Public League Playoff Recaps, 2006-07

PRELIMINARY PLAYOFFS
Class AAAA
Mastbaum 76, Lincoln 64: Sean Rice-Fleming buzz-sawed his way to 19 points and assists while receiving help from Michael Rainey (21) and Chris Ayandokun (15, 11 rebounds). Also, Marvin Warden had six first half steals as 'Baum stormed to a 40-21 edge. Brandon Bowes scored 33 points for Lincoln, with 19 coming in the first 10 minutes of the second half. Football star Tyrone Bolden added 13 points and nine boards.
Bartram 74, Overbrook 72: Novar Gadson scored 22 points and received plenty of help from frosh Tyrone Garland, Clyde James (15 apiece) and Tyreese Wheeler (14). Overbrook soph Nurideen Lindsey popped in 40 points, but missed two free throws with 1.8 seconds showing and Kevin Leland (16) was unable to connect on a follow.
Class AAA
Franklin 46, FitzSimons 39: Tyriq Timmons (12) emerged as the game's leading scorer after hitting six free throws in the final 3:00. Mark Lawrence and Tyrone Waters had 10 points apiece for FitzSimons, a first-year PL member.
Sayre 64, Phila. Elec. 57: Like FitzSimons, this Pub rookie was placed in the wrong division (D, for AA and A schools) and then was given a play-in game. Jovan Brown (19) and Kevin "Yao" White (16) helped to pull off the road upset. Sean McCall (15) topped PE.
Class AA
Parkway 63, Bodine 50: Furnell Doster (22, four treys) and Rodsewell Wells (20) did much of the damage. Bradley Pointer (14) was best for Bodine.
Del. Valley 61, Mastery 59 (OT): Troy Blue (20) hit three free throw in the final 0:09 to force OT, then sank four more. Jaleel Khabeer (24) and Brian Reid (20) led Mastery.

FIRST-ROUND PLAYOFFS
Class AAAA
Gratz 79, Mastbaum 39: Tommie "T.J." Sykes (20), Alibaba Odd (15), Ishmawiyl McFadden (13) and Josh "Scrap" Martin (11) reached double figures while Sykes (10) and Odd (seven) led the way in scoring. Martin added eight assists. Sean Rice-Fleming topped Mastbaum with 14 points.
Southern 70, Northeast 54: Temple signee Ramone Moore (24) and Robert "Elevator Man" McKee (17, two wicked dunks) were consistent throughout and Antoine Reese packed 10 of his 15 points into a 21-5 third quarter. For Northeast, Sean Evans scored 26 points and Jordan Green rang up all 12 of his on treys.
Frankford 72, Bartram 71 (OT): Clarck Dure's trey gave Bartram a 65-62 lead. Frankford's Kenny Spotwood (21 points, 11 rebounds) forced OT with a lengthy, desperation trey that caused his team's fans to storm the floor in celebration, resulting in a technical foul to start OT and allowing Bartram to claim a one-point lead. Rakeem Golden-White's late free throws provided a three-point lead. Bartram missed a trey, then got a layup at the buzzer. Bartram frosh Tyrone Garland (26) had 10 fourth-quarter points.
Edison 75, Dobbins 61: Junior guard George Baker, already over 1,000 points for his career, collected 22 points, five rebounds and three apiece of assists and steals. Luis Martinez added 17 points and five assists while Daniel Johnson mixed 14 points, 11 boards and four assists. Dobbins' headliners were James Lewis (26, 17-for-18 at line) and Marcellus Willoughby (20).
Class AAA
Franklin LC 55, Franklin 46: Malcolm Eleby (St. Bonaventure) hustled for 24 points, six boards and three assists and Dante Wooten posted eight rebounds, six blocks. Brandon Penn (13) topped Franklin.
Eng. and Science 60, Furness 35: Sandy Tanner scored seven of his 16 points in an 18-10 first quarter. Thiel Benn added 15 points.
Comm. Tech 89, Sayre 72: Andrew "Scootie" Randall, a junior who played his freshman season at Bartram, grabbed 11 rebounds and used 31 points to raise his career total to 1,023. For Sayre, Jovan Brown scored 19 points and Wayne Johnson had 17 points, nine boards.
Penn 91, Bok 71: Brandon Tondreau, sporting a Mohawk haircut, sniped for 23 points while Kevin Hudson mixed 19 points, eight boards. The starting point guard was Orie Johnson, a 5-2, 120-pound senior (nine points, four assists). Corey Curtis (17) and Chris Parks (14) led Bok, which had eight players in uniform to Penn's 18.
Class AA
Prep Charter 72, Parkway 49: The Memphis-bound Morris twin towers, Markieff and Marcus, scored 19 and 15 points, respectively. Markieff added 11 rebounds, four blocks. Parrish Grant had 11 points, six assists. Soph Furnell Doster (28) paced Parkway.
Straw. Mansion 97, Del. Valley 75: Dwayne Davis dealt seven assists and tallied eight of his 32 points in a 19-8 third quarter. Eddie Frazier (18) and Devon White (15) helped with scoring while halving 22 rebounds. DV's Troy Blue went for 34 points.
Imhotep 54, Masterman 40: Jermaine Washington (15, Central Connecticut) and Kashief Edwards (14, Niagara) led the way. Mark McGuire and Kirk Wynn scored 14 apiece for Masterman.
Vaux 90, Hope 67: Vaux, a first-year PL member coached by former NBA player John "Chubby" Cox (Kobe Bryant's uncle), received a monstrous performance from Victor Nwakpuda (27 points, 15 rebounds, eight blocks). He scored nine of his points in a 32-17 fourth quarter. Hakeem Wilson (18) and Phillip Michaels (14) lent scoring assistance. Briel Scott (22) and Aaron Haye (18) were high for Hope.

