DAY 1 RECAP
Monmouth - Early Saturday morning on January 10th, I dropped my kid off to basketball practice and then headed out to Springfield Gardens to pick up my good friend Winston Kelly of Gameball and Blue Star Basketball. During our 60-mile journey to Monmouth University , we discussed what’s going on around the basketball community, current coaching situations, player situations, etc. We talked so much, I missed the exit leading onto the Garden State Pkwy, which threw our trip off about an half hour. After we reached the Monmouth campus, we spent another 10-minutes trying to find the gym, when we ran upon campus security who led us to the campus. Okay, enough of the journey lol.
Well, it was worth the trip, because we were able to witness some very good basketball games and uncovered a few gems along the way. Legendary coach Vincent Cannizzaro of National Recruiters, along with many colleges coaches were all lined up along the sidelines with their note pads and laptops. Mike Flynn of Blue Star, who was out in Vegas even chimed in via email on what was going on, in which I provided him with information on the games and the players.
LET THE GAMES BEGIN!
GAME ONE
Mary Louis Academy 55 Howell HS 40
Game Summary: Kevin White’s Lady Hilltoppers have been playing well as of late with a 55 to 40 win over Howell High School . The Hilltoppers were led by team MVP and St. Johns bound senior Amanda Burakoski who tallied for 14 points. Sophomore PG Karin Robinson chipped in 10 points along with 5-assists.
MVP Amanda Burakoski
GAME TWO
Archbishop Molloy 62 JFK Paterson 38
Game Summary: Team MVP point guard Marielle Duryea had a superb all around game, showing great floor generalship scoring 10 points with a slew of assists and no turnovers. Junior Kelly Guerrero displayed her long range shooting ability chipping in 13 points. Post players Kyra Aloizos and C.W. Post bound senior Nicole Marciniak controlled the boards. Team MVP for JFK Paterson 6’1” Junior Elaine Swaby finished with 16 points 9 rebounds.
Kelly Guerrero enjoys win
GAME THREE
Murray Bergtraum 67 Bloomfield Tech 55
Game Summary: In a very competitive game, Murray Bergtraum put on one of those legendary Blazer runs in the second half to pull out a 12 point win against a very talented Bloomfield Tech team. Team MVP Junior Doris Ortega led her team with 19 points. Junior CeCe Dixon, the speedy point guard chipped in 17 points. Senior Shanee Williams contributed 14 points, while Shakura Washington snagged down 11 rebounds. Bloomfield Tech’s sharp shooting senior Rayven Johnson (team MVP) poured in 24 points. Senior Diana Hubbard tacked on 18 points of her own. If colleges didn’t know about Johnson and Hubbard, I’m sure they do now.
Senior Diana Hubbard chipped in 18
GAME FOUR
Oak Hill Academy 71 Trenton Catholic 55
Game Summary: West Virginia bound 6’3’ WF Alyssa Bennett of Oak Hill led this talented group with 17-points, 9-rebounds and 6-steals in a win over a very gamed Trenton Catholic team. Wake Forest bound 6’5” C Lakessa Daniel (team MVP) netted 11 points and 6 rebounds for Oak Hill. Trenton Catholic pressure defense caused havoc during their run led by sensational junior point guard Alvida Clemons who finished with a game high 26-points. Super sophomore 5’10 G Brionna Canty finished with 10-points, 4-assists and 3-steals. Canty’s going to be special. Oak Hill’s overwhelming size proved too much for Trenton Catholic.
6’3” Orsi Szecsi was impressive
GAME FIVE
St. John the Baptist 53 Manhattan Center 50
Game Summary: This game was tight throughout and the stars did not disappoint. Rutgers bound Christine Huber (team MVP) refused to let her team lose. Huber finished with 19-points and 16 rebounds. As usual, Manhattan Center was led by Virginia bound China Crosby (team MVP) who stuffed the stat sheet with 20-points, 6-rebounds and 5-steals.
IN CLOSING:
SPECIAL THANKS GOES OUT TO THE SHOWCASE TOURNAMENT STAFF COREY COHEN, JOHNS SCHMELZ AND DIANE SCHMELZ. IT WAS A VERY WELL RAN EVENT WHICH HAD A LOAD OF TALENTED TEAMS AND PLAYERS. YOU LOOK FORWARD TO FUTURE EVENTS RAN BY SHOWCASE TOURNAMENTS WWW.SHOWCASETOURNAMENTS.COM. 
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