SPECIAL NOTE (REPEATED FROM LAST SEASON)
  Just wanted to post a note about the reporting of scores/boxscores. More than ever this season, managers are calling in boxscores with only the first names of guys scoring points. (I've seen this for myself, as well, in teams' scorebooks.) This is unacceptable, troops. It's tough enough to keep track of all this stuff without having to deal with THAT nutty twist (smile). Also, please be prepared to make note of which Johnson/Smith/Brown, for example, has done the scoring in games where teams have players with the same last name. Generally, it's better for us when the winning team calls in the results. That way we get info to explain HOW the game was won because representatives of the winning team will usually be in a better mood (just human nature) to provide extra details such as rebounds, assists, etc., or the identity of someone who maybe hit a winning shot. One last thing: please be careful. For years I've asked the leagues to make a rule that would force scorekeepers to sit next to each other with the scoreboard operator to one side or the other. It would thus be much easier for the scorekeepers to coordinate fouls/timeouts, not to mention cross-check info on which players actually make the field goals/free throws. Please remember, we want the info to be correct and making that happen is only fair to those involved. The number for Score Service is 215-854-4570. Thank you.
  If your name is misspelled on a TEAM PAGE, please speak up. Send an email to silaryt@phillynews.com or leave word on my voicemail at 215-854-5814.

DEC. 30
CATHOLIC RED
Roman 58, N. Catholic 55
  Is it possible Roman set a national high school record for longest distance traveled to a “home” game? (smile) This tilt was played at Gwynedd-Mercy College, in Montgomery County, 21 miles from Roman. I drove past Roman and headed up Kelly Drive. Then Lincoln Drive. Then up through Chestnut Hill. Up along Bethlehem Pike through Erdenheim and Flourtown and Ft. Washington and Ambler and . . . damn, where IS this place? (Nah, I knew where it was. But LOTS of people had to be muttering and since the school's entrance isn’t illuminated, I KNOW some missed it and then had to scramble.) Anyway, the gym is pretty cool and made for a good atmosphere (though it was sauna hot and sticky). The attraction aside from the game itself, which featured the division’s projected top dogs, was Roman sr. PG Maalik Wayns, who’s bound for Villanova and maintains a national profile. The Cahillites were recently in Florida for four games and their local appearances had been scant. So, how’d Wayns do? Quite nicely, thank you. Though many people undoubtedly wanted him to drop 30, that’s not his job. He’s the floor leader and his role is to make it all work. Will there be times this season when he just goes berserk and scores at will? Probably so. But against quality opponents he’ll shoot when it makes sense and otherwise involve a cast that includes another VERY good guard, jr. Rakeem Brookins, inside sr. skywalker Koron Reed, jr. wing bomber Kevin Regan (the football QB) and younger guys still feeling their way. Here’s the best example of the fact that Wayns “gets it”: he took no shots in the first quarter. Most stars would have been thinking, “These dudes are here to see me. Better get mine.” The best thing he did in that first session was draw two quick fouls on North jr. PG Woody Redding, who had to sit for a stretch. Maybe this was coach Mike McCarron’s plan anyway, but as the night went on Maalik was pretty sure five different guys took turns covering him.  Maalik finished with 14 points, seven assists and five rebounds. Midway through the fourth quarter, he whizzed downcourt on a semi-breakaway and, oops, missed the dunk. His reaction? After a teammate rebounded and play was stopped, Wayns wound up along the sideline opposite Roman’s bench and flashed a smile. Why? His AAU coach and some family members were sitting there and they took the opportunity to bust his chops. For me it was a great moment. It showed that he’s keeping things in perspective and, most of all, realizes that the games are ultimately supposed to be FUN. If not, why bother, right? As circumstances had it, Roman did NOT have fun down the stretch. Its lead was 50-39 with 4:47 left and soon thereafter first-year coach Chris McNesby (his dad is the security director at G-M; thus the site choice – Philly U. and other possibilities were hard to get during the holiday season) opted for a semi-stall approach. After getting North to chase, McNesby wanted the Cahillites to attack. Things didn’t work out due to some turnovers and missed shots and, at the other end, whoa, the Falcons began clicking big-time. Well, jr. G Jaleel Mack began clicking big-time. He nailed three treys in the final 2:02 and the second moved North within 54-51 with :31 remaining. Here’s the sequence from there: steal by Redding; jr. G Mike Terry hit the first of two free throws at 24.6 and Reed rebounded the missed second shot; Wayns missed a one-and-one at 19.2 (Roman’s only free-throw flub all night) and possession was given to Roman when the ball bounced over the line (even from the other end of the gym, I had the sense the referee who made the call wasn’t confident in his decision); Brookins hit two free throws at 17.0; Mack buried a left-corner trey on a pass from Redding at 4.4 and North got its timeout at 3.8. Roman’s inbounder, fittingly, was Regan. With everyone in that half of the court, frosh F Andre Horne broke long and no one went with him, at least at first. Horne snagged Regan’s perfectly thrown pass and made a layup to end it. Some numbers: Brookins packed 12 of his 20 points into the fourth quarter. Overall, he shot 6-for-11 and 8-for-8 while adding three assists. Reed had four points (just four shots), eight boards and four blocks. Horne had 11 points. Mack’s late rush enabled him to finish with 14 points. Redding dealt eight assists. Terry had nine points. Jr. F Bob Makor maintained his usually competent little-things presence. Rakeem Christmas, the highly promising 6-9 soph, had a perfect first half, shooting 6-for-6 en route to 13 points. Two of his baskets were dunks and defenders were rarely in his area, somehow. Thereafter, Reed did a great job of front-siding him, if you know what I mean, and for whatever reason the Falcons were hesitant to flip the ball high and just have him go get it. Despite the early rush, he wound up with just 15 points along with seven boards and two blocks. So there you have it. No reason to go overboard and say this game was tremendous. It wasn’t quite that. Definitely very good for December, though, and the showdowns will only get better.

