to finish the first half of the season at 6-2, just a game out of first. The atmosphere was tremendous & the game was intense, but clean. Overall a game which both teams and their fans could be proud of.'

12/16/02 National Prep Basketball Poll for Week of December 16 includes # 2. Elizabeth, N.J., St. Patrick (0-0), could meet No. 1 Mater Dei at City of Palms, # 17. New York, Rice (3-0), also in talent-laden City of Palms Classic field and # 25. Oradell, N.J., Bergen Catholic (0-0), opens season this week. Northeast 1. Elizabeth, N.J., St. Patrick, 0-0, 2. Philadelphia, Bartram, 3-0, 3. New York, Rice, 3-0, 4. Oradell, N.J., Bergen Catholic, 0-0, 5. Cherry Hill, N.J., Camden Catholic, 0-0, 6. Bronx, N.Y., St. Raymond, 3-0, 7. Jersey City, N.J., St. Anthony, 0-0, 8. Barrington, R.I., St. Andrews, 2-0, 9. Brooklyn, N.Y., Lincoln, 7-1 and 10. Middle Village, N.Y., Christ the King, 4-0

12/16/02 Thanks to coach Bobby Grauso we now have a profile of his Union NJ team on the team page. His team is at the top; the other teams are listed alphabetically.

12/16/02 Washington Post: Gonzaga D.C. Classic. For Japhet McNeil, an MVP Finish. Christ the King 50, Gonzaga 48.

12/16/02 Daily News: Tariq Atkins, Brian Laing lead St. Ray's vs. Molloy.

12/16/02 Travis Berry: 'Riverbank State Park 10th Annual High School Basketball Classic -- Consolation Division: Theodore Roosevelt 90 vs St. John the Baptist 70. TR's Andy Chevers (34), Edwards Berrios (19) and Paul Small (14). SJB's Ryan Johnson (35) and Kevin Spann (16). Samuel Gompers over Jamaica 54 - 52. SG's Stedford McLeod (17) and Ahmad McClure (10), Jamica's Desmond Frazier (15) and Yves Keslin (15, all 3 pointers). Championship Commissioner Division: Manhattan Center beat Frederick Douglass Academy 56 - 48. MC's Kevin Harris (18) and Terry Williams (10); FDA's Jahkeem Washington (20). Championship Governor Division: Boys & Girls win against St. Peters 73 - 60. B & G's Carlos Collazo (21) and Derek Sansbury (12). All Tournament Players Kevin Spann, St. John the Baptist, Ryan Johnson St. John the Baptist, Desmond Frazier Jamaica, Stedford McLeod Samuel Gompers, Andy Cheveres Theodore Roosevelt, Terry Williams Manhattan Center, Malik Brown Frederick Douglass Academy, Derek Sansbury Boys &Girls, John Bertinelli St. Peters. Commissioner Division MVP Kevin Harris (MC), Sportsmanship Jahkeem Washington Frederick Dougalss Academy. Governor Division MVP Carlos Collazo Boys &Girls, Sportsmanship Rob Mesjasz St. Peters. Most Outstanding Player of the Tournament - Mike Carallo St. Peters. Essay Winners - Tim Crimmins St. Peters and Jahkeem Washington Frederick Dougalss Academy. Special thanks to all of our proud sponsors for participating in the Tenth Annual Riverbank State Park Invitational High School Classic - Domino's Pizza, And 1, Coke Cola, Anaconda sports, Jimbo's Hamburgers, Fairway Supermarket, Al's Famous Fish, D-Ferg 54 Clothing store, Artifax Graphics, Young Athletes Inc, Daily News, Citibank, Santiago Deli and SUBOA.'

12/16/02 NJO: 'Mykhael Lattimore likes to wait until the last minute, at least as far as Lawrenceville and Peddie are concerned.'

12/16/02 NJ Hoops: Peddie championship thriller -- Lawrenceville edged the host Peddie team 70 - 69.

12/15/02 Hoopsfan02: 'Went out to Oyster Bay on Long Island Saturday night to watch St.Dominic vs Robeson in the 2nd annual Dan Trant classic. St. Doms won the game 69-61. Robeson took an early 6-0 lead, St.Doms then fought back took lead for good midway through first quarter..led 36-28 at the half. St.Doms opened lead to 12 early in the the third...Robeson fought back with the press to cut it to 5 but St.Doms made the adjustment and took control for the rest of the game opening up lead to 13 lead never got to below 7 again... Brian Leech was MVP for St.Dominic with 20+ pts. MVP for Robeson was Aaron Harvey. St.Doms was very balanced with Dwayne Whitfield, Thomas Paul, Steve Billello and Brian Leech all scoring in double figures..basically they were very impressive in the second game of the year...Last week they defeated Columbus of the Bronx but were very shaky before pulling away in the fourth...Look for St.Doms to only get better as year goes on They have a lot of talent and go 4 off the bench..height may be problem, but the are strong at the guard position.'

