City of Palms
Finals:
After two intense semi-finals, the championship match-up is
set. Montverde Academy beat Trinity (KY) 52-42 to advance to their third
straight final and Wheeler outlasted Wesleyan Christian (NC) in the last game
of the day. The top two seniors in the country square off in Ben Simmons and Jaylen Brown. Simmons scored 16 points in his semi-final and Brown
finished with 28 points including a perfect 13-13 from the free throw line. While
Wheeler has talent behind Brown it certainly doesn’t have the depth and skill
of a Montverde. The past two years Montverde has used its size and depth to wear
out teams in the championship game and this year will be no different.
Monday MVP:
Kobi Simmons, 6’5”,
PG, 2016, St. Francis (GA)
In a game that featured high level talent and elite
athleticism, Kobi Simmons stole the
show. In an 85-75 victory over Oak Ridge (FL), Simmons was at the top of his
game scoring 37 points in addition to seven rebounds, three assists, and only
one turnover while shooting 13-19 from the field. Simmons did it all and it
started with a hot first quarter. He took shorter guards off the dribble,
connected on deep jump shots, and was unstoppable on the break. Players such as
Malik Beasley (FSU), Alex Owens (Providence), and Antonio Blakeney (five-star) were all
on the court, but it was the 6’5” junior point guard that was head and shoulders
above everyone on the court. After the
game, Simmons noted that “pretty much everybody” was recruiting him.
Top Performers:
Jaylen Brown, 6’7”,
SF, 2015, Wheeler (GA)
The unsigned senior finished with 28 points and 11 rebounds
to lead his team to the championship game. In a back and forth contest, Brown
scored consistently in each quarter and then hit all of his free throws in the
final minutes to ice the victory. In the first half, Brown was unstoppable
driving to the basket utilizing a right-handed in and out move before crossing
over to freeze the defender and subsequently exploding for a lay-up or powerful
dunk. In the second half, Brown added a three from the left wing in addition to
his powerful moves to the basket.
Joseph Toye, 6’6”,
G/F, 2015, Whitney Young (IL)
Whitney Young lost a close game to Wayne (OH), but senior
wing Joseph Toye continued his strong senior season. If he keeps trending in
the right direction, it looks like Vanderbilt will be getting an extremely underrated
recruit. Toye was very efficient in both halves starting the first half with 11
points on 5-7 shooting. He exploded for 13 points in the third quarter and
finished with 26 points and eight rebounds on 10-15 shooting. Known for his
high flying ways, Toye had his share of athletic finishes at the basket, but he
also had his shot working. He hit two three’s with a game tying three go half
way down before spinning out. He also hit a contested, high arcing pull-up from
the left baseline in addition to a one dribble pull-up from the right wing
later on. Wayne’s 1-3-1 made it hard for Toye to touch the ball in the last few
minutes and this was also when Whitney Young gave up their lead. If Toye can
stay consistent with his outside shot he will definitely have a chance to make
an impact in the SEC next year.
Harry Giles, 6’10”,
PF, 2016, Wesleyan Christian (NC)
Giles put together a remarkable first quarter showing why he
is considered a probable top draft pick in 2017, but then went quiet the rest
of the game. A Chris Webber clone, Giles put on a show early on. In a one
minute span in the first, Giles grabbed a defensive rebound, brought the ball
up the court, and hit a deep jumper from the top of the key (with a foot on the
line). The next possession, the 6’10” Giles caught the ball several feet behind
the three point line on the left wing, took two dribbles against his defender
before pulling up for a swish. Giles also added a step-back three in the first
half and finished with 10 points, four rebounds, three assists, and two blocks.
The second half was a bit different as Giles struggled to get touches down low
and missed some easy shots at the rim. He finished the game with 14 points and
11 rebounds, but could not continue his monstrous first half performance in a
close loss.
Ahmad Wagner, 6’7”, F,
2015, Wayne (OH)
Senior forward Ahmad Wagner recorded a double-double with 16
points and 10 rebounds to go along with four blocks. Last year, Whitney Young
had a big guy that some people might have heard of in Jahlil Okafor, but this year they are a guard oriented team that
can is susceptible to strong play down low. Wagner did the dirty work and keyed
the last few minutes for Wayne with his clutch play as a small deficit turned
into a three point lead. On the night, Wagner was 8-10 and was crucial to his team’s
success.