DEC. 29
SCHOOL DISTRICT TOURNAMENT
Olney 81, Fels 73
Northeast 61, Penn 56
  You gotta love Jesse Morgan’s timing. He chose the holiday season to finally speak up about the fact that his nickname rhymes with scrooge and is spelled differently than everyone had always presumed – "Booge" instead of "Boog". A transfer from Prep Charter, the 6-4, 175-pounder, long known for sniping, has become a wonderful, full-fledged force for Olney and is considered one of the country’s top unsigned senior wing guards. On paper, this game figured to be the best among six semifinals in the 12-team, three-tiered tourney at Northeast because it featured Morgan on one side and Fels sr. PG Shannon Givens, a Drexel signee and transfer from Academy of the New Church, on the other. One problem: Morgan got rolling early. Givens did not. Morgan also had much more help and this mostly became a trade-baskets-back-and-forth affair with Olney always maintaining a reasonably comfortable lead. Morgan’s fans, regular folks and official posse members alike (smile), were given numerous thrills/chills. Jesse drained five of eight threeball attempts and also uncorked four dunks. One was an easy alley-oop. Two more were semi-breakaways with little doubt he’d able to do ‘em. The other? Whoa, baby! Here’s how I described it for the DN story: Quick drive along the right wing, appeared ready to maybe opt for a bank shot, rose higher and higher, hammered the ball home over an unfortunate defender as Olney's fans exploded out of their seats (and a couple even danced onto the court). Morgan went for 31 points, eight rebounds, three assists, five steals and two blocked shots. He packed 17 of those points into the first half. In time, sr. F-C Terrance “T-Mac” Bennett got rolling and wound up with 16 points and 11 rebounds. Sr. PG Khailief “Kizzy” Coates totaled 11 points, five assists and three steals. Also productive in little-things ways were jr. F Kadeem Patterson and handymen Ray Jaggon (soph) and Dan Hinton (sr.). This was my first look at Givens and the immediate thought was: Though he’s righthanded, he probably dribbles more with his left. That’s always a desirable trait for a point guard. He played the good-soldier role in the first half, trying mostly to set up his teammates. Their shots weren’t going, however, and other times they had trouble catching his passes. In the second half, he became more authoritative while pouring in 20 of his 24 points. He had some classic duels with Morgan, at both ends of the court, and each embarrassed the other. Buildwise, Givens reminds me of an earlier Maalik Wayns. Not fat, but definitely chunky. Amauro said Givens was injured last summer and picked up some weight. He then played QB for ANC before popping up at Fels, so he needed the weight and strength for football. He’s definitely one of those do-things-on-the-move guy and attempted just two treys (made one). The other starters scored just 10 points COMBINED. Weird. The coolest sight was jr. G Greg Davis, who says he’s 5-1, 105 pounds. The lefty shot 3-for-5 on treys and finished with 11 points. My new favorite player! (smile). Another sub, sr. G Bernard Neely, also hit three treys . . . Nothing like 9 a.m. basketball, eh? That was the starting time for Northeast-Penn and there were maybe 15 people in the stands when the game began. The NE guys must have slept well because they had great energy from the very start. The Vikings also had the only two guys with height – sr. Brandon Hirst and soph FB player Deion Barnes – and that helped greatly. Sr. CG Devin Colston scored 22 points, with 10 of those coming in a 23-12 first quarter. He has very quick hands and feet and leadership skills along with a competitive spirit. He added two assists and a steal. The PG, sr. Marques Nicholson, dealt four assists. Hurst claimed 12 rebounds, despite severe foul trouble. Barnes grabbed seven alone in the second quarter. Sr. SF Lionel Berdecia was also part of the early success, packing seven of his nine points and two dimes into the first session. Penn eventually regrouped and made a strong push down the stretch mostly behind FB star Emmanuel Pittman, a sr. SF, jr. G Mike Gray and jr. PG Darell Dyches (Edison used to have a pretty good guard named Lee Dyches. Wonder if he’s Darell’s dad/uncle?) Gray kept going hard. After a few of his buckets, he stared at the defender as if to say, “Please. Did you really think you were going to stop me?” Pittman has become one of my favorite athletes because of not only the way he plays, but how he interacts with teammates and respects the games. He grabbed 12 rebounds and scored nine points, but had a serious Achilles heel – the foul line. The lefty went just 3-for-10 and missed his first six. He was truly agonizing over it. At the end, Penn battled within 59-56 and had a chance for a tie. The Lions ran a good play and Pittman got a nice left-wing look on a trey. He couldn’t hit the shot and the Vikings added two points to close it out. There was an interesting subplot in that Mike Schieber, Penn’s first-year coach, was a starting player for NE boss Elsa Cohen just seven years ago. Here is the NE team page from that season. Mike is right in the middle of the front row, holding the ball . . . For the other three games in the main gym, I just took pictures. A couple things that were easy to notice: Vaux sr. PG Zafir Williams is an impressive floor