12/15/02 Paul Chadwick, Assistant Varsity Basketball Coach, Paul Robeson HS: 'I just want to thank coach Rock Eisenberg for his kind words about the players and coaches involved in the classic PSAL Brooklyn AIII game at Tilden HS between Paul Robeson and Tilden. His discription of the non-stop action was right on point. Both teams played very hard and I was very proud to be a part of it. It showed that Robeson players can play hard without incident. We have been doing battle for years. The games did lose a little luster when Rock left Tilden, but I know that I have coach Major's backing when I say how happy we are to see him down the sidelines again. Oh by the way game 2 is on Thursday at Robeson.'

12/15/02 Louis Xifaras: 'I had the opportunity to go watch Redemption Christian Academy play against the top prep school in the country, Blair Academy. The campus, located in Blairstown (New Jersey) is beautiful. The gym was packed and the fans were really into the game for the entire 4 quarters. Now I know why Luol Deng is ranked #2 in the country. The kid is the truth. He's so focused on the floor and at 6'8 running the point, he is unstoppable. He definitely will be a perfect fit for Duke, and once he gets stronger will be a sure lottery pick. Also want to mention that Roberto Felipe from Queens is doing a great job starting for Blair. He really has stepped up his game. Charlie Villaneuva sat out the game because of a sprained finger but it seemed like he was playing. The enthuseism he showed on the bench really showed. Blair Academy is a well coached team and has many, many good players that nobody knows about yet. I dont want to forget Redemption Christian Academy. This team is loaded as well. I really wanna give a shout to my man Will Harris. Last year he was in Queens at Christ the King. Will has also stepped up his game. He's 6'6 now and stronger than ever. Starting for Redemption as a junior, he knocked down 4 three pointers and caught a 2 handed dunk to keep Redemption close in the first 3 quarters. He is another player who is going to make it far. I beleive everyone can see both these teams in action this week at Basketball City in Manhattan in a tournament that is being held there.'

12/15/02 Travis.Berry: 'Riverbank State Park 10th Annual Invitational High School Basketball Classic -- Manhatten Center beat Theodore Roosevelt 65 - 59. Kevin Harris, 20 pts and Terry Williams, 16 pts were best for M. C. while Andy Cheveres, 24 pts and Edward Berrios, 21 pts led Roosevelt. Boys & Girls behind Derek Sansbury (18 pts.) and Carlos Collazo (16 pts,) edged Jamaica 69 - 60 though Jamaica's Desmond Frazier and Gregory Dwyer had 15 and 14 points. In the third game Frederick Douglass Academy bested St. John the Baptist 69 - 57 as Jahkeem Washington got 19. SJB's Ryan Johnson and Kevin Spann had 21 and 19. St. Peters won the final game 72 - 61 over Samuel Gompers despite a game high (and tournament high) 29 points from Gompers' Stedford McLeod. Mike Carallo and John Bertinelli had 21 and 20 for St Peters.'

12/15/02 Newsday: Cardozo Stops Wadleigh as Vic Morris scores 30 and Judges improve to 6-1. Buzzer-Beater for Walton -- Wellington DeJesus hit a shot at the buzzer that gave Walton a 87-85 non-league win over Springfield.

12/15/02 NJO: Stanley Branch had 14 points and 17 rebounds and scored the winning basket on a tip-in with 1.6 seconds remaining as St. Benedicts opened its season with a 59-57 victory over Simon Gratz yesterday at St. Josephs University in Philadelphia. And Lawrenceville 69, Hun 66 in the semifinals of the Peddie School Invitational Tournament.

12/14/02 Pdiddy: 'Banneker defeated Bishop Loughlin 78-77 last night behind Gary Forbes who had 39 points 26 rebounds and 6 blocks.'

12/14/02 Coach Eric 'Rock' Eisenberg: 'Here is the recap of our game with Paul Robeson last night.This game was truly one for the ages. It was a heavyweight battle from start to finish. Both teams came out hard, fast and tough and fought tooth and nail for every loose ball and every rebound. Tilden led for the entire game from 2 -0 to 72-71 when Robeson guard Andrew Carpenter knocked down two pressure free throws to put Larry Majors' crew ahead for the first time. My hat goes off to Larry and Paul Chadwick for keeping their team together down the stretch run which seemed to go on forever. Both teams competed hard and without anger all game long and we all exchanged "hugs and pounds" after the game. Andre King was incredible for Tilden scoring 35 points while getting 27 rebounds and just flat out dominating the game for miniutes at a time. Aaron Harvey was terrific for Robeson with 18 points ten boards and great all around play. In my opinion all the players, fans, officials and coaches should be proud of the fine game we all were involved in on this Friday night.'

