New York City & New Jersey High Hoops

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IS8 Spring Classic, 2001

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IS8 -- address is 108-35 167 th St. Jamaica, Queens just off  Merrick Blvd on 167 St and 108th Avenue.

5/22/01 Peter Edwards:  All-IS8 Teams -- We are all entitled to our opinions but Mr. Elijah Ingram got locked up in the biggest game of the tournament for his team against Riverside Church who wasn't even that talented this year and he wasn't hurt. The players selected ahead of him (in our opinion) played a better all around tournament. Sebastian was the best point guard in the tournament by far and his team went to the Semi's because of him and no 1 else and should have been in the finals. Take note that the team is not selected by how many points you score. As far as politics, we don't use it in our tournament we tell it as we see it. If you have been to IS8 for any period of time you would know that. If you disagree, I'm not upset with you. Your entitled to your opinion. Big games tell a big story when the All-Tournament team is selected. If you know anything about basketball Julius Hodge made his team relax in the 2 of the biggest games of their season (Panthers & Wolfpack) and took all the pressure off the other players on his team. When his entire team was scared to death of Lenny Cooke, Julius took all the pressure off of them. Tommy Eddie didn't deserve to make any teams because he didn't do anything and he has never averaged 20 points a game in his entire IS8 career! By the way we have 3 people on the committee that help make up the All-Tournament team and we take outside input, but don't tell me about Tommy Eddie or the other guys that disappear in big games, PLEASE!'

5/22/01 Peter Benoit: 'It is ridiculous for anyone to say IS8 takes care of stars, anyone can see they recognize the best players. Someone making that claim should look at the past before they make a claim saying the tourney is based on taking care of stars. If that's the case why did Kyle Cuffe and Zach Williams make the 1st team more times than Taliek Brown and Omar Cook. Last time I checked Omar and Taliek were the High School All Americans.'

5/22/01 Joe of redmen.com:  'I was checking out the All Star teams from the IS8 Tourny and was surprised with a few of the players and where they were put. The biggest one was Elijah Ingram being put on the 3rd team. If he was 3rd team I was the best player there-bad leg and all. He was much better than that. I didn't see all of his games naturally but I saw that one we watched together and read the stats of others-he had one poor shooting game. The guards that made first & second team didn't show me as much. I guess some players get the breaks and it depends on some politics.

Just my opinion of course.'

5/20/01 Peter Benoit:  'The IS8 Spring Classic concluded today with SONDAY Express defating Riverside Church A, 78-66. Julius Hodge was not in action but the Express did not need him. Rob Barrett played big the entire Final 4 weekend for the Express. He took home the MVP for the playoffs. His supporting cast of Rashad Bell, Yadda Gaines (Rookie of the Year), Marlon Smith and Japhet McNeil were too much for the Church. Wendell Gibson did his best for the Church he had at least 21 rebounds. Tyquawn Goode and Sean Danztler kept the Church in the game with outside shooting.'

5/20/01 Express led 20 - 12 after one, trailed 31 - 35 at the half and led again 56 - 47 at the end of the third period before winning 78 - 66 going away.  Playoff MVP Rob Barrett (16 pts, 9 rebounds),  Rashad Bell (19 points, 9 rebounds),  Jafette McNeil (13 points, 10 assists) Deshawn Warren (11 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists) and Marlon Smith (12 points, 4 steals and 3 assists) started for the Express and led the way. (No Julius Hodge.  According to Ron Naclerio Julie was at a family affair in Seattle.)  Yadda Gaines had 7 coming off the bench and his and 1 play early in the fourth quarter started the rout. Wendell Gibson had 18 points and 21 rebounds for the Church and Tyquan Goode had 16 points with 9 assists.  Teddy Munford and Sean Dantzler ahd 13 and 11 respectively.

IS8 awards - Tournament MVP: Lenny Cooke.  Best rookie:  Yadda Gaines.  First team:  Julius Hodge,  Sammy Mejia,  Rob Barrett,  Wendell Gibson  and Sebastian Telfair.  Second team:  Darryl Hill,  Woody Souffrant,  Jerel Blasingame,  Ryan Williams and Rashad Bell.  Third team:  Brian Preston,  Tyquan Goode,  Quincy Doobie,  Jason Wingate and Elijah Ingram.  

5/20/01 JSHUTTLESWURTH: 'This is my first year at IS8 and what a great tournament it was, its almost as good as the Rucker Entertainment League. But even after all the great games are over you get reminded of the politics of high school basketball when tournaments start announcing their all-tournament teams. While I thought IS8 would of been a little different it wasn't. The biggest beef I had with the tournament teams was the selection of Sebastian Telfair on 1st team and Elijah Ingram on 3rd? I mean are you serious?  Ingram averaged over 30 pionts for the entire tournament and you put him on 3rd team. He must of shot over 70% behind the arc and you put him on 3rd team. Was anybody there when he dropped 39 points in 3 quaters and had to sit out the 4th cause of bad ankle that he injured during the game and had he not gotten injured they would have finished pool play undefeated but you put him on 3rd team. While Sebastian didn't even show up to half his games and you put him on 1st team. He only averaged about 18-20 points and you put him on 1st team. I mean Tommie Eddie averaged about the same amount of points and his team went about the same distance in the playoffs and he showed up for all his games and he doesn't make any of the teams. I thought the all-tournament teams got selected from pool play but if you do add the playoffs as a factor why did Julius Hodge make first team?  I mean please anybody correct me if I'm wrong but I didn't see him there for the semis or the final. So I guess you only use pool play as your factor of making the all-IS8 teams. This is where the politics of high school basketball come in effect and the number one rule is if you have a big name person in the tournament he makes first team all-automatic, those are just the politics. I mean I'm used to it, I've seen it done at the addidas camp for years. One example I'll use is Edmund Saunders, he was a top 5 propect going into the ABCD camp and he goes and only averages 5 pts and 2rbs but good ole Sonny makes sure one of his poster boys makes it to the all-star game. That is the kind of mess I saw happened today at IS8 where they said lets take care of our stars first and put NYC future star Telfair on 1st team even though he really didn't deserve it and its not a knock on Sebastian cause he is the #1 freshmen in the country hands down and he deserves all the press he gets but he just didn't deserve to make 1st team in this tournament. This is a great tournament like I said before I loved the way its runned and I love Peter Edwards' entertaining commentary but I just terribily disagree with the way the all-tournament teams were named.'