Frankford 72, Bartram 71 (OT): Clarck Dure's trey gave Bartram a 65-62 lead. Frankford's Kenny Spotwood (21 points, 11 rebounds) forced OT with a lengthy, desperation trey that caused his team's fans to storm the floor in celebration, resulting in a technical foul to start OT and allowing Bartram to claim a one-point lead. Rakeem Golden-White's late free throws provided a three-point lead. Bartram missed a trey, then got a layup at the buzzer. Bartram frosh Tyrone Garland had 10 fourth-quarter points.
Gratz 76, Southern 63: The Bulldogs used balance to offset Ramone Moore's 38-point avalanche. Tommie "T.J." Sykes rang up 25 points, but received plenty of help from Ishmawiyl McFadden (15 points, eight rebounds, three blocks), Charles White and Josh "Scrap" Martin (eight assists apiece). After a Southern player kicked a Gratz player during a scramble that followed a hard foul, fan tension caused police to clear the gym for the final two minutes.
Class AAA
Franklin LC 42, Eng. and Science 39: Malcolm Eleby registered 18 points, 11 rebounds and four assists while Dante Wooten helped out with six points, seven rebounds and five blocks. E&S' final possession included three missed treys. Sixth man Jamil Cherry scored 10 points. Thiel Benn (nine) and Darrell Mills (eight) were the rebound leaders.
Comm. Tech 78, Penn 54: Andrew "Scootie" Randall and Chris Jones scored 18 points apiece, with 12 of Jones' coming in a 28-9 first quarter. Najee Edwards added 12 points and nine assists.
Class AA
Imhotep 80, Straw. Mansion 75: This was one of the most amazing games in city history. In the first quarter, Mansion's Dwayne Davis (32) hit six consecutive treys. No. 6 came on a shot while he was falling out of bounds in front of Imhotep's bench. He later added two more and finished with 32 points, but the Knights collapsed after he fouled out with 6:40 remaining. Imhotep, which entered the fourth quarter down by 19 points, rang up a 31-7 advantage while forcing 12 turnovers. The three D-I signees, Tamir Johnson, Jermaine Washington and Kashief Edwards (19), scored seven points apiece in the wild comeback. Afterward, Davis and Washington were crying as they shared a halfcourt hug.
Prep Charter 74, Vaux 52: Markieff Morris dominated to the tune of 29 points and 19 rebounds. Jesse Morgan (16) and Marcus Morris (15) also scored well. Phillip Michaels and Hakeem Wilson scored 13 points each for Vaux.
Class A
Freire 60, GAMP 40: Jarrod Denard buzzed for 14 points, six rebounds and 10 assists while Ameen Rorie (12 rebounds) scored eight of his 12 points in a 25-7 third quarter. Anthony Venafro (14) and Eric Funaro (12) led GAMP.
Robeson 65, Math/Civics/Science 63: Rob Hall sank a buzzer-beater from close to halfcourt after Dom Medlock (20) and Kahri Harris (17) had led the way. MC&S, yet another first-year Pub entrant, placed James Gregory (19) and Zaahir Smith (17) in double digits.

