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City of Palms: Day 3

Ft. Myers- On Day 3 Lance Stephenson would go head-to-head with fellow top-5 sophomore Kenny Boynton; and Tyreke Evans (pictured) would show the crowd why he is considered one of the very best juniors in the nation.

Game 9: Golden Gate vs. Monsignor Pace

Pace jumped out to an early 22-10 lead and never looked back as they routed Golden Gate 88-51.  6-5 junior Rayford Shipman made up for a somewhat disappointing day yesterday to lead Pace with 30 points (13-19fg) and 7 rebounds.  6-2 junior JD Woods led Golden Gate with 26 points.

Game 10: Wharton vs. DeSoto Co.

Wharton took control early and led 22-16 at the end of the first quarter.  Both teams struggled to put points on the board in the second period, but Wharton took a 31-23 lead into the break.  DeSoto County came out strong in the second half and pulled off a 54-51 come-from-behind victory.  DeSoto was led by Sheldon and Shavon Shine, who combined for 38 points.  Anthony Gomez and Shawn Vanzant combined for 35 points for Wharton.

Game 11: Blanche Ely vs. Lincoln

The biggest storyline in this game (and maybe the entire tournament) was the showdown between the top 2 sophomore guards in the country.  Lance Stephenson is the latest in a long list of hoops prodigies to hail from Lincoln, including their coach Dwayne “Tiny” Morton, Stephon Marbury, and more recently Sebastian Telfair.  Ely’s Kenny Boynton might not have the national rep that Stephenson has, but he is to Florida what Stephenson is to New York.

The game couldn’t have started more different for the stars as Stephenson got into quick foul trouble that sent him back to the bench, while Boynton led Ely to a 20-9 lead with 13 first quarter points.  It looked as though Ely was going to run away with it, but when Boynton got a breather midway through the second quarter Lincoln went on a 13-4 run to get back in the game.  Lincoln continued their run even after Boynton checked back in and took their first lead 27-26 right before the break. 

It seemed Stephenson had something to prove after sitting the bench nearly all of the first half.  After Ely and Lincoln traded baskets to start the 2nd half, Stephenson took over and scored 9 straight points and dished out a pair of assists to give his Lincoln team a 50-41 lead midway through the 3rd quarter.  Kenny Boynton and Ely wouldn’t go down without a fight.  With Ely down 65-57 in the final period, Boynton nailed a 3-pointer on 3 straight possessions to get his team within 2 points at 66-68 with under a minute left in the game.  Lincoln failed to score on their next possession and Ely’s Carlin Jacobs scored on an extremely acrobatic layup to tie the game at 68-all with just seconds left on the clock.  On Lincoln’s next possession, Davon Peterson went coast-to-coast and hit an acrobatic layup of his own to give Lincoln the lead 70-68, and that proved to be the winning bucket as Ely turned the ball over with a chance to win.  The final score was 71-68.

Player Evaluations:

Lance Stephenson 6-5 So. SG Lincoln
Stephenson didn’t tally any stats in the first half as he was on the bench with foul trouble, but he was the biggest reason Lincoln went on a run in the 3rd quarter to take control of the game.  He has great size at guard and posts up his defender and has a nice turnaround jumper.  He was best in this game in transition where he was nearly unstoppable even when he was outnumbered on the break.  As for his no. 1 ranking in the 2009 class, it might be time for him to be dethroned when we update our rankings next month.  He is more of a scorer than a point guard now, and he still plays out of control at times and is turnover prone.  Nonetheless he is no-doubt a star in the making.  Finished with 13 points and 7 rebounds- all in the second half.

Devon Peterson 6-3 Sr. SG Lincoln
Peterson was Lincoln’s best player on this night and fittingly hit the game winning shot, and it was an impressive acrobatic layup at that.  He hit all the big shots and got to the hole where he has enough hops to elevate above the rim.  If this is a routine performance for him, we’d expect he’ll get some top tier mid-major attention.  Finished with 26 points on 10-15 shooting (3-3 downtown).

Brandon Walters 6-10 Sr. C Lincoln
The big guy absolutely owned the boards on both sides of the court and was a big-time shot blocker as well.  Finished some nice dunks but has a long was to go with his scoring game.  Finished with 6 points, 19 rebounds and 5 blocks. 