12/13/02 Eddie Oliver @ HoopsUSA: 'LaBron James is outstanding. Dick Vitale is not!'

12/13/02 Coach Victor Hall, Our Saviour Lutheran: ' It's safe to say that Jamaal "The Real Deal" Womack is one of the best guards in NYC. He can rebound, play defense, pass, handle the ball and score. He comes to play every game. He tries to motivate his teammates in practice and games. Jamaal is tearing up the Private School Athletic Association (PSAA). In four games, which Our Saviour Lutheran HS. won 3, he is averaging 7 rebounds, 6 steals, 5 assist and 37.1 points per game. His will to win is tremendous. He will not let his team give up. When the game is on the line he, as all great players do, wants the ball. Not only does he get it but he makes game winning shots too. During the off season Jamaal plays with an organization called L-Pac. He is battle tested. That means he has played in all the major tournaments (I.S. 8, Rumble in the Bronx etc) played the AAU circuit and competed against the top guards in the city and held his own. He is D1 material.'

12/13/02 NJO: Before playing his first high school game, Caracter can put on a clinic.

12/13/02 Robert White, www.NYHoops.com: 'Here are the Matchups for Saturday in the Boys Invitational @ Riverbank 1PM Manhattan Ctr vs T. Roosevelt, 3PM Jamaica vs Boys & Girls, 5PM St John the Baptist vs Frederic Douglas Academy, 7PM St. Peters vs Gompers.'

12/13/02 Louis Xifaras: Queens RimRockers will have a 16 and under tryout Friday, December 13th, 2002 at 6pm at I.S. 141 gym for the 16U 2003 team. This tryout is for the first tournament, which will be I.S. 8. Only players born in the years 1987,1988, or 1989 will be allowed to tryout for this team. For more information and directions to our gym, please go to www.queensrimrockers.com.'

12/12/02 There are ten teams in the C.H.S.A.A. Division 1. The East teams are St Rays, Molloy, McClancy, St Francis Prep and Holy Cross. The West teams are Rice, Xaverian, All Hallows, Loughlin and Christ the King. Each team plays 13 league games, 8 games are a home and away against the teams in their own division and 5 games, one against each team in the other division. The Staten Island teams, St Peters, Moore, Farrell and St Joseph stay on the Island; they each play six league games, home and away vs. the other teams on Staten Island. Last season Rays won the East with a 11 - 2 record, Rice won the West with a 12 - 1 record while St Peters ruled the Island at 6 - 0. Twenty of this season's games are on the calendar page.

12/12/02 Coach Walter Welsh: 'Top Girls Basketball Tournament- this Saturday - December 14th in New York City. The best female basketball players are being showcased this Saturday at the Gauchos Gym in the Bronx. 1) Francis Lewis HS –Two Time City Champion runner-up vs Suitland HS from Maryland –12pm, 2) Copiague HS – One of the top HS in Long Island vs ServernaPark HS in Maryland – 1:30pm, 3) Murry Bergtraum HS – Four time City Champion and State Champion vs St. Johns College HS from Washington DC – 3pm. Gauchos Gym is located at 478 Gerard Avenue (corner of 149thStreet). You can contact Walter Welsh at (718) 449-2715 or the Gauchos Gym at (718) 665-6952 for further information. This is the best pool of female talent in one gym at one time so don’t miss it.'

12/11/02 Coach Eric 'Rock' Eisenberg: '6"1''Tilden combo guard Nathaniel Sudlow will sign on Wed. with coach Max Goode and Bryant College. Assistant coach Brent Cooke did a super job of recruiting Nathaniel and the staff was really first class n all that they did.Bryant is a top five business school and offers "Nate" a chance to compete at a high level and get a great education and great coaching at the same time. All the local D1 schools really blew it on this one. You do not find true student/athletes like Nathaniel Sudlow too often and when they have as much ability as this first class young man it is even more of a rarity. People often say that the PSAL does not have high quality student/athletes. Nathaniel Sudlow is one young man who is everything that you could want as a student, an athlete and a role model.'

12/11/02 youngspot::'As a long time follower and avid fan of high school and AAU ball, I am appalled at the article I just read on ESPN.com to be printed in the next edition of ESPN the magazine. I am including a direct link to the story, and I am pasting the part that upsets me. I am not someone screaming "exploitation" at the recruting scene, but this has to be the earliest I have ever heard of someone "recognizing" a players potential.