5/19/01 Peter Benoit:  'Down to 2 -- In today's Final 4 action @ IS8. Riverside A defeated Brooklyn Bridge in an overtime affair. The Church came back from a 10 point deficit with 2 minutes left in regulation. Tyquan Goode led Riverside with 27 points. Eric Sterling and Sean Danztler also had 20 + points, while Wendell Gibson had 18. Sebastian Telfair led the Bridge's offensive attack. However Eric Sterling and Tyquan Goode defended the star freshman very well. The inability to handle the pressure defense of The Church led the comeback that forced the extra session. Riverside's defense in the overtime led to easy offense and a win. In the second game SONDAY Express crushed JYO, 90-67 without Julius Hodge. Deshawn Warren paced the Express with 5 first half three pointers. Jaffete McNeil also hit most of his open shots. Yadda Gaines had a great offensive game for the Express but their star today was Rob Barrett. He controlled the game at both ends rebounding at will and scoring down low. This leads to an exciting final. Wendell Gibson vs Rob Barrett is a matchup to watch. The final is tomorrow at 11 am.'

5/15/01  Thirty teams started at IS8; six are left.  No Wolfpack,  no Playaz,  no Gauchos and no Panthers. For this Friday's quarterfinals Brooklyn Bridge plays Rise Above at 6:30 and JYO plays the Gaels at 8:00.  The Bridge, Rise Above winner plays the Church A in Saturday's first semi at 11:00;  the Gael, JYO winners faces SONDAY Express at 12:30.  Sunday's championship game starts at 11:00.

5/12/01 Keith Mason: 'I saw two games at the 8 today. The first matched up S.O.N.D.A.Y. Express against the defending Spring champions LI Panthers. Express ended up blowing out the Panthers by 21 behind 24 points from Julius Hodge and an excellent game from Rob Barrett. The second game saw Elijah Ingram continue to kill, with his 31 point performance on only 13 shots. He went 9-11 from 3 to once again prove he might he have the best "J" in the 2002 class. I will be at IS8 again tomorrow for the 12:30 and 2:00 games. I will also put a full report on my site for today's and tomorrow's games up when I get back. Oh yea tomorrow you can see Lenny Cooke and Julius Hodge go head to head at 12:30, Lenny is coming off a 45 point game today against Rebel.'

5/12/01 Playoff Saturday at IS8 - the first three game results have Wolfpack taking Rebel 90 - 81,  SONDAY Express easily handling last year's champion LI Panthers 85 - 66 and the T1T Playaz bopping Riverside Church Blue 75 - 53.  

Lenny Cooke ruled in the first game, scoring an IS8 all time playoff high 45 points for the Wolfpack - most from aggressive moves within the paint. At one point Pete Edwards characterized it as a man playing against the boys.  John Winchester came off the bench for 13 points and Tommie Eddie had 10 with double digit rebounds for coach Doug Jones' Pack.  Rebel hung tough for three quarters with Damien Herard (18), Nate Parker (15), Josh Puello (10) and Latwan Scott (9) all contributing.

The Panthers' frontline is 6-8 Charlie Villanueava,  6-7 Curtis Sumpter and 6-9 Jason Fraser.  They scored 18,  12 and 11  with Gary Ervin chipping in 10 points.  It wasn't nearly enough against the Express; their top trio of Rashad Bell, Julius Hodge and Rob Barrett got 24, 21 and 18 points for the going away win. Barrett was most impressive pulling down 26 rebounds against all that Panther size.

Elijah Ingram was the Playaz star in the third game scoring 31 points on 14 shots.  That's 9 for 12 on treys with two made layups in the fourth quarter.  Elijah actually missed three treys in the first half but after intermission he was an automatic 8 for 8.  John Allen is headed for Seton Hall next year and he added 20 for T1T.  The Church's Ricky Soliver (11),  Jason Wingate (11), Kiki Clarke (9) and Shakeim (Shak) Mitchell (8) were overmatched.  

5/12/01 Pdiddy9682: 'For some reason no one has mentioned that the final game on Saturday @ IS8 is between Riverside (A) and Gauchos (B.) Riverside will have the edge inside if they have Wendell Gibson. The Gauchos have one of the best backcourts in the tourney with Roscoe Biggers and Kendel Provet. The Gauchos also feature Kevin Francis. However do not be surprised if Riverside wins easily.'

5/10/01 Weekend IS8 action has four playoff games on Saturday and four more on Sunday at the usual starting times - 9:30,  11:00,  12:30 and 2:00.

5/9/01 Brooklyn Scout:  'The regular season of IS 8 came to an end Tuesday night with Brooklyn USA posting an easy 95-71 win over the Jersey Jaguars. Quincy Doubie led with 26 points while Jerel Blassingame added 19 and Muhammed Wilson 15 for Brooklyn, which finished 3-1.

