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Marshall County HoopFest

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Oak Hill Academy (VA) vs. Jackson Provine (MS)
This game was huge for so many reasons.  For starters, Oak Hill is the top high school team in the country and Brandon Jennings (pictured) is our top rated junior in the country, and this was our first chance this season to catch them in action.  And not surprisingly, both Oak Hill and Jennings defended their lofty status. 
If you’ve been reading HoopsReport.com for a while you know that we love sleepers: players that somehow slip through the cracks and have flown under-the-radar nationally.  Provine has a legit sleeper in the sophomore, junior, and senior classes.  Their 6-6 sophomore forward Emery Kelly could be a high-major prospect, and looked like he belonged on the court despite playing against Oak Hill’s All-American worthy big men.  6-5 junior shooting guard Scottie Haralson was unconscious from outside and outplayed highly regarded Michigan-recruit Alex Legion.  6-3 senior guard Demorris Summers is a mid-major prospect at the highest level and is as strong and athletic as most of the guards in our top 150.

The opening tip-off went to Provine, and Demorris Summers wasted no time attacking the basket and finishing an acrobatic layup that looked more like Derrick Rose than a sleeper.  Oak Hill turned the ball over on their first possession and Summers came right back and completed an assist to his sharp-shooting teammate Scottie Haralson to give his team a 4-0 lead.  It was obvious that Provine wasn’t intimidated in the least as they mounted a 19-12 lead late in the first quarter.

In the second quarter Oak Hill rallied and took a 20-19 lead after back-to-back steals by Brandon Jennings and a pair of dunks by Jennings and Nolan Smith.  Jennings, Smith, and Julian Vaughn each had big first half’s for Oak Hill but the real story in the early going was Scottie Haralson of Provine's perfect outside shooting.  He was 5-5 beyond the arc in the half with 18 points and his team took a 36-35 lead into the break.

Whatever Steve Smith told his Oak Hill players in the locker room at halftime worked as they started the second half on a 16-4 run to mount a 10 point lead at 50-40.  Brandon Jenning’s 3rd quarter performance was nothing short of amazing.  He took complete control of the game at both ends of the floor.  Jennings had numerous steals, amazing passes, and dunks.  The crowd was already going crazy when Jennings threw a bounce pass between his legs to Howard “Trey” Thompkins for a fast-break finish.  When the smoke cleared, Oak Hill had scored 52 points in just 13 minutes to give them an 87-57 insurmountable lead.  That’s when Oak Hill took their big dawgs out and threw in the “B-Team” (which by the way is better than 90% of the teams in the country).

Looking back on the game some things became very clear: 

Oak Hill is very, very good.  It’s not far-fetched to say that this team’s starting five is more talented than half of college’s top 10 teams.

Brandon Jennings is the truth.  I love Tyreke Evans, and Greg Monroe does have boo-koos of potential, but Jennings is not only the best junior in the country, he may be the best player regardless of class.  If you haven’t seen him play yet, tune into ESPN2 Thursday (Dec. 7) night at 9pm when Oak Hill takes on Norcross (GA) in a matchup of the #1 and #5 teams in the country.

Player Evaluations

Brandon Jennings 6-1 Jr. PG Oak Hill (USC)
Top point guard and player in the junior class nationally.  World-class court vision, outstanding ball handling, good shot, and great quickness and explosiveness.  After this game we think he may be the best point guard defender in the class.  Could be one of the best point guards in history when it’s all said and done.  Finished with 21 points, 8 assists (surely he had more?), 5 rebounds, and 5+ steals.

Nolan Smith 6-3 Sr. PG/SG Oak Hill (DUKE)
Nolan is even better than when we saw him last season.  He knows the game and will be an impact player at Duke if not their go-to-guy at some point in his career.  He handles the ball and passes good enough to run the point but is a prolific scorer.  Outstanding athlete can draw the foul and finish, and is good for a few big-time dunks each game.  Streaky shooter, but capable of hitting the big shot.  We’ve seen Nolan ranked as low as 30’sh by some scouts.  We have him 15th in the class and he might be better than that.  Finished with 21 points and 4 rebounds.

Julian Vaughn 6-9 Sr. PF Oak Hill (FLORIDA ST.)
Has loads of skill for his size.  Soft touch and capable shooter to 20 feet.  Legit top 35 player in the senior class makes him a great get and immediate impact player for Florida State.  Finished with 11 points and 7 rebounds.

Howard “Trey” Thompkins III 6-9 Jr. PF Oak Hill
We feel very comfortable with Trey in our 2008 top 10 after his 18 points, 10 rebounds performance.

Alex Legion 6-4 Sr. SG Oak Hill (MICHIGAN)
Finished with 16 points and 5 rebounds.  Borderline top 50 player in the class of 2007.

Demorris Summers 6-3 Sr. SG Jackson Provine
We are surprised that we hadn’t heard of Summers yet.  He is a top level athlete and has a college-ready body.  Summers had numerous coast-to-coast finishes including back-to-back plays that he split Oak Hill defenders (including Jennings) with a slick move that left them in his dust and proceeded to score and draw the foul.  He finishes as well as anyone and has the moves to get to the rim.  Summers did hit some outside shots but he’s not a shooter at this point.  He also needs to work on his ball handling and passing to be a point at the next level.  Strong defender took the ball from Nolan Smith on one occasion.  We have a feeling he’s going to get better and he’ll be an excellent pick up for any mid-major.  Scored 17 points on 6-9 shooting.

Scotty Haralson  Jr. SG 6-5 Jackson Provine
We had heard of Haralson before today, but had no idea he was the type of player that could put up 28 points against Oak Hill.  Turns out, he’s averaging 28 points on the season and this kind of shooting performance has become the norm for him.  Tonight he was pretty amazing, hitting contested shots from just about every spot on the court.  He needs to improve his ball handling to improve his ability to create his own shot.  After watching him play just this once he looks to be a possible high-major and maybe even a kid that needs to join our 2008 top 100.  We’ll be sure to check him out down the road.  Finished with 28 points including 8 of 12 3-pointers.

Emery Kelly 6-6 So. PF Provine
Bouncy player can finish around the hoop and uses his long arms to reach tough rebounds.  One to watch the next couple years.  Finished with 8 points and 6 rebounds.

-HoopsReport.com
Nathan@HoopsReport.com