Aaron Lock, 4'10", 61 pounds, 6 years old. Tyler Run Elementary, Powell, Ohio. Big Deal - Kid's got height and hoops in his genes. Dad Rob Lock (6'10") balled for Kentucky. Mom Valerie Still (6'2") is UK's all-time leading scorer and a former Washington Mystic. Uncle Art Still (6'7") played defensive end in the NFL. Big Diff - Aaron's more interested in soccer, hockey and piano -- maybe because Mom, now an assistant with the Orlando Miracle, brings him on the road. "He's around basketball so much," she says, "I think it annoys him."

12/10/02 John Pelton: 'Coach Jack Curran has 800+ BB wins and 1200+ baseball wins in his 45 years. Can you imagine doing anything for 45 years?' Bob Brown, AMHS '76: 'Your 12/9/02 "Hoop News" has an incorrect Web note re. Jack Curran's record of 815-302 at Archbishop Molloy. That record is for basketball, only (it averages out to 19-7 per year for 44 seasons). When you add in over 1,300 wins in baseball, Curran is well over 2,200 wins on a combined basis.'

12/10/02 All Star Report: Top Unisgned Pivot Prospects lists # 3. Darryl Watkins, 6-11 225 lbs. Paterson Catholic, Paterson, NJ. Watkins is a long-armed shot-blocking and dunking machine when he comes to play. The problem is that he often leaves his intensity, desire, and energy on the bus with his walkman. When Darryl decides to play with those three qualities he is easilly among the top two or three big men in the senior class overall, maybe the best. He clearly outplayed Lang at the Adidas ABCD Camp this past summer. Rutgers and Villanova lead the pack interested in signing Watkins in the spring if he can make it academically.

12/9/02 Early season notes: Joe Vines, sophomore who transfered from Holy Cross to Rice this year is not playing. He has to sit out the season due to transfer rules. ... Senior guard Wesley Matthews averaged 18.3 last season making him the leading scorer among returning CHSAA players. But he's left McClancy and is attending Valley Stream in L. I. ... With Wes gone the returning top CHSAA players are Bryan Geffen (17.8), Chris Taft (17.4), Marlon Smith (16.9), Louie McCroskey (16.5), Japhet McNeil (15.0), Mitchell Beauford (14.0), Daon Merritt (13.4), Tariq Atkins (12.9), Shagari Alleyne (12.2), Sundiatta Gaines (10.8) and Ronald Ramon (10.5) This is more ammunition for Keith Mason - the three Raven seniors were MIA yesterday, while junior Grant and soph Torres starred and figure to be high on this list next season ...Shahee Martin is no longer at Paramus Catholic. He's at West Hempstead teaming with Etienne Broward. ,,, from the CHSAA Media Guide on Archbishop Molloy - 'Jack Curran is the winningest coach in New York State history posting a 815-302 record, starting his 45th season.' (Web note: That's the coach's basketball and baseball record.) ... St Mary's sophomore Danny Green wasn't the best athlete on the court yesterday, but he's got a great shot and probably was the most intuitive. Think 6-3, 15 year old Larry Bird. ... Ravens' sophomore Ricky Torres was one of the best athletes and had a great game. But I'll bet more than one of the St Raymond coaches chewed him out for not passing the ball ahead on that first break. Even though Ricky did finish with a pretty pull-up jumper.

12/9/02 PrepNation: National Prep Basketball Poll - Week 2 with # 2. Elizabeth, N.J., St. Patrick (0-0), # 17. New York, Rice (1-0), # 23. Cherry Hill, N.J., Camden Catholic (0-0).

12/9/02 Louis Xifaras: Congratulations to St. Francis Prep on winning the 21st annual Brother Arnold Varsity Basketball Tournament held at Monsignor McClancy. They beat McClancy, who has made it to the championship game for the 21st consecutive season. Tournament MVP Bryan Geffen led the Prep in scoring and really turned it on down the stretch. Remember, hes still a junior, but he plays like hes a seasoned varsity veteran. Strong play by Nick Hamilton and Will Borgolte kept McClancy in it till the end.'

12/9/02 St Patrick is the # 1 team in the region (country?) and Roberto Diaz has supplied a profile of John Bowne on the team page.