In Tuesday's first game, the Wolfpack needed every one of Lenny Cooke's 39 points to outlast FYA 86-82. Woody Souffrant had a big first half (15 of his 24 points) to give FYA the halftime lead, but Cooke and Tommie Eddie (24 points) scored at will inside against the smaller FYA unit in the second half. Malcolm Peterkin added 17 for FYA.'

5/9/01 Nathan Blue:  'In Monday's First Game Riverside Church didn't show up and Mount Vernon got the forfeit victory.

In The second game on Monday Sonday Express vs The Hoop Street Gang of course was a blowout on paper. As Sonday Express featured Julius Hodge,  Rob Barrett, Deshawn Warren, Rashard Bell, Marlon Smith, Yadda Gaines. Jafette McNeil and Sharod Tomslin. While The Hoop Street Gang had the usual suspects.

After a 30 point first quarter lead. The Hoop Street came back to tie the game at half time. But in the end the HSG lost by about 12. Deshawn Warren had a good game for Artie Cox's Sonday Express squad.

In Tuesday's action everyone was in the house. Daon Merritt, Gary Irvin, Tyquan Goode, Shamar Green, Nathan Blue, Coach Burks, Chris Taft and plenty other cats. As the number one player in the country Lenny Cooke led his Wolfpack Team to victory over a very tough F.Y.A. Team that only had 6 players. Not to mention Nobody over 6'4.

The game was tight all the way as Wolfpack players John Winchester, Shaheen McNair, George Jefferson and Tommie Eddie along with Lenny Cooke were just too much for this talented F.Y.A. squad. The Wolfpack also featured a very talented soph pg from Xaverian HS who has a lot of potential. In the end FYA lost by 4 or 5.

The second game was a blowout. Quincey Doubie and crew blew out a team from New Jersey by 20.

Okay you heard it first here! If you're not in the gym on Saturday you don't like basketball.  The playoffs start and the first game is The Rebel (Rob Legister and crew) vs The Wolfpack (Lenny Cooke and crew).  The second game is The Long Island Panthers (Fraser, Irvin, Charlie, Sumpter) vs SONDAY Express (Julius Hodge, Rashard, Marlon,Yadda).  The third game is Riverside Chrurch "B" (Ricky, Bobby, Kiki ) vs T1T Playaz (The best talent in NJ, oh yea, Elijah Ingram). This is the best ever set up in the 8! Ever! I will be there on Saturday, Where will you be?'

East -- 1. Riverside Church (A),  2. Rock Steady Beacon,   3. Skyriders, 4. Exodus, 5. Gaels

West --  6. Bklyn USA (A),   7. Huntington,   8. S.O.N.D.A.Y. Express,  9. Gauchos (B),  10. Hoop St Gang

North -- 11. Wolfpack,  12. Tim Thomas Playaz,  13.Queens Cobras, 14. F.Y.A,  15. Renaissance Warriors

South --  16. Real Scout,  17. Bklyn U.S.A. (B),  18. Gauchos,  19. New Jersey,  20. Bunky Reid AllStars

Mideast --  21. LI Panthers (A),  22. Rebel,  23. Holy Cross,  24. On Top Of My Game, 25. Bklyn Bridge

Midwest -- 26. Riverside Church (B),  27. J.Y.O. 28. Rise Above,  29. Blue Chip,  30. Mount Vernon

Week day games are 6:30 and 8:00 pm starts.  Weekend game starts are 9:30am, 11:00, 12:30 and 2:00pm.

No games on Easter Sunday, 4/15 or SAT test day, Saturday, 5/5. Playoffs begin Thursday, 5/10/01. Bottom four 3rd place teams will be seeded by the IS8 committee.

Projected Rosters

1. Riverside Church (A)  -- Coaches Ernest Lorch, Kenny Pretlow.  Jason Wingate,  Keydren Clark,  Shakiem Mitchell, Ricardo Soliver, Bobby Santiago,  Kelvin "Petey" Nelson,  Eric Martin,  Ryan Williams,  Shamar Green,  Alonzo Brown, Sam Edwards,  Kevin Francis and Kevin Johnson.

2. Rock Steady Beacon --  Coach Andre Reese,  Keith Willis,  Terrell Leach,  Timeke Mitchell,  Angre Levais,  David Robinson,  Rahim Acosta,  Shakim Berry, Chris Taft Kaimondre Owes.

3. Skyriders -- Coach Amir Sultan,  JR Rembert,  Darren Wright,  Danny Hawkins,  Bishme Allah,  Carl Benn,  Mark Tarue,  Terry McKensie,  George Wiley, Drew Skeeter , Tyrik Vaer McClemont .

4. Exodus -- Coach Rodney Johnson, Mike Thomas,  Knowledge Miller,  Ade Edwards,  Rodney Epperson, Elijah Muldron, Kevin Glover,  Don Matic,  Walter Murry,  Sheldon Franklin.

5. Gaels -- (aka St Marys)  Matt Preston,  Brian Preston,  Kenny Grant,  Dwayne Byfield,  Mamadou Diakhate,  Tim Wall,  Paul Trecario,  Keith Tilley,  Jared Weir.

6. Bklyn USA (A) --  

7. Huntington --  Coach Dave Edwards,  Chad Davis,  Matt Ross,  Brian Faustin,  Sequon Gibbs,  Jimmy Sutton,  DJ Fields,  Kevin Hamilton,  Andre Vanderpool,  Kevin Burton, Antoine Angelau.

8. S.O.N.D.A.Y. Express -- Coach Artie Cox,  Rashon Bell,  Kevin White,  Deshon Warren,  Jaffette McNeil,  S Thomlinson,  B Gladstone,  Julius Hodge,  Rob Barrett, Sundiatta (Yadda) Gaines.

