Monday, October 10, 2011

Queen City Superstars Showcase Classic Recap

On Saturday I had a chance to shoot down to Cincinnati to catch some of the action on day #2 of the 3rd Annual Queen City Superstars Showcase Classic.  The 3rd year event was hosted by Annie and Lanis Timmons, and was held at Woodward High School.  The high school showcase featured about 129 of southern Ohio’s top 9th-12 graders. In terms of the format, each of the 3 divisions contained 4 teams, and each team played two games over the course of the weekend; one game on Saturday and either a championship or consolation game on Sunday.

The senior division championship game featured the Orlando Berry Jr. led Pistons vs a Jalean Lowe led Bulls. The Pistons quickly jumped out to a 17-0 point lead.  After a couple of time outs, insertion of Jalene Lowe and Josh Lemons, and the stellar play of 6’11 Rozelle Nix, the Bulls fought their way back and were up by 1 point when the Piston’s Djantae McCommons  hit half court heave with time running out to claim the 62-61 victory. Orlando Berry Jr. was the consummate floor general as he orchestrated his team’s offense, abut also played pressure defense the entire game. Jalean Lowe was the catalyst in the comeback with deep treys and determined drives to the cup.  Big Rozelle Nix was money around the basket and was pretty much unstoppable. Leading scores for the Pistons were Berry and Floyd Lee, both of whom finished with 15 points. Lowe paced the Bulls with 18 points, followed by Nix (14) and Josh Lemons (10).

The junior division featured a close game as well, as the Spurs defeated the Mavericks by a score of 66-63. In that game, Summit CD’s Kevin Johnson had a monster performance, finishing with 25 points.  Johnson, a 6’4 combo guard, was pretty much unguardable as he knocked down jumpers and got to the cup whenever he wanted.  His backcourt teammate, Withrow’s Tim Coleman, a 6’1 PG, did his own damage and finished with 9 markers. For the Mavericks, Withrow’s Devin Williams was a monster, and his dominance made it clear why he is so highly recruited. With his size, strength and ability to handle the rock, Williams is a matchup problem for just about anybody.  He is too quick for most post players and too big for guards and wings.  Williams finished with a team-high 16 points, followed by Colrain’s Kane Thompson (13 points) and Princeton's Dorian Jordan (9 points).

In the freshman/sophomore championship game the Magic defeated the Rockets 51-42. The leading scorers for the Magic were Trey Lampley and Martin Jones II, both of whom finished with 10 points.  The play of the game involved a breakaway dunk by 5’9 Trey Lampley that was simply nasty. After his poster dunk, the gym was till buzzing 15 minutes later.  Lampley is surprisingly explosive and made several plays that featured his athleticism.  Meadowdale’s Aaron Harris also played well in the win, as did Myo Baxter and Kiere’ Bennie. For the Rockets, Turpin’s Zach McCormick demonstrated surprising athleticism as well, along with a creative handle and an aggressive streak.  McCormick finished with a team-high 10 points.  I was also really impressed with Ronnie Rousseau, a 5’10 PG from Winton Woods who is cat quick, crafty, explosive and excels at finding open teammates with creative passes. In addition, North College Hill’s Latrell Tidwell logged in a solid game as well and finished with 8 points.
In the senior division consolation game, the Nuggets defeated the Thunder 70-66 in overtime. North College Hill’s Jamal Ivery had a huge game as he exploded for a game-high 33 points. Right behind Ivery in point production was Malcome Smith, a 6’2 shooting Guard from Princton, who scored 24 points in the first half, and 32 points for the game. Other standouts in the game were Rick Robby (10 points) and Andrew Mitchell (10 points). For more results of the showcase click on the link below.

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