12/8/02 As always, the Diane Brennan tournament was wonderful. Xaverian trailed the Grady Falcons 24 - 20 at the half and throughout most of the second half until JR Mitchell hit a trey to tie it at 43 and got a steal and lay-up to put the Clippers up 45 - 43. But the young Falcons (pictured with their trophy) came back behind the MVP play of junior guard Jamel White (24 points), senior guard Kimani Blaize and the heady point guard play of sophomore Kevin White to win it 53 - 49. For Grady coach, Jack Ringel (just to the left of the trophy), the victory was especially sweet. This Falcon team is his youngest ever featuring two seniors, five juniors, two sophomores and three freshmen. But they played with poise at the end of the game to get the win.

In the second game the St Raymond Ravens led Lincoln 17 - 14 after one and 52- 47 at the half. Sebastian Telfair hit a jumper with three minutes to play in the third keeping the Railsplitters within seven at 58 - 51 before the Ravens finished the quarter with a 9 - 1 spurt. They dominated the last quarter: the final score was 93 - 72 with 6-6 junior MVP forward Gavin Grant scoring 22 points grabbing 11 rebounds and getting 4 blocks. Ricky Torres, the 6-3 sophomore forward had 22 points including four treys for the Ravens who were playing without senior point guard Daon Merritt (injuries). Senior guard Louie McCroskey was in foul trouble throughout fouling out with 5:42 left in the fourth. It didn't matter. The Ravens are very deep and Keith Mason is saying 'I told you so'.

In the final game with nine seconds remaining the St Mary's 6-6 senior Bill Clarke calmly hit two free throws to put the Gaels up 63 - 62 against the Rice Raiders. Sophomore guard Jerrell Mills then drove full court for a winning, buzer beating lay-up. Junior Russell Robinson won the MVP award with a 13 point, 4 rebound, 5 assist performance. More details later.

12/8/02 John Malone, NYC Basketball: 'Today was the Diane Brennan Invitational, one of the better days of basketball in the year. Today Grady beat Xaverian 52-49. I didn't see that game, heard Chris Taft played poorly..

The marquee game was probably the preview of the PSAL vs CHSAA champs game. Lincoln got ripped by St. Raymond's 93-72. Gavin Grant had 23 points 11 boards and 4 blocks, and Ricky Torres had 22 points off the bench. Telfair was unimpressive in person AGAIN. He finished with 27 points, but shot 9-26, with only 1 assist, and 3 turnovers. He has no help on that team at all, although 6'7 soph. center Antonio Pena had some bright spots and could be a good post player. Ray's is extremely deep, and one of the deepest teams I have seen in a long time. They were missing their best player in Daon Merritt, and still played 9 players in meaningful minutes who all contributed. They don't have anyone extremely big, but they are pretty big as a whole with 5 players over 6'5, and two others at 6'4. They have 6 division one players on their team.

The final game of the day was pretty good. Rice played defending Class B state champs, St. Mary's to a last second buzzer beater. Rice led the whole game until late, when St. Mary's took a one point lead with 9 seconds left. Rice's soph guard, Jerrell Mills went length of the court for a last second lay-up to win it 64-63. Shagari Alleyne played very limited minutes for some reason. I thought it almost cost Rice the game; they were up by double digits while he was in there. He finished with 10 points and 13 rebounds on 5-6 shooting. He only had 1 block though. Rice was led by Junior guard Russell Robinson who finished with 13 points. The scoring was very balanced throughout the team. St. Mary's was led by guard/forward, Mahmadou Diakite who had 21 points and 8 rebounds. They got some big threes late from 6'5 soph forward, Dan Green who finished with 19 points.'

12/8/02 Coach Will Staziuk: 'Today at F.I.T. the divisional championship games of the Gobbler Snowflake Classic took place with some exciting action along the way. In the first game Beacon won the Rainbow division with a 55-38 victory over Jane Addams of the Bronx. Angel Cabrera of Beacon took the MVP of the bracket, while Antoine Holmes of Jane Addams took home the sportsmanship award. In the second game, the East Division championship tilt was a thriller to the end. With 7 seconds to go Truman led 43-41, when Doug Townsend of Automotive (MVP of the East Division) went to the foul line for two shots and a chance to tie. Townsend (17 pts. / 15 rebs.) hit the first to cut it to 43-42. He missed the 2nd and the ball was tapped around. Automotive's 5-5 sophomore Eddie Hood came up with the ball in the corner. He faked the nearest defender in the air and drew a three shot foul with 2.2 seconds left. Hood hit the first and third foul shots for the 44-43 win. Auto improved to 8-1 on the year and Kenneth Archevald of Truman took home sportsmanship award honors.