9. Gauchos (B) --  coach Dwayne Mitchell,  Adrian Walton,  Wilbur Williams,  Jermaine Pringle,  Laurence Palmer,  David Sills,  Tyrone Marshall.

10. Hoop St Gang -- Coach Barry Knapp,  Edane Barton, Hernan Perez, Phillip Fleurey, Ryan Pehush, Joseph Mahan, Brian Doyle, Tom Oswald, Zarett Rogers, Abu Kanu,Jr., Ross Weisser, Bernard Onyehucheya

11. Wolfpack --  Coach Doug Jones, Lenny Cooke,  Brian Raimondi,  Justin Marshall,  Daniel,  Carlton,  John,  Tommie Eddie, Shaheen McNair,  George Jefferson.

12. T1T Players Basketball Club.-- Coach Jimmy Salmon, Elijah Ingram,  Lee Melchioni, Eric Davis, Sean Banks,  Marquis Webb, Darryl Watkins and Jamar Nutter.    

13.Queens Cobras -- Coach Terry Brown,  Raymond Thorpe,  Richard Brown,  Anthony Noble,  Courtney Peck,  Stephen Bowen,  Ramsey Louder,  Alexander Lawrence,  George Moore,  Michael Brockington,  Lennox Matthews.

14. F.Y.A -- Coach Carlton Screen -- Wood Souffrant, Malcolm Peterkin, Ahkeem McKinnon, Damek Mair, Jamaal Carty,  Alister Francique, Michael Kelly, Fabian Richards, Dorian Wood, Sherwin Harry.

15. Renaissance Warriors --  Coach Darren Quinlan,  Dana Holmes, Marcus Taylor, Tyrone Gilmore, Jeff Torres, Todd Jackson, Jose Cabreja, Carlos Martinez, Corey Piggott, Isaac Henry, Luis Pena, Victor Respaldo, Bradley Joseph, Marcus Gutierrez.

16. Real Scout -- coach Nathan Blue Curtis Stinson, Roscoe Biggers, Rashawn Vaughn, Jeff Green, Luis Rodriguez, Leon Fuller, Mike Goia, Deng Gai, Norman Simmons , Jamel Moye, Andre Cole.

17. Bklyn U.S.A. (B) --  Rob White,  Terrel Blasingame,  Tyreek,  Billy,  Ramell.

18. Gauchos -- Marvin McCullough, Shaun Wynn, Aaron Nelson, Ron Wyatt,  Drew Arrington,  Chris Simson,  Curtis Shepherd.

19. New Jersey Jaguars --  Coach Dave Wasilenko,  Don Falcon,  John Oates, Trevoy Chambers,  Mike Wasilenko, Karl Anderson,  John Lopez

20. Bunky Reid All Stars  --  Coach Michael Jackson, Gary Anderson,  Dave Bigzia,  Anthony Cox,  Obi Ereze,  Danny Anouora,  Sequon Young,  Jeremy Neale.

21. LI Panthers (A)  Coach Gary Charles,  Charlie Villanueva, Jason Fraser, Curtis Sumpter, Tim Doyle, Gary Irvin, Ontea Gates, Anthony Williams and Michael Claxton

22. Rebel --  Coach Robert  (Rebel) Boyd,  Gene,  Marlon,  Juan,  Nathaniel Parker, Josh Puello,  Latwan Scott,  Damien Herard,  Ray,  Brandon,  Jon.

23. Holy Cross --Coach Lloyd Desvigne, Chris Fileti,  Mike Howell,  Sean Wallace,  Joe Marino,  Albert,  Kevin,  Rob,  Daniel Surrett.

24. On Top Of  My Game -- Robert Epifania

25. Bklyn Bridge -- Sebastian Telflair, John Quintana, Brian Williams, Ramel Bradley and Mitchell Beauford.

26. Riverside Church (B) -- Coaches Ernest Lorch, Kenny Pretlow.  Jason Wingate,  Keydren (Kiki) Clark,  Shakiem Mitchell, Ricardo Soliver, Bobby Santiago,  Kelvin "Petey" Nelson,  Eric Martin,  Ryan Williams,  Shamar Green,  Alonzo Brown, Sam Edwards,  Kevin Francis and Kevin Johnson.

27. J.Y.O.-- Coach Billy Medley, Nick Flagg,  Ryan Williams,  Dwayne Johnson,  Tootie Wells,  Tremayne Singletary,  Skyler Khaleel,  Perry Campbell,  Rob Williams, Shabar Ewing, Darryl Hill.  

28. Rise Above -- Coach Theo Perry,  Jonathan,  Miguel,  Jerrell,  Robert L,  Deshawn,  Gregory,  Brian Buchanan, Dres Pole, Euwill Mimmons,  Everett Woods, Deshawn Fowler.  

29. Blue Chip -- Coach Jose Modeste,  Peter Ramos,  Julian Thomas,  Ramose Modeste,  Shahee Martin,  Tariq Atkins,  Wesley Walker,  Cliffy Clinkscales,  Isaiah Kelly, Cameron Benson,  Darryl.

30. Mount Vernon --  Coach Bob Cimino,  Will Cherry,  Jomo Belfor, Troy Carr,  Randy Brunson,  Chris Dyer,  Dwayne Thomas,  Bryan Browne,  Jabari Samuel, Dexter Gray,  Keith Benjamin, Steve Robinson,  Rayvon Robinson.

Game summaries.

5/6/01 Pdiddy9682: 'The Long Island Panthers crushed Holy Cross today behind a talented squad led by Gary Irvin and Curtis Sumpter. The Panthers (4-0, finished the regular season undefeated) are loaded since the also have Tim Doyle and Charlie Villanueva.  They played without Kenny Adeleke and Jason Fraser. They play thier first playoff game on Saturday 5/12 at11 AM. In the first game today Bunky Reid blew out the Gauchos (A).'

