Hoop Mountain Hoop Feast - Day Two

Day Two of the Hoop Mountain Hoop Fest brought another set of high quality games.  There would be no wasting a Saturday in front of some lame college football games for us.  It was wall-to-wall hoops with some surprises.

Game One: Dr. Phillips vs. Coral Reef

DP got off quickly in this one.  5’11 junior guard Shane Larkin canned two threes and DP was up 8-2 with just under two minutes gone in the opening quarter.  Coral Reef was able to get back on track a little bit but the DP pressure made it tough for CR to get going.  After one quarter of play DP led 20-12.

DP opens up the second quarter on a 9-0 run and is up 29-13 with 5:45 before half-time.  CR closes the gap and gets to within six, 31-25 with 2:30 remaining.  DP is able to keep Coral Reef from gaining too much momentum going into the half and led 40-32.

In the third quarter, DP turned up the pressure and forced Coral Reef into turnovers.  In the first four minutes of the third DP outscores CR 11-3.  Outside of 6’4 senior guard Charles Hankerson, the Coral Reef players looked shell shocked by the DP blitzkrieg.  When the horn finally sounded at the end of the third quarter, DP led 62-40.

It got no better in the fourth quarter as DP came out and scored the first eleven points.  With under six minutes to play, DP led 73-40.  At this point both teams emptied the benches.  The final score was Dr. Phillips 77, Coral Reef 45.

For DP, Shane Larkin led the way with 31 points, 7 assists and 8 steals.  6’1 senior guard Pat Ryan chipped in with 12 points and 7 assists while senior 6’4 forward Chris Thomas offered up 12 points and 8 rebounds.

For Coral Reef, Charles Hankerson led the way with 26 points.  No other players were in double figures but Jesse Holtzman tossed in eight points.

Game Two: Evans vs. Trinity Catholic

We got the news early that 6’7 junior big forward Jason Pimental would not play because of a hand injury and 6’10 junior center Chris Uhle would play limited minutes due to a foot issue.  This made Trinity Catholic very short handed and it showed as got out to an early 10-6 lead midway thru the first quarter and led by seven, 18-11 after one quarter of play.

Evans opened up the second quarter on a 6-0 run.  Their athleticism and quickness was a bit too much for Trinity.  Evans forced Trinity to play at a faster pace than it was accustomed to and the result was turnovers and points for Evans.  At half-time, Trinity was down 31-18. 

The second half would get no better for Trinity.  Evans would outscore them 35-19 for the half and the final score was Evans 66, Trinity Catholic 37.

Evans was led by 5’11 senior guard Maurice Turner with 16 points.  He was supported by 6’5 freshman forward Drekalo Clayton with 15 points and 8 rebounds.

Trinity Catholic was led by 6’5 junior wing Joe Ferro with 12 points and 6’0 senior guard Zach Anderson with 11 points.

Game Three:  West Orange vs. Dr. Krop

West Orange was coming off of a double overtime thriller the night before.  The question would be if they had enough gas left in the tank to play with a team some considered the best team in Class 6A this year.  It sure seemed that way as West Orange held a 5-1 lead with five minutes to go in the quarter.  West Orange was able to keep the lead as Krop not only missed several outside shots but also got into foul trouble.  West Orange was in the bonus before the end of the quarter, which they led 15-11.

In the second quarter, Krop slowly chipped away at the lead.  West Orange led by five with five minutes remaining but Krop would outscore them 14-2 the rest of the quarter.  At the half, Krop held a 30-23 advantage.

The third quarter seemed to have a very slow pace.  Krop remained on top by seven with four minutes left in the quarter but West Orange kept subbing in fresh players and continued to press.  The bigs for Krop were starting to get into some foul trouble.  These factors allowed for West Orange to draw even after three quarters of play at a score of 42 all.

West Orange opened the fourth quarter on a 6-0 run thanks to two threes by 5’10 sophomore guard Jaylen Bell.  Dr. Krop kept trying to get 5’10 junior guard Angel Rodriguez untracked but the West Orange press continually to the ball out of his hands and his teammates couldn’t seem to get it back to him.  Krop was never able to get the lead back and West Orange went on to upset Krop by a score of 60-50.

West Orange had many contributors but were led by Bell with 12 points.  Contributing ten points was 5’10 junior guard Deandre Carter. 

For Krop, Rodriguez was still able to lead them in scoring with 16 points.  Senior 6’5 forward Dennis Barber contributed 12 points while 6’7 senior forward Joseph Thomas offered up 9 points and 12 rebounds.

Game Four: Orlando Christian Prep vs. American Heritage

American Heritage had participated in the double OT game the night before so there were concerns about how fresh they would be against OCP.  Those concerns were confirmed as OCP opened with a 7-0 run on the way to a 15-4 first quarter lead.

The second quarter would prove even worse for American Heritage.  OCP forced turnovers and converted them.  When American Heritage was able to get a shot off, it was forced.  Heritage would go 1-12 from the field in the quarter and had dug themselves a 30-6 halftime hole.

OCP let off the gas a little bit in the second half but it didn’t do Heritage any favors.  In fact, score-wise the second half was close as OCP only Heritage by two, 28-26.  In the end, OCP won a surprisingly easy contest, 58-32.

OCP was led by 6’3 sophomore guard Jordan Montgomery with 12 points followed by 6’4 junior guard Adonis Burbage with 10. 

For American Heritage, 6’1 freshman guard Ryan Andino scored ten points, followed by 6’2 senior guard Juan Ferrales with seven.

Game Five: Clearwater vs. Arlington Country Day

With no Okaro White, many thought this might turn ugly and quickly.  However, Clearwater has played too many games together this past offseason has solid chemistry even without their star player.  Early on it looked like ACD would run away with it quickly.  However, the whistles for this game were tight and ACD’s 6’7 senior forward Justin Jackson got into early foul trouble.  His presence in the ACD press was missed and Clearwater was able to take advantage.  At the end of one quarter ACD led 22-16.

In the second quarter, Clearwater kept clawing away.  Whistles continued to be overused and Clearwater was the prime beneficiary.  ACD had trouble adjusting and Clearwater was getting better shots and to the foul line.  Clearwater took their first lead at 28-27 with four minutes to go and went into the locker room at the half up by four 35-31.

In the early part of the third quarter, it looked like Clearwater would break the game open.  They got up 38-31 and the head coach for ACD was slapped with a technical.  However, Clearwater couldn’t capitalize and ACD’s 6’0 senior guard Chris Blount nailed two threes in as part of a run that would get ACD back in front by one, 41-40 with five minutes left in the third.  At the end of the period, ACD had regained the lead at 57-51 but it was still anybody’s ball game.

In the fourth, it seemed like the lights came on for ACD.  Their press started forcing turnovers and their size and athleticism inside started to assert itself.  Their lead grew from six with 5:30 remaining to 13 with 2:30 to go.  Clearwater could never recover and ended up losing a hard-fought contest 82-65.

For ACD, Chris Blount led four players in double figures with 18 points.  6’0 sophomore point guard Ian Baker contributed 15, 6’7 senior forward John Brown had 12 and 6’6 senior forward Wesley Blackman had 11 points and 8 rebounds.

For Clearwater, 6’3 junior forward Joey Nungester had 12 points while 6’4 junior forward John Hogan had 10 points and eight rebounds.

Our thanks to Eric Wallace and Scott Golden of Hoop Mountain for providing a great set of games of the course of two days.  A special thanks goes to our guy Juan who ran the stat crew and was always ready with great information.