leader. He took great care of the ball and had the concept of tempo down pat, thanks to a change of pace dribble. He’s not too big (maybe 5-8?), but D-IIIs should take a look. Del-Val sr. WG Alex Gaddy has superior body control. The transfer from King maneuvered through/around everybody and routinely finished at the rim under CONTROL. D-V jr. sub Fred Ruff, a mountain of a man, paid tremendous attention to detail. Early in his first appearance, he put the ball on the floor and had it stolen. I’m pretty sure he did not repeat that mistake the rest of the game. After engulfing rebounds, he kept the ball high. One of D-V’s assistants, Mike Richmond, was a quality big-‘un at Southern and, like Ruff, a lefty. He’s obviously teaching him well. Dobbins soph big guy Jerrell Wright, another lefty, also displayed sound fundamentals. I loved how he used the backboard again and again and kept switching up his areas of attack from baseline to box to midway part of the lane, toward the foul line.

DEC. 23
PUBLIC A
Edison 92, Lincoln 56
  As long-time friends/acquaintances can tell you, I love trying to pin  nicknames on people. Some are goofy while others make pretty good sense, when you think about it. When Strawberry Mansion’s Maureece Rice was smashing Wilt Chamberlain’s all-time city record for points in a career earlier this decade, there were lots of stories running in papers about gangs and warlords. One night it clicked: hey, let’s call Rice “The Scorelord.” From what people told me, he liked that name. Tonight, while writing the Daily News story on Edison sr. WG Luis Martinez, the only guy in city history who boasts multiple appearances on the eight-treys-or-more list (four, thanks to a 10 and three eights), nothing was coming to me. Very frustrating! Ha, ha, ha. But later, after the story was turned in, ding, ding, ding, the light went on. How ‘bout we call him "Martreynez" or maybe "Marthreenez"? OK, OK. Not my best work. But it’ll do for now, right? Luis owned 26 threeballs this season coming into the game and when Lincoln opened in a 1-3-1 zone, his eyes lit up since lately he’d been facing only man-to-man or box-and-ones. A threeball festival was not to be, however. Maybe he was anxious. Maybe he was slightly tired after a grueling game against Olney one day earlier. Maybe I jinxed him merely by showing up. Whatever the reason, the 5-10, 200-pound Martinez (yes, he’s a little chunky; so was Rice) wound up hitting just two of his nine dial-from-distances. Know what, though? He played a great overall game, showing effective bursts to the basket (he likes to use his left hand) and snappy passes through traffic. In all, Luis went for 20 points, four rebounds, four assists and a pair of steals in 21 minutes of action. He and the other starters played not at all in the fourth quarter. Edison, like always this decade, is fun to watch. Frontcourt stalwarts are almost never available, so coach Kevin Reilly relies heavily on savvy/pesky guard play and the ever-present mad bombing. If the opponent does not take care of the ball and/or shoots too poor a percentage, it’s Fastbreak City and these guys are very unselfish. Lincoln just couldn’t hang. Martreynez'/Marthreenez’ fellow starters were jr. PG Akeem Chisholm (six assists), sr. WG Eduardo Rivera (4-for-7 on treys for 12 points), jr. G-F Omar English (at 5-11) and 6-3 sr. C Ernesto Sanchez (3-for-3, six points, seven boards). After the first quarter ended with Edison up, 13-12, Reilly inserted a whole new five and those guys scrambled to a five-point edge in just short of three minutes before the starters returned. Even the second-liners and deep subs were bangin’ from distance. Jr. Curtis Jennings went 3-for-3 on treys and one of his makes became a four-point play. Check this out: the eight subs combined to go 6-for-10 from distance. Phew! The day’s loudest cheers went to jr. G Donte Baker, brother of ’08 all-timer George (in attendance), and Francisco Medina, a 6-6, 250-pound junior who’s brand new to hoops. Within an instant of checking in, Medina rejected three shots on the same possession. He later notched two more, so he finished with five blocks in no more than three minutes of action. Maybe just two, actually. Baker went for five points and three steals. Jamar Winn, a thin 6-6 sr. F-C with possibilities, totaled 12 points and six boards for Lincoln. Sr. G Teshon Wilson, a good driver, added the same number of points. Anthony Britt, a 6-4 soph, managed nine points. Football player Rasaan “Slippers” Hanner showed nimble footwork on a couple of early bursts to the basket, and even drained a trey. The overall highlight was provided by deep sub Dave Burkhart, a jr. G. He uncorked a pair of deep treys and, swish, right in they went. Cool! Despite the point differential, all was friendly throughout. Reilly and Lincoln’s first-year coach, Ed McGettigan, are members of Gene Kelly’s Lincoln football staff. Though from slightly different generations, they’re also Judge grads. Kudos to the members of Edison’s phys ed and janitorial staffs. The school is now in its 22nd year, but the gym still looks tremendous. Very clean. (Well, except for some graffiti on windows almost at roof level. Can’t have everything. How’d the knuckleheads get way up there?) George Baker said he’s hoping to attend college somewhere soon. Martinez, for the moment, has no feelers. He said he’ll take the SAT in January and attempt to raise his GPA. Meanwhile, it was nice to see ex-Edison star Tim Young. A third team All-City honoree in ’03, Tim made the most of his opportunity. After getting started at Gloucester County CC, in South Jersey, he advanced to D-II Virginia Union and became a very important player. Let’s hope George and Luis get similar shots and make the most of them.