5/6/01 Brooklyn Scout:  'Brooklyn USA pulled away from a 47-47 halftime deadlock to post a 108-86 win over Real Scout at IS 8 Sunday afternoon. Brooklyn USA led for most of the first half but Real Scout got even as the break behind Norman Simmons' 21 first-half points. Brooklyn changed their defensive matchups in the third period, resulting in a 77-61 lead entering the last quarter. Brooklyn USA, now 2-1 with one game left, had five scorers in double figures: Jerel Blassingame (29), Quincy Douby (20), Muhammed Wilson (20), Benny Utley (13).'

5/5/01 Baknhoop:  'Hoop Street defeated Brooklyn U.S.A.--A 73--57.Edane Barton led Hoop Street with 23 points and 16 rebounds.Hernan Perez added 20 points, Keith Williams 13 and Bernard Onyehucheya 11.Hoop Street's record is now 2 win's and 1 loss.'

5/4/01  There are seven teams at IS8 that have solid records and figure to make the playoffs.  Two have played their four games and are done deals - the Gaels (4-0) and the T1T Playaz (3-1).  The other five are the SONDAY Express (2-0),  Gauchos B (2-0),  Wolfpack (3-0), , Gauchos A (3-0) and Panthers (3-0).  No games will be played this Saturday; it's a SAT day.  Eighteen of the thirty teams at IS8 will make the playoffs, shich begin Thursday, 5/10 with third seed games at 6:30 and 8:00.  The following Friday, Saturday and Sunday games will reduce the field to six.  There are two quarterfinal games on Friday, the 18th.  The semis are at 11:00 and 12:30 Saturday the 19th and the championship game is 11:00 on Sunday, May 20th.

4/30/01 Nathan Blue:  'Yesterday my team Real Scout lost by 1pt on a last second shot to a New Jersey team that never gave up. Even though we lost it was one of those games that I'll never, ever forget. We had 5 players Lashard Duren (JFK), Curtis Stinson (Bronx Regional), Rashawn Vaughn (All Hallows), Leon Fuller ( Roosevelt) and Luis Rodriguez (JFK).  

Now we kept it close all game battling foul trouble. The New Jersey team was making all the right shots. We never could pull away from them. That gave them confidence that they could really beat us. So we were down about 13 pts with 5 minutes to go. I knew we could win because of two reasons. Curtis Stinson and Luis Rodriguez!

For all those that don't know Curtis Stinson is one of the best all around guards in the city. While when Luis Rodriguez gets his academics in order more colleges would take him seriously in a couple of years! Well, I decided if we were going to lose it would be because these two guys.

In the end we cut it to 8 or 9. Leon Fuller reached and got  called for a foul. The after that we had to play with 4 people. We huddled it up and said "We got 2 and change it's not over." Then we pressed them to death as Curtis and Luis went to work! We had the lead after a Luis Rodriguez and one with about 10 seconds. Then with 6 secs left a kid hit a good three point shot with a defender and that was it. We lost our record is 0-3. In the end Curtis Stinson ended with 40 points.'

4/29/01 JSHUTTLESWURTH: "I can count how many IS 8 games I've been to on my hands but the third game of the day between Real Scout and the New Jersey Jaguars would have been a classic in any tournament. The Jaguars were up by 75-64 with 2:38 left and instead of attacking the basket they were just passing it off trying to burn time and thats what killed them. Then one of Real Scout's players fouled out (don't remember name) and they were left with only 4 players left on the court down by 7 with about 1:34 left. That's when Curtis Stinson put on a show scoring 8 straight points for the Scouts and giving them a one point lead with 56 seconds. After exchanging baskets for the next couple of trips Louie Rodriguez went hard to the basket, got the basket and the foul to give the Scouts a 2 point lead with 10 seconds left. Then Mike Wasilenko hit a clutch three over 3 defenders and gave the Jags a huge victory for a spot in the playoffs. This game was great with the Jags basically controlling the action but the Scout team staying in there all day and they almost pulled off a miracle with only 4 players on the court. This was a game never to forget.

In the final game of the day TT Playaz beat FYA 105-86 with Elijah Ingram leading the way with 25 points including 7-three point shots. So far he is the talk of the tournament when one guy even yelled out " that boy can't miss." His team made a total of 16 threes on the day (Ingram 7, Dwayne Lee 5, Jamar Nutter 2, Marquis Webb, Sean Banks). Darryl Watkins played well for the Playaz with about 23 points , 5 blocks, and 12 boards even though the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th tallest players on the court were on his team, Watkins is 6'10. Woody Soffrount played extremely well for FYA scoring in the mid 20s.'

4/29/01 In the first game of the day the Gauchos take it to the Hoop Street Gang 73 - 49.  In the second game the T1T Playaz go 2 - 1 for the weekend by beating Renaissance 73 - 40.  Elijah Ingram was hurt yesterday and did not dress for today's game. His teammates,  Dwayne Lee and Shawn Banks got 20 and 18 to take up the slack.  Jose Cabreja had 26 for Renaissnce.  

4/29/01 LFBALL: 'I had an opportunity to catch some basketball action at IS8 on Saturday morning. Still a great tournament as always. One thing I always notice is how everyone feels welcome and comfortable. However, I do not wish to discuss the games, even though the ones I saw were good (not great, as IS8 games are usually). I want to discuss Robert "Rebel" Boyd.