In the West division final Bronx Science pulled out a tight victory over Wings Academy, outscoring Wings 5-1 in the final minute for a 58-52 victory. Jake Weitzen (Bx. Science) took home MVP honors, while Elton Barry (Wings) corraled Sportsmanship honors. In the North Division finals, Benjamin Banneker in a dominating performance clipped a good Telecommunications squad 66-43 behind a strong defense and great all-around game by Gary Forbes (MVP- North). Barnaby Collins (Telecom) took the Sportsmanship Award. The nightcap, the South Division final began at 7 p.m. between Roosevelt and Sheepshead Bay. (In 3rd place Games on Saturday- Manhattan Center beat Forest Hills 73-61, George Washington 65 - Franklin K. Lane 61, L.I.C. 59 - Brandeis 44, Jamaica 76- Norman Thomas 60 and Robert Wagner 56 - Fashion 37.)'

12/8/02 Coach Eric 'Rock' Eisenberg: 'Tilden won this hard fought neighborhood battle vs. Nazareth 49 to 47. Andre King scored a driving layup off a great entry pass from junior Brendan Luckain after we had run our delay game for the last miniute and forty five seconds.It was a great high school game with many lead changes and ups and downs for both teams. Andre King led Tilden with 20 points and 12 rebounds. Nathaniel Sudlow scored 16 points and had 10 boards.Joey Baptiste hit a big 3 for us and finished with 10 pts and 5 assists. Our whole team contributed to the victory and helped us climb to 6 and 2 on the young season '

12/8/02 PrepStars Top 20 Prep School Poll #1. Blair Academy (Blairstown, N.J.) (2-0, #1 last poll). Results: Beat Our Savior (N.Y.), 73-49; Defeated Notre Dame Academy (Va.), 72-54. Notes: Senior Loul Deng (Duke) scored 25 points and grabbed 13 boards in the win against Our Savior and had 16 points and five rebounds against Notre Dame Academy. Senior Charlie Villanueva averaged 17 points and 8.5 boards in the two wins and had nine blocks against ND Academy. Guard Patrick Davidson had 16 points against Our Savior while Roberto Felipe chipped in 19 against Notre Dame and was the team’s top defender at the War.'

12/7/02 Coach Ted Gustus: 'St. Raymond won their season opener by defeating Bishop Loughlin 72- 60. The Ravens came out on an 11-2 run and took a 14 point lead into the half. Loughlin made a few runs to get back into the game but the Ravens had an answer with 4 players scoring in double figures.'

12/7/02 The Dianne Brennan Clasic @ Fordham University is tomorrow featuring 11:00-Grady vs. Xaverian, 2:45 --St. Ray's vs. Lincoln, 2:30-Rice vs. St. Mary's. Other coming events are on the calendar page.

12/7/02 Newsday: 'St. Dominic is hosting a four-game Coaches vs. Cancer boys basketball tournament Sunday beginning at noon. Chaminade plays Whitman at 1:30 p.m. and Long Island Lutheran takes on Amityville at 3 p.m.'

12/6/02 St Benedict is team # 2 for our High Hoops Preseason Top Twenty-one and coach Steve Figueroa has supplied a profile for Brooklyn's own Adelphi Academy. Both profiles are on the team page.

12/6/02 NorthJersey.com: 'Former Paterson Catholic standout Sydir Mitchell expects to be available for the opening of the boys basketball season at Bloomfield after a hearing in front of the NJSIAA's eligibility appeals committee Wednesday.'

12/6/02 Reggie Murray: 'Brooklyn Rams' Player Update: On Wednesay, December 4th, Ronnie Franklin (John Jay) had 17 pts. and 6 rebs. as John Jay defeated Grand St. Campus 60-53. Also, Darnell Gibbons (New Utrecht) dropped 17 pts. in New Utrecht's 70-56 win over Ft. Hamilton. PSAL.org website has Ronnie Franklin (John Jay) leading in Top Free Throw Percentage (80%) and leading in Top Scorers (129 pts./5 games); Barnaby Collins (Telecommunications) #2 in Top Free Throw Percentage (78.13%), #7 in Top Assists (29 assists/4 games) and #28 in Top Scorers (79 pts./4 games).'

12/5/02 Last season's TOC winner, St Anthony, is ranked as the # 3 team in our region and there is a Baldwin, LI profile on the team page.

12/5/02 Newsday: A brawl broke out Tuesday in the boys basketball game between host Boys & Girls and Robeson.

12/5/02 Reggie Murray: 'S.O.N. Youth Partnership's "Brooklyn Rams" AAU Basketball Program will be holding an Orientation on Saturday, December 7, 2002 at Grand Street Campus High School, 850 Grand Street(corner of Bushwick Avenue) for all current and new student-athletes who are interested in playing during the 2002-2003 season. Tournaments start in January. Grades 6-8 at 11am and Grades 9-11 at 12:30pm. For more info, go to www.eteamz.com/brooklynrams or e-mail brooklynrams@hotmail.com.'