DEC. 23
CT-MANSION UPDATE
   In my game story for the DN, I mentioned that referee Bernard Orr was late for the game and that his presence created a three-man crew. Bernard, one of the best Pub refs for a long time, sent this email and accepted my offer to have it posted.
  "Ted, I just got finished reading your article in reference to the Mansion-Tech game on 12/22/08. FYI, I spoke with Tech's coach on 12/22/08 in reference to the game site and time. He informed that Pepper's admin. does not allow them access to the building until 3:15 and the game would start approximately 3:40 or 3:45. Upon my arrival at 3:20 there was 4:29 remaining in the 1st quarter. I chose to wait until the end of the quarter to discuss with my partner (Paul Tallant; Duwaine Jenkins wound up being the "extra guy") why there were three officials. I just wanted to let you know my reason for arriving at 3:20 because my track record shows that I am never late for any of my games. It's very important to me that you are aware of this because I take a lot of pride in being on time and doing a good job. Thanks. Bernard Orr."

DEC. 22
PUBLIC C
Comm. Tech 59, Straw. Mansion 57
  This game had a gee-whiz finish. As in, gee whiz, how can a guy be permitted to sink the winning basket after being guilty of a traveling violation? The play happened at the other end of the court (east) from where I was sitting (behind the west basket) at Pepper Middle School, CT’s home and just footsteps away from it. But even from there, it appeared sr. PG Antonio “Gee” Monroe did a semi-slide before nailing a buzzer-beating, in-the-lane 10-footer to win it and send CT’s fans storming onto the court. Opinions varied, but even Charles “Shoob” Monroe said on the record that his son “might have walked.” Michael Hampton, who tapes Mansion’s games, showed a lot of us what appeared on his video camera. Gee not only slid before launching; he also did a semi-stutter step. Mansion coach Gerald Hendricks and others were bothered that the ref who most allowed the travel was a guy named Duwaine Jenkins, who not only teaches at Pepper but coaches that school’s basketball team and supplies some players for CT. Who assigned him to the game? Charles Sumter. Where is Sumter, also the Pub hoops chairman, the athletic director? Mansion. Oh, baby!! Though I am not questioning Jenkins’ ethics, at all, there was no way he should have been asked to ref this game. Nor should he have accepted. It’s just too strange a situation, and allows for too much second guessing. With just over 2 minutes remaining, Jenkins made a critical call against Mansion, calling a grab on a scramble for a loose ball on the floor. During the ensuing timeout, a Mansion rooter walked right onto the middle of the court to verbally berate Jenkins and wound up being thrown out of the gym. Also, before action could resume, Hendricks had to plead with the Mansion folks who made the trip to deep SW Philly (maybe 20 of them?) to get back in the stands and sit down. They listened, thank goodness. Monroe, though a quality player, was an unlikely hero. He began the game on the bench, having shown up 45 minutes late for Saturday morning’s practice 9 o’clock practice. His punishment lasted only half a quarter, however. Sr. WG Chris Jones, meanwhile, was held out 12 minutes for skipping two practices. He looked shaky in his brief appearance, then stayed nailed to the bench thereafter. Jones is a fifth-year senior and the CT folks worked hard to get him that extra year. Now he’s going to do them dirty, and act like a knucklehead? Unacceptable! We’ll see where THIS situation goes. Note to Chris: regroup before it's too late. Coach Lou Biester said this group has already caused him more headaches than 10 teams combined. Hang in there, Lou. Anyway, Monroe finished with 15 points and two apiece of assists and steals. Jr. G Shaquille Shannon hit two treys en route to 16 points and was especially impressive early, when the Phoenix needed someone to take up for Monroe/Jones. Another jr. G, Raheem Roher, nailed three treys for all nine of his markers and every one seemed to be big. Lijah Thompson, a Robert Morris signee (and recently of Bonner), had settle for eight points, five boards and four steals under the watchful eye of RM assistant Jimmy Martelli, you-know-who’s son. Thompson experienced foul trouble and Mansion’s own big guy, 6-9 sr. Bilal Kelley, thrived for a spell in the fourth quarter when Thompson had to sit due to foul trouble. Lijah had the day’s best quip. When I asked him whether HE thought Monroe traveled, he responded, “I was hoping he’d pass it.” Ha, ha, ha. Good stuff! The best player on the floor was jr. CG Devonte Newbill, a transfer from Imhotep (and a Mansion player before that). Listed at 6-4, he reminds me a lot of ex-Gratz/Temple star Mark Tyndale in that he plays for keeps but also shows high levels of “smoothivity”. Hendricks already trusts Newbill enough to often station him at the point. From there he’s equally adept at penetrating and