Kenny Boynton 6-2 So. SG Blanche Ely
Boynton was ridiculous in the first half, but even better in the second half when he scored 20 points.  He plays with the poise and swagger of a veteran star and he is only a sophomore.  Although he is one of the top shooters in the country and nailed 7 3-pointers in this game, his most impressive play was a 3-pointer that he missed.  He followed that shot (something to be said for that in itself nowadays), and caught the rebound in mid-air and tipped it in off the backboard like he’s done it a thousand times before.  Boynton is a good ball handler, although he tends to favor his right hand, and he is a good passer although he looks for his shot first.  He made some nice drives to the basket and finished some contested layups, but he still runs into trouble at times close to the hoop and gets his shot blocked.  Although his team lost, we’d have to give him the nod over Lance Stephenson on this night.  One of the elite players in the country.  Finished with a game high 34 points on 13-26 shooting (7-14 deep) and 6 rebounds.

Game 12: Ft. Myers vs. American Christian

We have to give Ft. Myers credit for actually having a lead (9-8) a couple minutes into the game, but it definitely wouldn’t last.  Tyreke Evans scored at will on his way to 19 first half points including a 3-pointer from nearly half court at the buzzer.  The score at halftime was 50-29, and with Ft. Myers’ Lance Kearse on the bench (we hear he’s been fighting an illness) in the second half, American Christian went on to win 105-68. 

Player Evaluations:

Tyreke Evans 6-5 Jr. G American Christian
He’s one of the best guards in the country and on this night he was a scoring machine.  During the summer he plays point guard for Team Final and does a great job of it, but he excelled looking to score first.  Evans hit shots from all over the court and finished numerous drives.  His best move is a fake-crossover to jump-shot that is high arcing and nearly automatic.  One of the best 3 players in the 2008 class (along with Brandon Jennings and Greg Monroe).  Finished with 27 points and over 10 boards.

Keenan Ellis 7-0 Sr. PF American Christian
We are big fans of Keenan.  He is a character and plays with a lot of personality and pumps himself up after each dunk or blocked shot.  He is as mobile as a 7-footer gets, and is a great athlete that gets up and down the court in a hurry and is on the receiving end of a lot of alley-oops.  He is skinny as hell and still hasn’t put it all together offensively, but he’s farther along than a lot of kids his size.  One of the top shot blockers in the country.  Will be an impact player at UAB and a potential star.

Michael Glover 6-6 Sr. F American Christian
Glover is well built and uses his strength to play bigger than his height.  You could call him a warrior.  He had as many dunks as any player on this day, and finished with 23 points and 10+ boards. 

Game 13: American Heritage vs. Kathleen

Kathleen jumped out to an early 14-11 lead and extended it to 27-19 at half behind 11 points by Kevin Foster.  American Heritage chipped away at Kathleen’s lead the entire second half, but down 1-point with time winding down, Eloy Vargas’s last second shot rimmed out and Kathleen won the game 50-49.

Kevin Foster 6-7 Jr. PF Kathleen
Foster is an outstanding athlete and continually took the ball right at American Heritage’s 6-9 big guy.  He finished with 17 points (8-15fg) and 12 rebounds. 

Eloy Vargas 6-9 Jr. PF American Heritage
Vargas runs the court well for a big guy, can handle the ball a little and has a good shooting touch… but he struggled in this game as he hit only 4-17 shots for 14 points.  Even with his shot not falling he was big time on the other end of the court where he finished with 10 rebounds and 8 blocks.  High-major prospect will find a spot in our top 100 when we update the 2008 player rankings next month.

Game 14: Eisenhower vs. Schenley
Schenley controlled the game from the beginning thanks to efficient play by DJ Kennedy and led 30-22 at half.  We left the gym just before midnight and it looked like Schenley had a lead that they weren’t going to relinquish.  Schenley’s 6-7 senior big man Dejuan Blair scored 6 points and grabbed 3 rebounds in the first 2 quarters and 6-6 senior forward DJ Kennedy had 11 points on 5-9 shooting in the half.

12/20 2:00- Schenley won the game 68-64.  DJ Kennedy scored 25 points on 9-15 shooting.  Dejuan Blair had 16 points and 5 rebounds.  Lewis Jackson and Bart Dandridge combined for 40 points for Eisenhower.

Day 3: Top Performers

1. Tyreke Evans 6-5 Jr. G American Christian
2. Kenny Boynton 6-2 So. G Ely
3. Devon Peterson 6-3 Sr. SG Lincoln
4. Lance Stephenson 6-5 So. G Lincoln
5. Rayford Shipman 6-5 Jr. SF Pace
6. Michael Glover 6-6 Sr. F American Christian
7. Kevin Foster 6-7 Jr. PF Kathleen
8. DJ Kennedy 6-6 Sr. F Schenley
9. Brandon Walters 6-9 Sr. C Lincoln
10. Eloy Vargas 6-9 Jr. PF American Heritage