12/5/02 Travis Berry, Athletic Coordinator: 'New York City Presents The Riverbank State Park Invitational High School Basketball Classic. The Classic will feature eight (8) boy's varsity teams from the tri-state area and from the city's three most prestigious athletic leagues - the Catholic School Athletic League, Prep School and the Public School Athletic league. The Classic will start on Saturday, December 13, 2003 and will conclude with a consolation and championship game on Sunday, December 14, 2003. All teams interested must submit a confirmation letter by Saturday, March 15, 2003. If you need any further information, please contact, Randy McGhee or Travis Berry (212) 694-3638.'

12/4/02 Keith Mason: 'Blair Academy might be the best team in the nation this year let alone in NYC and Jersey, there is only 1 team who can be considered being better than them and thats, St. Pat's and even that's a stretch. I mean Luol Deng and Charlie Villanueva are enough to put them #1. I've seen at least 3 reports that have said that Luol Deng is just as god as LeBron James, James just has all the hype, and I feel Charlie is definitely a top 5 player in the nation, maybe #3. From what I heard 6'8 junior Chris Alvarez is just as versatile as Deng and Villanueva. While the rest of their players aren't superstars they are more than capable of making open jumpers and grabbing boards, and bringing the ball up court, with a talented trio like this they won't need much more to dominate teams.'

12/4/02 Blair Academy is our # 4 team in the region and Jayson Kiang has supplied a St. John the Baptist, LI. profile on the team page.

12/4/02 Coach Andre Ambrose: 'Brooklyn Hoops 12+ under and 10+ under are looking for other teams of beginners who would like to play us on Saturday mornings. We are also looking for teams to participate in our beginners tournament early next year.If interested please contact me at bklynhoops@aol.com or (718) 377-4646 evenings. Brooklyn Hoops is part of the Brooklyn Athletic Center located at 4400 Glenwood Road Brooklyn, NY 11203. For driving directions log on brooklynhoops.com.'

12/3/02 Louis Xifaras: 'This is a sad message to relay to everyone. Terrance Wright, a freshman at All-Hallows (I think), passed away a few days ago. Terrance played for me over the summer in the Rod Strickland tournament held in the Bronx. He was a very nice person and will surely be missed by all who knew him. My condolensces to his family. This tragic event brought back memories of the passing of Nigel Polite, who would be a senior at Molloy High School now and last year at this time passed away.'

12/3/02 Rice is our # 5 team behind the big four from New Jersey and coachforen15 has provided a Lawrence Woodmere Academy profile on the team page.

12/3/02 Newsday: Preseason All-City Boys Teams -- First team is Sebastian Telfair, Chris Taft, Shagari Alleyne, Gary Forbes and Daon Merritt

12/3/02 Newsday: Road of Good Fortune -- Daon Merritt set to guide St. Ray's.

12/3/02 Courier News: A plan that will realign the groups and sections for the 2003-04 state playoffs and beyond was passed at the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association's annual meeting Wednesday.

12/2/02 Dennis.Fields: 'Bull City Classic -- Congratulations to Our Savior New American, who walked off with the National Bracket championship beating Life Center 63 - 52. Tello Papacios was named MVP with 27 points, 9 rebounds and 4 steals. Life Center was led by Arnaud Dahi who had 23 points. Life Center upset Mt. Zion Friday night 70 - 64 in OT, while Our Savior beat Tabor Academy 74 - 61.'

12/2/02 St Raymond is # 6 team and a Benjamin Banneker profile is also on the team page.

12/2/02 Coach Ted Gustus: 'Bishop Loughlin Lions opened up their first game of the season against one of the PSAL elite and well coached team, Fredrick Douglas Academy. The game was played in the annual Kangaroo Classic at Pratt Institution. Bishop Loughlin Lions defeated Frederick Douglas Lions 67-53. Senior and captain 6'2 Courtney Johnson scored 28 points and 8 rebounds, hitting 4 three pointers. Courtney was named game MVP. Courtney's backcourt mate, Kojo Mensah played his usual all around game, scoring 17 points, 7 rebounds, 4 steals and 5 assist. Loughlin came out playing tough man-man defense holding FDA to 8 first quarter points and going into half time with a 30-20 lead. FDA made a rally the second half, cutting the lead to 7 points, but the Loughlin Lions pressure defense forced turnovers. Loughlin's next game is on December 6, 2002 at St. Raymond's at 7:15 P.M.'