mid-ranging opponents to death, and in this one he went for 26 points, nine rebounds, three assists and two blocks. Kelley took just two shots through three quarters, but added six points in the fourth to finish with eight (in addition to eight boards and five blocks). Sr. Darren Lawrence managed seven points, seven boards, five assists and two steals. Another feisty sr. G, Marcus Grimes, had seven of his nine points after halftime. Sr. F Lawrence Elliott (six) and 6-4 soph Eric Jefferson (seven) concentrated mostly on rebounds. For a middle school, Pepper has a spacious gym. There’s no scoreboard, though, so the time and score are kept on one of those little portable jobs that sits on the table. The little buzzer that goes with it is barely audible when the gym is quiet, let alone with the final seconds melting away. Was Monroe’s shot even released in time? Who knows? We do know he walked beforehand (smile).

DEC. 19
CATHOLIC RED
North Catholic 67, Bonner 52
  Formal invitations never were mailed. No one left voicemail messages for prominent members of the basketball community. But make no mistake: This game served as a coming-out party for Rakeem Christmas. Roman guard Maalik Wayns is the city senior with the best national profile. Bartram guard Tyrone Garland heads the juniors. And now there’s Mr. Xmas, roaring to the upper levels of the sophomore list. The 6-9, 225-pound center fashioned a breakout spring/summer on the AAU trail, but high school fans had only seen infrequent glimpses a year ago as Christmas mostly bided his time for the eventual CL champs. But now, he’s ready to step WAY forward for the Falcons and coach Mike McCarron is making sure that happens after watching Christmas receive just five offensive touches in a recent game with Imhotep Charter. In this one, Christmas not only posted a triple-double but did so before the third quarter was even over. Plus, he saw only limited playing time in the second quarter, after a VERY impressive first, as McCarron mixed and matched. His final numbers: 16 points, 13 rebounds, 10 blocks. He shot 8-for-10 from the floor. Dunks? Of course. This guy could dunk on an 11-foot basket. Maybe 12. But there were also some face-up, short-range jumpers (maybe 10 feet?) delivered with a feathery touch. OK, so the release was somewhat deliberate and that will need improvement as Christmas advances. He’ll also need more strength. But there is so much to love already, and that list is headed by the exquisite shot-blocking timing. Don’t forget. This was ONE game. And Bonner had no one to match up with Christmas, height-wise. It would have been interesting to see Rakeem match hoops wits and talents with 6-7 Lijah Thompson, but he’s now at Communications Tech. Friar frontcourters Henry Smith, Scott Slade and Keefer Francis were aggressive, though, and kept taking the ball at Christmas even when, deep down, they probably knew, or at least feared, that a decent number of shots were going to be swatted. Meanwhile, this was hardly a one-man effort for North. The Falcons were very aggressive out of a zone press and often forced Bonner to use 8-9 seconds to advance the ball past halfcourt. All of these guys have good feet and with a deep rotation, they know they’d better perform and go non-stop because someone is dying to check in. The point guard, jr. Woody Redding, dished six assists and took excellent care of the ball. Jr. SF Jack O’Neill, the Episcopal transfer, shot 8-for-12 en route to 17 points and showed the same bouncy ways, along with perfect rotation on his shot, that had been staples for the Churchmen. The other guys – jrs. Bob Makor, Mike Terry, Josh Stevens and Jaleel Mack -- are quite similar: guys who do little things and respect the game. Makor last year earned his spurs with serious defense. He’s one of those guys opponents can’t stand because he makes them feel so comfortable. He’s a fullcourt press by himself (smile). Anyway, Makor and Terry halved six assists. Stevens claimed nine rebounds and also dealt three assists. Mack added eight points, three boards and two apiece of dishes and thefts. Jr.  John Dever, currently the eighth man, even made an immediate compact; he blocked two shots in rapid order. Bonner is still trying to regroup after losing Thompson (Robert Morris) right as the season was set to begin. The starting lineup aside from the three guys already mentioned includes jr. PG Jamal Melvin and sr. WG Brian Boyle. Melvin, a classic waterbug/windup toy, had eight points, three assists and two steals, and he undoubtedly slept well because the Falcons came after him all game. Boyle had an off night, going 0-for-5. Smith, the son of the late Henry Smith (West Philly-St. Joe’s), finished with eight points, four boards and four steals. Four of his shots were treys (one went in). Slade was wonderful possibilities. Aside from being springy, he also shows knife-through-‘em savvy. He had 13 points and five rebounds. Jr. SF Keefer Francis also went hard and showed frisky tendencies – 12 points, six boards, two apiece of blocks and steals. Of the subs, jr. WG Miles Williams, a lefty, appears to have sniping possibilities. Though he hit just one of his treys, he looked confident taking them and that’s much more than half the battle. The highlight of the night? Easy! Watching Pucklehead keep stats for North wearing TWO pairs of glasses. Ha, ha, ha, ha. The man never