Malik Monk, 6’4”, SG,
2016, Bentonville (AR)
After a quiet first two games in the City of Palms, Monk got
a chance to show off his skills in an early morning game against Reserve Riverside
Academy (LA). Monk finished 5-6 from the floor and 2-3 from the three point
line while finishing with 23 points and nine rebounds. For a long stretch in
the second half, Monk faced a box and one defense. He didn’t try to force the
issue and never settled for three’s. He drove to the basket, putting pressure
on the defense and ended up 11-13 from the line. In years past Monk might have
been content to fire from behind the arc, but in the second half he only took
(and made) jump shots that were wide open.
Devearl Ramsey, 5’10”,
PG, 2016 / Remy Martin, 5’11”, PG, 2017, Sierra Canyon
Sierra Canyon’s quickness at the guard spots was too much
for Webster Groves (GA) to handle. Devearl Ramsey scored 13 points and dished
out six assists to go along with four steals, while Remy Martin finished with eight
points, four assists, and three steals. Both guards created havoc on the
defensive end and got deep into the lane anytime. The younger Martin also
showed off some deceptive leaping ability on several of his drives to the
basket.
Corey Manigault, 6’8”,
PF, 2016, Paul VI
Paul VI is led by VJ King and Franklin Howard, but Corey
Manigault was the key in a 57-56 overtime victory over Mater Dei. Manigault
finished with 21 points and 14 rebounds on 6-12 from the field and 9-10 from
the line. Manigault was a large target for the Paul VI guards and possessed
solid footwork and good hands when converting in the paint against M.J. Cage.
Ben Simmons, 6’8”, SF,
2015, Montverde (FL)
It wasn’t a typical performance for the top recruit in the
country, but when the game ended he was Montverde’s leading scorer and another championship
game awaited his team. In the first half, Simmons played fairly nonchalantly scoring
five points. He started the game with a fast break dunk and fade-away three
from the wing but didn’t score at all in the second quarter. He turned up the
defensive pressure in the third resulting in steals and in turn a variety of
fast break dunks and lay-ups. All five of his second half shots came from the
paint with all four of his makes being either dunks or lay-ups. Simmons ended
the game with 16 points, seven rebounds, four assists, four steals, and two
blocks.
Christian Thieneman, 6’5”,
SG, 2015, Trinity (KY)
Christian Thieneman left everything he had on the court. He
was Trinity’s top player in the first half when he hit 3 out of 5 three’s and
put up 14 of his team’s 25 points. The shots stopped falling in the second
half, but Thieneman continued to give a great defensive effort. He primarily
guarded Simmons throughout the game and frustrated the five-star prospect in
the half-court setting with a bit of physical play. He bodied Simmons up in the
post, despite giving up three inches and moved his feet to stay in front of
Simmons on his drives. He only scored one point in the second half, but was the
main reason his team stayed in the game as long as they did.
Other Notes:
Senior guard Franklin
Howard and junior wing V.J. King
combined to go 6-31 from the field, but Paul VI still hung on for the victory.
King forced Mater Dei star Rex Pflueger
into a 5-15 shooting performance while also grabbing nine rebounds. Howard
corralled 13 boards and dished out six assists (although he also had seven turnovers).
Rex Pflueger
struggled from the field, but looked quicker and more explosive. He finished at
the rim several times and on the defensive side he came over for a weak side
block on the taller King.
Where’s Raymond? Louisville commit, Raymond Spalding started to turn his vast potential into production
over the summer. Tonight he laid low and finished with just eight points. In
the third quarter he scored back to back baskets (one off a steal and the
second after slipping a pick) and it looked like he was about to take over for
Trinity, but instead he struggled from there on out and did not have one of his
finer performances.
In the last game of the night, several underclassmen stood
out including 6’2” sophomore guard Darius
Perry who hit a crucial three to give Wheeler a lead they would never relinquish.
For Wesleyan, junior wing Jalen Johnson
showed off elite athleticism and junior guard Michael Buckland led the team in scoring with his hot outside
shooting.