12/2/02 nurpeek@earthlink.net: 'Sundiata Gaines MVP of the Molloy Classic. Sundiata averaged 33 points a game during the two day classic on his way to earnng MVP honors while leading Molloy to victories over Kellenburg and LaSalle High Schools.'

12/2/02 LADY SCOOBY1214: 'Robeson is led by 6'5 197 Sr Aaron Harvey who is getting recruited by Monmouth, LIU. Maine, Hartford, Hofstra, Rider and Marist. He should be an all-city player this year. They have Terrence Jackson jr, Carlton Boney sr, Andy Carpenter a jr point guard, Brian Johnson 6'3 soph, Melvin George 6'5 soph, Malcom Grant frosh pg, Jared Nowell sr.'

12/2/02 Kboogie: 'update on two new York City kids . 6'2'' 170 combo guard Jamel Austin and 6'3" 175 guard Keith Willis. Both players went to Paul Robeson High School in Brooklyn and both played huge parts in Robeson getting to the championship game last year. They both now attened Holyoke Community College in Holyoke Mass and they both are having solid seasons so far. Jamel is averaging 17ppg and 8ast while Keith is averaging 22 ppg and 7 rbg . They both should do real good . Keep up the good work fellas.'

12/2/02 Antonio Cannon: 'T.K. Allstars 14u team had a busy Thanksgiving weekend. We captured the Adidas back to school championship on Saturday by defeating The Bi-State Pythons 75-50. On Sunday we lost the 14U Championship at Milband Childrens Aid Society Thanksgiving tourney to the Roberto Clemente School 55-52. Our weekend concluded on Sunday at the opening of the St. Clairs 15u Tournament in Rosedale, Queens. We beat the Allen AME Church program 65-50.'

12/1/02 Louis Xifaras, assistant freshmen basketball coach at Monsignor McClancy High School: 'A great opening day for Monsignor McClancy High School. In our season opening tripleheader, in front of a packed gym in the newly renovated Bishop Ford facility, McClancy swept all 3 games. The freshmen opened up with a 81-43 victory. Leading scorers were Brian Reyes and Stephen Wood, while Evans Pyrrhon and Rasaad Thompson provided solid defense. The Junior Varsity won by 2 in overtime. Mohamed Lo, who is a freshman, had 39 points, 22 rebounds, and 10 blocks. The varsity capped off the night with a double digit victory. The team was led by Joe Maurello, Lavelle Pierre and Kwaku Osei.'

12/1/02 Newsday: Lincoln Continental -- The expectations are sky-high, but so far Sebastian Telfair has managed to keep his feet on the ground.

12/1/02 Newsday: Kenneth Lewis, Derrick Douglas Save Bowne in PAL Tournament.

12/1/02 Coach Will Stasiuk: 'The 5th annual P.A.L. / Game Over Thanksgiving Classic was played today at JHS 275 in Brownsville, and all three games were exciting affairs. In the opener Newtown came back from 16 down in the first half to take a 64-58 lead over John Bowne with 4:20 to go. It was then that momentum shifted back to Bowne. Bowne ended up with a hard fought 78-70 victory. The 2nd game was even wilder. Automotive led Telecommunications 52-31 with 2:30 to go in the third quarter, when the Yellow Jackets began a great comeback. Auto (led by Myles Nelson's 28 pts) had the ball up 2 with 16 seconds to go in regulation but turned it over. Telecom's game MVP Barnaby Collins (28 points) penetrated and dished to a teammate for a basket which sent the game into OT. Telecom finally claimed its first lead all day in OT and held on for a 78-72 win, handing the Pistons their first loss this season. In the nightcap, the action and pace was frantic as Bryant and Murry Bergtraum played at warp speed, exchanging leads several times. With 15 seconds to go Bryant went to the line for 3 shots, down 79 to 76, Bryant made the first foul shot, but missed the next two. However, they grabbed the 2nd missed shot, but missed on the putback attempt. Bergtraum scored to ice the game at 81-77. As always the folks at 275 did a wonderful job in providing the setting for an exciting day of HS hoops.'

12/1/02 Brooklyn Scout: 'The Bedford YMCA got 16 points from Anthony Lessane and 10 apiece from Justin Bright and Jermaine Campbell as they captured the championship of the "For the Good of the Neighborhood" tournament with a 67-49 win over the host team on Saturday. Bedford, which opened a 34-22 margin at the half, also got strong play inside play by 6-5 Melvin George while Brian McMikle and Marques Cox shared the point guard duties. Vernon Teel had 9 points and Milan Prodonovic had 8 for FTGOTN. The Adidas-sponsored event was held at JHS 168 in Flushing.'

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