As a few of us including Rich (The historian) Adams, Wayne (Check out the eyes of the great players) Gadson, John (Mr. NYC HS Basketball) Michiotta, Pdiddy (future super successful whatever he wants to be), and Jon (NJ Basketball expert) Cano watched Rebel coach against Brooklyn Bridge, we were stunned to witness him talking on his cell phone during the game and through a timeout. It was very very very odd. Than I realized it was not odd at all for Rebel. Heck, he was probably on the phone attempting to get a kid into college. You see, Rebel is really in this for the kids. I do not think he cares about winning championships as much as helping kids gain exposure that will open up the doors of higher education for them. Rebel has been doing this and much more for over 20 years. He must have helped at least 200 kids attend college. And he does it without any hidden motives or agendas. He is not interested in being a college coach like many on the AAU circuit. He is not interested in being an agent. From my experience with him, it seems all he wants to do is be involved with kids in a positive way, and lead them to various educational opportunities.

I met Rebel 20 years ago. Yes, it has been that long. He probably forgot how he met me. I have not forgotten. I had a kid from Manhattan in need of a college. At the time my contacts were slim and none. I received Rebels number from a friend, I think Bobby Holford. Rebel assisted me in getting the young man in junior college in Texas. Rebel followed up on the kid and another kid monthly. Often getting on the coach for not doing the right things for the kids. Things such as providing food, and adequate living space. You see Rebel did not just get them into school and forgot them. He was determined to see them come out with a degree.

I wanted to reintroduce Rebel to some and introduce him for the first time to others. I do this because I feel he has done more for kids than many others who always get the glory and big accolades. Also, Rebel does not always take the top players. He takes players that want to get better. He than makes them better. Hell, anyone can win with a bunch of all state and HS all American players. Than again, that's not true because over the years I have seen those type of teams lose. Last year Rebel had Rashad Bell. Helped him develop. This year Bell is playing with someone else. The funny thing is Rebel probably does not mind. As long as he could be of help, he is satisfied. There are many others similar to Robert "Rebel" Boyd. I hope we will acknowledge a few in the coming months. People such as Jim Couch, Carlton Screen Sr., Doc Neccelli, and many others who are rarely mentioned on this board. In the meantime, I hope that phone call Rebel made during the game opened a door for another deserving player.'

4/28/01 Keith Mason:  'I have a report from IS8 on the Brooklyn Bridge vs. Rebel game and the TiT Pkayaz' games on my site.'

4/28/01 Shizzy-Shiz Shizzy-Shiz:  'Tim Thomas started its regular season off by being defeated by the Wolf Pack. The final score was 73-69. Wolf Pack was led by Lenny Cooke with 26 points 11 rebs, Tommie Eddie (15 points), George Jefferson (14points), Shaeen McNair (11points). Sophmores Justin Marshall and Aaron Harvey both played great, Marshall with 11rebs 4 blocks, Harvey (7 points)for the Pack. Elijah Ingram hurt his ankle in the beginning of the 3rd Quater he had (31points) (7 threes).'

4/28/01 John P. Miciotta:  'Today's quadruple header included two games involving one of the pre-tourney favorites the Tim Thomas Playaz. They lost thier first game, the days featured matchup against the Wolfpack..and were holding on to a slim 3 point lead against the Queens Cobras with just under a minute and a half to go when I had to head home.

The first game of the day saw Exodus arrive late and start the game at a 16-0 disadvantage..They played well but could not overcome the Gaels (St. Mary's LI) who were also playing without mainstays Matt Preston and Mamadou Diakhate. Dwayne Byfield who finished wih 19 points was particularly impressive. Always a terrific shooter, the absence of his two teammates allowed him to show a more complete game. He was a quick disruptive presence on defense..getting several steals and numerous deflections..and showed a more complete game with several drives to the basket where he was able to get the ball right to the rim with his leaping ability. He is definitely a terrific get for NEC tourney champ Monmouth College and coach Dave Galloway and should be a key player begining next season. For Exoudus Elijah Muldrow was impressive..a tweener forward with a strong body and good hands many of his 18 points came on some tough finishes in heavy traffic.

The day's second contest, between the Wolfpack and Tim Thomas was the game of the day..The two teams traded shots like two great heavyweights for 2 and 1/2 quarters when St. Anthony's point guard Elijah Ingram appeard to break the game open with four rainbow threes during a spurt that saw the Playaz apparently break open a close game and garner an 11 point lead.

Wolfpack coach Doug Jones responded to the run by having super junior Lenny Cooke guard the ball (and Ingram) at the top of the circle. In a scramble for a loose ball Ingram fell over Cooke twisted an ankle or knee and was forced to leave the game. Although Jamar Nutter, who played a great game, took over at the point the Playaz could not adjust to playing without thier leader. The Wolfpack used its perimeter quickness and the inside scoring of Cooke and Boys & Girls' Tommie Eddie to get back in the game. Eddie, who argueably was the best player in last week's Wheelchair Classic continued his stellar post season play. He scored inside and out along with Cooke, made several key defensive plays and made a key steal and fired a bullet pass to Cooke for the basket that sealed the win. Kudos for the Wolfpack should also go to Justin Marshall, the 6'6" junior-to-be from Christ the King who will play his first varsity game for the Royals next season. He came up with several key rebounds during their run and handled the ball with terrific poise for a youngster playing with and against kids with varsity experience. His willingness and ability to do a whole bunch of "little" smart things bode well for both his future and the Royals' chances next season.

Game three saw Rebel handle Brooklyn Bridge easily behind the shooting of Bishop Ford's Robert Legister and the playmaking of Poly Prep's Ray Corrigan..Robert "Rebel" Boyd's team played well together and played terrific team defense to offset the efforts of Mitchell Beauford and Brian Williams for the Bridge.