fails to provide entertainment. Of course I took a picture of His Puckleheadness and showed it to co-workers upon arriving back at the office. Everybody was lovin’ it. Ed Barkowitz noted, “Guess we’ll have to call him ‘Six Eyes’ now.” Sounds good to me!! This game included at least a half-dozen players whose fathers I also covered. It was nice having a pre-game, hallway catch-up with Slade’s dad, who’s also named Scott. He starred at King, while his older twin brothers, Mark and Mike, were headliners at Lincoln. Their sport was football, though. Another brother, William “Randy” Slade, was the sixth man for the Dobbins ’85 powerhouse that featured the late Hank Gathers and Bo Kimble. Meanwhile, was the concession stand selling perfume? While waiting to take Bonner’s team pic, I stood in the hallway for maybe 15 minutes. Each time groups of girls walked past, the smell was overwhelming. Tone that stuff down, ladies. My eyes were darn near watering (smile).
  **Congrats to Jim Hueber (class of '66), offensive line coach for the Minnesota Vikings and brother of North hoops assistant Tim Hueber. He will be one of the inductees into North's Hall of Fame on Feb. 10. More details TBA.**

DEC. 11
PUBLIC C
Prep Charter 80, Communications Tech 74
  You gotta love it when basketball teams are aggressive and go after each other with serious passion. But you gotta hate it when all the aggression results in a non-stop parade to the foul line. I’m starting this report at 12:21 a.m. and can STILL hear whistles (smile). This contest between two of the city’s very best new-breed programs lasted a whisker under 2 hours and included 76 free throws. PC alone shot 49. So, if you’re even remotely a fan of city basketball, right about now you’re muttering at your computer, “C’mon, tell us. Did he play? Did he play? Tell us whether he PLAYED!” Yes, he did. “He” is 6-7 Lijah Thompson, the Robert Morris signee who transferred this week from Bonner to CT. After watching the first quarter, he was summoned to start the second and made a major impact before fouling out in the last two minutes. His first act in a CT uniform was to accept a pass on the right wing and then made a hard drive along the baseline. He flipped up a shot and . . . it was deflected by 6-8 jr. Shaquille Duncan. Thompson quickly regrouped, as you might expect, and finished with 17 points (two dunks, 9-for-10 at line) in addition to 10 rebounds and six blocks. He’s still his leapin’-ass self (smile) and several times showed good fluidity on hard drives concluding with wrap-around layups. OK, back to the winning squad. PC could have been devastated last spring when three starting guards departed via transfer within a one-week span – Parrish Grant to Imhotep, Jesse “Boog” Morgan to Olney and Willis Nicholson to Cherokee, in South Jersey. Honestly, sr. SF Ferg Myrick kind of thought that, too, or at least feared it. At least in this game, though, coach Dan Brinkley’s mix-and-match approach worked out well and that had to be encouraging considering that CT’s top players are sr. WG Chris Jones and sr. PG Antonio “Gee” Monroe. By his own admission, Myrick made some ill-advised decisions and was also guilty of selfishness. But what the heck? He did contribute 21 points, 16 rebounds, three blocks and two apiece of assists and steals. Myrick has three lower D-1 offers (Howard, New Hampshire, Long Island) and La Salle is also showing interest. But since he just turned 17 and is already qualified, he figures he could do worlds of good for his profile by spending a year at a high school, especially since he is transitioning from power to small forward. We agree. The game’s most impressive player was soph WG Ameen Tanksley, a smooth lefty with the much-desired big first step and a feathery touch on his shot. Get in on this guy early, folks! He went for 23 points and even 10 boards. Sr. CG Zaahid Holloman, who rocketed up the rotation due to the Transfer Trio’s departure, showed a play-for-keeps nature. Another lefty, he had all five of his assists in the first half. He also appeared to be PC’s most spirited defender. Duncan shook off a slow start to contribute 10 points, six boards and as many blocks. He’s still painfully thin, yet a shade more nimble. For CT, Jones drained four treys en route to 14 points while Monroe mixed 19 points, seven boards and four apiece of assists and steals. He went off half-cocked occasionally, but so did everyone in this game with helter-skelter tendencies. His overall approach and execution were more than fine. Jr. F Hendrix Emu claimed eight rebounds. CT fell behind by as much as 57-43 with 3:30 remaining in the third quarter. It did claw within 63-60 and even had a chance at a tie as Monroe cut loose with a left-wing trey. Didn’t go down, though. PC then maintained. In retrospect, you could say PC benefited greatly from a sequence a shade before halftime. As sub G Kyle Stanton (yet another lefty) drained a trey, a CT player was nabbed for an under-the-basket push. Myrick hit a double-bonus for a five-point play and Duncan added two more field goals in rapid order before the buzzer sounded. Befitting the occasion, this was legend day in terms of who came out to watch. Handling extra-stats duties was Amauro. Talent evaluators Allen Rubin and Norm Eavenson could be spotted on one side of the court while ex-Gratz coach Bill Ellerbee was perched on the other.