QUARTERFINALS
Class AAAA Final
(At William Penn)
Gratz 62, Frankford 50: Tommie "T.J." Sykes had five rebounds and three blocks and scored eight of his 20 points in a 23-15 fourth quarter. Charles White added 17 points, five boards and seven assists. Kenny Spotwood (11) was Frankford's lone double-figure scorer. He added five apiece of rebounds and assists.
Class AAA Final
(At Southern)
Franklin LC 65, Comm. Tech 60: Kyle Sawyer passed to Denzel Yard for a trio of treys in an 18-8 second quarter while Malcolm Eleby, in time, was his usually productive self with 14 points, 10 rebounds and six assists. Comm. Tech reduced a 20-point deficit to 63-60 on a three-pointer by deep sub Shaquille Shannon on a feed from Najee Edwards (20 points) before FLC closed things out. CT's Shyheem Satchell added 12 points, six boards, three steals.
Class AA Final
(At Southern)
Prep Charter 52, Imhotep 48: The Panthers once again mounted an impressive comeback, this time from 32-16. They had a chance to tie at 50-50, but a lean-back, left-wing jumper by Jermaine Washington did not connect and Parrish Grant (11 points, seven assists) hit two clinching free throws. Marcus and Markieff Morris scored 12 and 14 points. Markieff fouled out with 3:54 left and Ferg Myrick completed an eight-rebound performance. Tamir Johnson (20) scored eight straight points before halftime to fuel Imhotep's rally.
Class A Final
(At William Penn)
Freire 62, Robeson 60: Antoine "Blueberry" Singleton shot 10-for-14 en route to 23 points to lead Freire. He added eight rebounds and two assists. Jarrod Denard and Ameen Rorie halved 30 points and Octavious Booker grabbed 12 rebounds. For Robeson, which missed a last shot and could not get off a follow in time, the leaders were Dom Medlock (21 points, 14 rebounds) and Rob Hall (19, six steals).

SEMIFINALS
(Doubleheader at Saint Joseph's Univ.)
Gratz 69, Freire 35: With AAAA meeting A, the fear was a mismatch and that was what happened. In reaching the final for the 16th time in the last 19 seasons, Gratz turned bad to worse by winning the fourth quarter, 19-6. Tommie "T.J." Sykes shot 8-for-14 en route to 17 points, Ishmawiyl McFadden mixed 12 points and eight rebounds, Charles White totaled 13 points, four assists and four steals and Josh "Scrap" Martin dished six assists. White played lockdown defense on Freire's best scoring threat, Jarrod Denard (6-for-20, 16 points, no field goals in a 29-15 first half).
Prep Charter 49, Franklin LC 40: This game also left much to be desired. PC seized command with an 11-0 run sandwiching halftime and then FLC never whittled the deficit below six. The Morris twins, Marcus (15) and Markieff (10), led in scoring while adding eight and 11 rebounds, respectively. Parrish Grant distributed six assists. Ferg Myrick grabbed seven rebounds in limited duty. Kyle Sawyer (15) led FLC in scoring as Malcolm Eleby had one of those nights (3-for-19, 12 points). He did add eight rebounds, three assists and five steals. Dante Wooten registered seven rejections.

FINAL
(At Temple's Liacouras Center)
Prep Charter 49, Gratz 48: The Huskies survived as Gratz missed three "last shots," one of which was launched after the game "ended." After 6-10 Markieff Morris partially deflected a close-in flip shot by Josh "Scrap" Martin and 6-9 Marcus Morris, Markieff's identical twin, batted away Alibaba Odd's follow, the clock melted down to 0:00 and the Huskies' fans/cheerleaders stormed the court in celebration and "We Are the Champions" played over the sound system. One problem: the clock should have been stopped. The referees summoned the Huskies back to the court and put 1.3 on the clock. Martin inbounded to Charles White, who missed a left-wing trey. PC's joy was repeated, this time with even more intensity. Just two days after Neumann-Goretti's Rick Jackson posted 26 points, 17 rebounds and eight rebounds in a CL semi, Markieff went pretty much stat for stat with 23-18-8. Marcus had 10 points, 10 boards and five assists. Gratz turned three straight steals into six consecutive points and a 48-47 lead before Markieff took a pass from Tyree "Chuck" Harris and followed his own miss for what turned out to be the winning basket. Tommie "T.J." Sykes (13), White (11) and Ishmawiyl McFadden (10) scored in double figures for Gratz. White added eight rebounds and four assists. The loss made Gratz 7-9 in title games over the last 19 seasons, with three setbacks by one point and two others in OT. (One of those one-point losses, to Franklin LC in '94, was later erased due to the Bobcats' use of ineligible players.)