The day's final game was also the second for the Playaz..and saw them better able to compensate for the loss of Ingram. Simply put Jamar Nutter is a terrific prospect..a great "all purpose" guard and a rugged physical defender who drives and has a terrific stroke. Willie Irick was terrific around the basket and finishing on the break, and Darryl Watkins, a junior-to-be who will transfer from Passaic Tech to Patterson Catholic showed flashes of quickness and a nice touch around the basket. The Cobras despite being undermanned where able to keep it close and were trailing by just 3 with a minute and change to go when I had to leave.'

4/28/01 This is T1T Playaz weekend at IS8.  They will play all four of the regular season games today and tomorrow.  In the day's second game they started a formidible Elijah Ingram,  Jamar Nutter,  Willie Irick, Marquez Webb and Darryl Watkins but lost to a 73 - 69 to a Wolfpack team that features Lenny Cooke,  Tommie Eddie,  Shaheen McNair,  George Jefferson and Justin Marshall.

In the first game Exodus arrived late and were penalized by beginning the game at the second quarter down 16 - 0. Sheldon Franklin (19 points) and Elijah Muldrow (18 points) did a good job for Exodus but they still lost by 21,  65 - 44 to the LI Gaels playing without their stars, Matt Preston and Mamadou Diakhate.  Dwayne Byfield, Brian Preston and Kenny Grant had 13, 11 and 9 for the 4 - 0 winners who will now wait for the playoffs.

4/27/01 Pdiddy9682: 'I will be at the IS8 for the Wolfpack/Tim Thomas game tomorrow and the Rebel/Bk Bridge game after that. Exodus beat Riverside A last night improving to 2-0. They play an undfeated St Mary's team tomorrow in the first game. Riverside is now 2-2 and may fail to make the playoffs. Riverside B is way better than the A.'

4/22/01  Pdiddy9682: 'Today's winners at IS8 were S. O. N. D. A. Y. Express over Brooklyn USA (A). Gauchos (B) over Huntington, Gauchos were led by Roscoe Biggers, Kendel Provet, and Kevin Francis. Gaels over Rock Steady 89-78, behind many 3's by the Gaels. The Gaels clinched the #1 seed in the East improving to 3-0 with one game remanning, Brian Preston hit from behind the arc all game long. Chris Taft played a solid overall game rejecting shots scoring and rebounding for Rock Steady, he is the best sophomore that I have seen this year. Timeke Mitchell led Rock Steady in scoring but it was not enough against the Gaels 3 point machine of an offense. In the final game Queens Cobras trailed Wolfpack by 2 after three quarters. Then Wolfpack went on a 30-14 run to take over the game. Lenny Cooke, Tommie Eddie and Shaheen McNair led the Wolfpack. The best plays of the day were a reverse dunk by Cooke, right after that McNair soared for a one handed slam. In the second half Eddie converted a 4 point play then he hit a 3 "from the half"

4/22/01  Brooklyn Scout: 'Saturday morning at IS8 --  In the first game Saturday at IS 8, Quincy Douby exploded for 16 points in the fourth quarter to carry Brooklyn USA to a 92-87 comeback victory over Bunky Reid All-Stars.

Brooklyn USA trailed 44-33 at the half before Jerel Blassingame tallied 11 of his 21 points in the third quarter to set the stage for Douby's big final quarter, which included four threes. Douby finished with 31 points while Rashawn Freeman had a game-high 32 for the losers. Tyrik Malone added 11 and Isaiah Davis 10 for Brooklyn USA.

4/21/01 Louis Xifaras (Director and Coach of the Queens Rimrockers Basketball Program):  Game 1: Riverside (a) vs Rock Steady Beacon At the half the Church was up 44-30. Wendell Gibson showed up at halftime and warmed up for a while. Chris Taft was on Rock Steady. This created the 2nd half matchup of Taft vs Gibson. Taft outhustled Gibson, however Gibson won the muscle match inside the paint. Teddy Mumford was on fire with the jumpers. The Church won in a nice finish 82-75.

Game 2: L.I. Panthers (a) vs Rebel  LI Panthers had the big name players...#7 Kenny Adeleke, #6 Curtis Sumpter, #4 Tim Doyle, #11 Michael Claxton, however the Rebel came out firing. They opened up a 22-15 lead at the end of 1. Pete Edwards kept calling Adeleke "Layups" because Kenny missed about 10 layups in the game. #10 on the Rebels had a nice game and a sweet short range jumper. at the half the Rebels has a surprising 41-35 lead. The Panthers came out hot in the 2nd half but didnt manage to hold down the Rebel as the score was 65-59 Rebel at the end of 3. A great 4th quarter by Michael Claxton led the Panthers to a 87-85 comback win over the impressive Rebel.

This was my first trip to IS 8, and i can tell why it is one of the best Leagues to get into. Pete Edwards does a great job running it.'

4/14/01  Last night at IS8 Rise Above took Blue Chip 90 - 72 and in a classic double overtime shootout JYO won against Mt Vernon 108 - 102.  The JYO leading scorers were Darryl Hill (35),  Tootie Wells (31),  Ryan Williams (15) and Tremayne Singletary (15) while Will Cherry (31),  Jomo Belfor (27),  Randy Brunson (21) and Dwayne Thomas (12) led MV.  Dres Pole (34),  Euwill Mimmons (20),  Everett Woods (16) and Dashawn Fowler (6) scored for RA.. Wesley Wells (19),  Cliffy Clinkscales (12) and Cameron Benson (6) led Blue Chip.  

FYA forfeited the first game this morning to Renaissance before Exodus took the Skyriders 56 - 49.  Mike Thomas (11),  Knowledge Miller (8),  Ade Edwards (8),  Rodney Epperson (7) and Elijah Muldron (7) all contributed to the Exodus balanced scoring;. Drew Skeeter had a game high 13 for the Skyriders as Tyrik Vaer McClemont and JR Rembert had 8 and 7.