DEC. 9
PUBLIC B
Franklin LC 65, Gratz 61
  Rittenhouse Street, represent! In a gigantic coincidence, today’s hero for FLC, sr. G Denzel Yard, lives on the same block (900) in East Germantown where I spent the first 12 years of my life and the guy featured in tomorrow’s other DN story, E&S sr. F (and occasional PG) Marcus Brown, lives on the 800 block! Legendary! Know the Magaritys, of car dealership fame? Well, Joe and his family lived on the 900 block for part of his youth and then moved to the 800 block, so if he gets wind of this development, he’ll REALLY be proud (smile). Anyway, an incredible fourth quarter turned this game into an instant classic. Not only was this FLC’s opener, bit it was played AT Gratz and very few teams go into that place hoping to win, let alone actually follow through. But Yard played hard, baby, and willed his squad to victory. The Siena-bound lefty packed 19 of his 37 points into the fourth quarter, which began with the Bobcats facing a 43-36 deficit. Gratz added to the lead as that stanza began and I happened to say to Amauro, in the house for stat-sharing duties, “This is just about at the slip-away juncture.” From my lips to the basketball gods’ ears, in reverse. Here come the Bobcats! Yard went berserk in a period that lasted little more than a minute. He sandwiched two picture-perfect treys around a regular and passed to sr. G Jamil Drake, who was great off the bench (and is a cousin of Yard’s best buddy, West Catholic QB extraordinaire Curtis Drake), for another trey that made it 47-47 with 5:18 left. It was an incredible rush. Sometimes when that happens, teams wind up in shot-their-load mode and can’t sustain the momentum. But FLC kept scrapping and forcing turnovers and Yard kept playing in cut-your-heart-out fashion and, man, it was a terrific sight to see for all Bobcat fans and neutral observers. Also in attendance was Duck, an FLC grad and undoubtedly the school’s most passionate fan. He went nuts as the game ended, bellowing toward anyone who would listen, “Maalik who???!!! Denzel’s the best player in the city!!!” Vintage stuff, Duckster. (smile) No one dared to argue, at least on this day. Aside from his 37 points, Yard grabbed a team-high nine rebounds and totaled three apiece of assists and steals. He shot 11-for-22 from the floor (5-for-10 on treys) and 10-for-14 at the line. After he hit five straight field goals, Yard missed a slightly forced jumper. No sweat. Soph F Basir Fulmore grabbed the board and converted a three-point play. Drake, who has battled back from a couple years of academic misery, was the only other Bobcat with more than five points (14). He showed major brass while adding six rebounds, three assists and four steals. With FLC up, 63-59, Drake jumped around as Gratz tried to inbound at halfcourt and wound up forcing a 5-second call. Shockingly, Yard then missed two free throws and jr CG Tyree Smith (10 of HIS 17 in fourth quarter) converted a drive. Soph G Charles Marret, a very late sub, made a steal and Smith missed a right-baseline jumper. Marret hustled for the rebound along the baseline and was called (correctly, it happened right nearby) for having one foot out of bounds. Fulmore missed a free throw and Smith rebounded. Though his heart and competitive spirit were in the right place, his court sense wasn’t. He kept and kept and kept and finally missed a short turnaround jumper along the right side of the lane. Yard rebounded and an intentional foul was called as a Gratz player reached around Denzel’s belly with both arms. A pair of free throws at 0:06 ended the suspense. FLC had nine field goals in the fourth quarter; six yielded assists. Coach Will Wright was energized throughout and said afterward that he’d received great insights from assistant Lynn Greer? Lynn Greer? Nah, not the younger version. The former E&S all-timer, our City Player of the Year in ’97, is still playing overseas. This is his dad and he was a high-quality sixth man for Edison’s ’69 champs before blossoming at Virginia State to the extent that he was tabbed by Phoenix in the ’73 NBA draft. The Greers are salt-of-the-earth people and it’s nice to see Lynn on the scene. (Ditto for new Gratz assistant Dennis “Dink” Whitaker, a former star PG for the Bulldogs and Ohio U.) Ultimately, Gratz’ downfall was caused by the severe foul trouble incurred by jr. bruiser Antoine Bland, a k a The Blandchild. (I just made that up – smile.) He’s a horse and a half and FLC had no one to contend with him. He had eight points and five boards, but he picked up his fourth foul with 0:25 left in the third quarter and departed with 2:57 left in the game. He