At halftime in the third game the Hoop Street Gang was comfortably ahead of Huntington 36 - 21.

Coach Barry Knapp: 'Hoop Street Gang defeated Huntington 72-53 in their opening game at the I.S.8 Basketball Classic.Edane Barton led Hoop Street with 27 points.Edane is a 6`4`` senior who was clearly the best player on the court.Phillip Fleurey,6`3`,junior,added 10 points and Hernan Perez,6`1`junior,13points.'

4/8/01 Nathan Blue: 'Yeah man! Boy oh Boy did I get smacked up in IS8. I've never ever lost like that before. I had players that didn't wanna play defense. I had one kid who took over 35 shots and I don't think he had more then 20pts. Both the loss and shot attempts like that won't hapen again.'

4/7/01 All the major players show up for the IS8 playoffs.  But the regular season games are accommodations.  Pete Edwards and the coaches do their best to schedule weekend games around tournament commitments. This weekend there are three out of state tournaments - Providence Jam,  Charlie Weber @ Villanova and Boo Williams in Virginia. Those commitments bit coaches Nathan Blue and Jose Modeste as their teams lost - Real Scout 87 - 69 to the Bunky Reid All Stars and Jose's Blue Chip  72 - 71 to Mount Vernon.  In the day's third game Rock Steady Beacon (they look like the Spingfield Rifles to me!) and the Skyriders were tied at 18 through one, 38 - 35 Rock Steady at the half and teid at 56 through three before Rock Steady was just that in the fourth, winning 78 - 68.  Timeke Mitchell (27),  Terrell Leach (20), Keith Willis (14) and Terrell McQueen (7) led RSB while Danny Hawkins (18), Darius Wright (11), Carl Benn (10) and Mark Tarue (10) paced the Skyriders.

Mt Vernon's Jomo Belfor played for a part of the first and then sat for the rest of the game. (What was that all about, coach?)  It didn't matter.  Mt Vernon led 19 - 6 after one, was down 34 - 33 at the break and trailed for most of the second half.  A Will Cherry trey (he hit a bunch) gave them their first second half lead and they held on as BC's Mark Arrington missed a layup at the end.  Cliffy Clinscales had 8 points for Blue Chip and did a great job at the point. Carl Gervais, Mark Arrington, Wesley Walker and Stephon Dyer had 16, 17, 13 and 11 for BC.  Will Cherry had 34 (that's a bunch of treys!) for MV and Bryan Browne, Dwayne Thomas and Randy Brunson had 11, 8 and 6.

4/7/01  Kboogie:  'IS 8 - The Rock Steady Beacon got their first win on the season.  Like Real Scout, I didn't stay to see the whole game but the play of 6"4 Timike Mitchel 23 points12 boards 6"3 Terrell Leach and Robesons 6"3 Guard Keith Willis 16 and 18 repectively. They held an undersized Rock Steady Team together for the win.'

4/6/01 The Gaels (St Mary's team) beat the Riverside Churdh A team in the East and the Church B team takes Blue Chip in the midwest section.  

4/5/01 Pete Edwards: 'Tonight's IS8 results -- Wolfpack beat Warriors, SONDAY Express beat Huntington bad.  SONDAY Express led by Rashad Bell, Julius Hodge, Kevin White.'

4/5/01 Nathan Blue's Real Scout Hoop Summary -- 'Well yesterday I went to IS8. The first game was a blowout. Brooklyn USA "B" Team (Who is in my division) played Gauchos (Who is in my division) and BK USA lost by about 25pts. Rob White from Canarsie HS was on that under 5'10 BK USA team that got blown. The Gauchos Marvin McCullough, Sean Wynn, and Aaron Nelson were too much. The play of the game was when Sean threw it on some lil dude on the break. If you wanna E mail Sean and find out more about how he threw it on that guy you can hit him up at Shuttlewynn@aol.com.

The next game was Brooklyn Bridge vs The Long Island Panthers. Brooklyn Bridge had Sebastian Telflair, John Quintana, Brian Williams and Mitchell Beauford. The Panthers came in there with the regular squad minus Charlie Villanueva and Jason Fraser who are both injured.

Well, The game was a classic. As Gary Irvin and Sebastian Telflair went at it. The game went into overtime but the play of Tim Doyle and Amadou Fall was what made the Panthers pull out their season set off.

Now here are the behind the scenes things. I'm gonna keep it funky (Real). I know Sebastian Telflair hates me! With a passion! He hates the site especially! No matter how nice I am to him! I could do a 40 page story on him he'll still hate me. Now that goes with some of the other players too. But some get deaded like Lenny Cooke and I didn't like each other but that deaded at ABCD Camp last year.

But see look at this situation. Omar is in the house. The Panthers are up by 9 pts. Telfair comes down hit's a three from half court with someone in his face. (That's aight) Then he gets a steal off the inbounds hits a lay up. (Wow 5pts in like 6 secs) Now that is a great player making great plays.

Now as the game is almost over in overtime. Telflair and Irvin are in front of me as a Panther shoots a free throw. Gary says "I'm number one right Nate?" Sebastian says " Mine is on paper." What did I say nothing to either one of them.

That fact is that every player feels they should be first team. Sebastian had a good season and I'm not as hyped up as everyone else. So he's second team. Behind Woody Soufrant (Hofstra), Darryl Hill (Had a great season) a John Q (St. Francis College).

But once again I love the kid's game. He is getting taller and stronger and has the world in front of him. So Danny and Tiny do ya thing and I wish ya all the best with that bright star.'