didn’t get the ball enough, truthfully, and neither did springy sr. SF Joe Reid (15 points, 10 rebounds, four blocks), a solid D-I prospect whose best days are ahead. (Amar said Joe is pondering prep school.) Smith added 12 boards, five assists and three steals to his points. Soph WG-SF Andrew Moye also showed flashes of talent along with major get-after-itness. First-year coach Roland Wharton tried assorted combinations and this team appears to have nice possibilities for this season, yes, but even more for 2009-10 and beyond. From Gratz I made a quick drive-through stop at the nearby McDonald’s on Broad Street. The French fries were nicely cooked. Gotta love that. Is there anything in life worse than white fries? Why does anyone even eat them? Every time I get them, I feel like throwing them out of the window. Somehow, they always wind up in my belly. I need more willpower. Maybe in the next life . . . 

DEC. 5
PUBLIC D
New Media, 63, CAPA 42
  Late in the game, one of the refs walked over and said, “Ted, I hear the Daily News’ circulation is going down.” I responded, “That’s for newspapers everywhere.” He shot back with a smile, “If you write about this game in tomorrow’s paper, it’s gonna go down even more.” Hey, what can I say? I strongly believe in trying to spread around coverage and that the kids/coaches/fans of the lesser-light schools care just as much as the headliners and probably get even more of a kick out of receiving attention than those who get it again and again. At times, though, this game was like enduring stakes through the eyes. I felt badly for CAPA and coach John Dunphy. The Whatevers (the school still has no nickname) had only guards, but nonetheless experienced major difficulty even getting the ball TO midcourt, let alone past it. In one first quarter sequence, CAPA committed backcourt turnovers on five straight possessions, if not six. Ouch! This was the first game in NM’s new building on the 8000 block of Thouron, in Mt. Airy, across the street from Edmonds Elementary. Not sure what it was most recently, but back in the day it was a synagogue and Jewish community center. It has been done over completely and looks beautiful. There’s not much room on either side of the court, but there’s a stage at one end and it was packed with students. The other end featured kids in folding chairs beyond the baseline. NM’s leaders were a pair of energetic, waterbug-type guards in sr. PG Shawon Tennessee and jr. CG Isiah Clark (he got DN ink). Tennessee hardly shot at all, but was impressive running the show and leading the defensive onslaught. Each guy had three steals in a 15-2 first quarter, during which NM stormed to a 15-2 advantage. Clark had nine of his 26 points. The Jaguars kept pressing and pressing, but got sloppy with defensive footwork and had turnover problems of their own or else the spread would have been gigantic by halftime. Clark shot 10-for-16 from the floor and 5-for-7 at the line. His first field goal was a trey. The frontcourt mainstays were jr. F Harold Gordon (13 rebounds, also 16 points) and 6-7 sr. neophyte Greg Bush (11 boards). Keep in mind, CAPA has NO height, so this was not the game in which to make judgments on NM’s big guys. The other starter was the legendary Bryton Hawthorne. Why is he legendary? Well, he used to write for this site! Check our 2006-07 basketball season files. Bryton at that time was attending Roxborough and authored some wonderfully perceptive reports – Lemme Bryton Your Day -- on assorted Pub games. His dad, Brent, is an old friend and former Dobbins sniper. His uncle, Horace “Pappy” Owens, was our City Player of the Year for Dobbins in ’79, and later came oh-so-close to making the NBA after starring at Rhode Island. The Papster is now an assistant at La Salle University. Bryton, a jr. WG (and a lefty, like his dad), contributed in assorted areas with eight points and three apiece of assists and steals. He uncorked a series of smart AND entertaining plays. For CAPA, soph WG Matt Powers hustled for 23 points. Nine came on fourth-quarter threes. He has to do so much and it’s not easy being a wing scorer for a team where the ball is always an instant away from going in the other direction. Matt was no doubt exhausted by game’s end. Jr. G Melvin Blake managed six points, three assists and four steals. Juniors Matt Libkind and Jony Rondon halved 10 rebounds. Though he wasn’t on hand today, perhaps frontcourt help will come later from frosh Marcus DeLeon. His dad, Big John, played hoops and baseball at University City (’79) and even spent some time in the minors. John, Brent and Pappy were cut from the same great-guys cloth!