Inside the Holiday Hoops Tournaments

Bishop Gorman takes 2009 crown

Bishop Gorman (Nev.) 54, Columbia (Ga.) 52

Tied at 50 with 48.6 seconds to play, Jamal Reid missed a layup to give the Eagles the lead and after Alex Turner grabbed the defensive rebound for Bishop Gorman (Nev.) Reid bent over to tie his shoe. With a 5 on 4 advantage, Gaels’ coach Grant Rice elected to call a timeout and set up an isolation for Anson Winder.  The BYU-signee got to the rack and laid it in with 15 seconds remaining to give the Gaels a two point lead.

On the ensuing possession JerShon Cobb’s 3-pointer rimmed in and out and Turner grabbed yet another rebound, was fouled, and sank two free throws to give Bishop Gorman a 54-50 advantage.

Cobb received a scrap basket as time expired to give the game its final tally, 54-52.

Cobb ended the game with 20 points.

Jonathan Loyd never exited the game and led the Gaels with 17 points, Winder added 15 and Spencer Taylor 11.

Columbia by one at half

Columbia (Ga.) 26, Bishop Gorman 25

JerShon Cobb has 13 points for Columbia to give the Eagles a one-point halftime lead.

Taylor Spencer has 9 points to lead the Gaels.

Bishop Gorman has tried to speed-up the pace of the game but Columbia is doing a good job of staying within itself.

Gorman is just 5 of 10 from the charity stripe in the first half...the crowd (for a championship) is a disappointment despite the close game...It resembles a decent Day 2 crowd in years past.

If the Gaels can dictate tempo in the second half look for them to take over the game. Expect Cobb - who is wearing an Under Armour-like long sleeved shirt underneath his jersey - to stay hot in the second half. The Northwestern-commit bucketed 19 in the final period Wednesday.

Title game set to tipoff

Columbia (Ga.) vs. Bishop Gorman (Nev.)

About Columbia: Battling illness JerShon Cobb netted 19 second-half points to lift the Eagles past Cedar Hill in yesterday’s semifinal matchup. Freshman point guard Tahj Shamsid-Deen has handled the ball extremely well for Dr. Phillip McCrary’s squad. Chris Grier (6-3) senior has taken the load off of Cobb’s shoulders offering a nice supporting role and netted 10 first half points a night ago. Suffering from a head cold, Cobb has been asked just get through the first half and then give everything he can in the final 16 minutes. If he has the same philosophy tonight, it may be too late in the second half, because Bishop Gorman only knows one speed…full throttle.

Cedar Hill takes third

Cedar Hill (Texas) 47, Scott County (Ky.) 46

A loose ball scramble ended with the ball rolling out of bounds with 1.9 seconds remaining  and Cedar Hill (Texas) trying to hold on to a 47-46 lead.

After the referees agreed the Longhorns had touched the ball last, Scott County (Ky.) called a timeout after it learned it would get the ball at three-quarters court.

Cardinals coach Billy Hicks had a play drawn up as the team left the huddle, but Ge-Lawn Guyn caught the in-bound pass and heaved up a 30-footer nowhere near the basket and when it landed the clock showed all zeros.

"The play was designed to go to Jackson," Hicks said. "Ge-Lawn was supposed to set a screen and roll but instead we froze.

"I just need to do a better job of coaching so the kids know what to do in that situation."

Cedar Hill leads at half

Cedar Hill (Texas) 19, Scott County (Ky.) 15

Dave Milson has challenged his team to take a charge. Cedar Hill has been doing a solid job of staying in front of Scott County’s basket cuts but Chad Jackson has his mind made up that he is going to take the ball to the hoop. Recklessly. Jackson is 4 of 10 from the floor but if a Longhorn defender decides that he is tough enough to stand still in the lane long enough to draw contact from Jackson, the Cardinals leading scorer may be in second-half foul trouble.

Third place is on the line

Scott County (Ky.) vs. Cedar Hill (Texas)

About Cedar Hill: The Longhorns found out just how badly it needs Tanner Milson on offense after they lost a heartbreaker against Columbia (Ga.) in the winner’s bracket semifinals last night. Milson was just 3 of 15 from the field. He didn’t necessarily take any bad shots…but they just weren’t falling. Thomas Gipson had a team-high 21 points but will have another tough matchup against Scott County big man Dakotah Euton who likes to play both inside and out. Billy Johnson did not have as big of a game against the Eagles and expect Scott County (Ky.) to have him and Milson marked on defense.

Wheeler shuts down A.H. to finish fifth

Wheeler (Ga.) 75, Alexander Hamilton (Wis.) 65

Alexander Hamilton did not have an answer for Jelan Kendrick.

Kendrick drove the lane seven times in the second half all for layups and ended with a game-high 25 points to pace Wheeler in a 75-65 victory.

The Memphis signee used his quickness to beat Alexander Hamilton big man Darnell Harris of the dribble time and time again.

Forced to help inside, Alexander Hamilton defenders were suck into the middle opening up things on the perimeter. K.K. Simmons hit two second half treys and Joey Jerome added another to give the Georgia-Wildcats its largest lead of the game 65-55 with 4:00 to play.

“His first step is so deceiving,” said Alexander Hamilton coach Tom Diener of Kendrick. “He hurt us because he was able to get around our defenders and when he gets to the basket he finishes.

“He has so many different talents he is hard to guard. When you put someone big on him he beats them off the dribble and if you put a quicker guard on him he will post them up.”

Phil Taylor – who is heading to Florida International Univ. to play for Isaiah Thomas – shut down Alexander Hamilton guard Chuck Lee in a battle between two of the tournament’s best small guards.  Giving up three inches to Taylor, Lee managed to dish out 4 assists and net seven points but most all of those statistics came when Taylor was not defending him.

“[Taylor] was a tough matchup because he had more size and weight on him than Chuck does,” Diener said. “He plays within himself and doesn’t do anything more than his coach asks of him.”

After being benched in the second half and overtime Wednesday, Harris led the Milwaukee-based Wildcats with 22 points and seven boards. Elgin Cook added 15 on 6 of 7 shooting.

“Darnell seems to have gotten the message,” Diener said. “He was able to get some inside looks and did things he has been asked to do.”

--posted by Nate Ripke

 

Wheeler rallies for halftime lead

Wheeler coach Doug Lipscomb was dancing to an early 90’s hip-hop song in his head on the bench during the first half….or at least that is what it looked like.

After trailing 17-9 early, Charles Mitchell hit a 15-footer and when Alexander Hamilton tried to get a quick basket in transition Jelan Kendrick pinned the ball against the glass, got his feet under him and found K.K Simmons in the corner for a wide open three.

That made Lipscomb happy. His Wildcats hold a 34-31 lead at intermission.

A. Hamilton holds slight lead early

Alexander Hamilton was in sync early jumping out to a 17-9 lead with 10:44 to play. Jelan Kendrick has two baskets but along-side Phil Taylor, the two look sloppy.

Elgin Cook (six points) and Darnell Harris (4 points) are very aggressive inside and Kiwane Crowder is offering another scoring threat netting six quick points.

Phil Taylor and Jelan Kendrick hit back-to-back 3s and Wheeler is closing in on Alexander Hamilton’s lead 19-17 midway through the first half.

 

--posted by Nate Ripke

Battle for Fifth

Alexander Hamilton (Wis.) vs. Wheeler (Ga.)

About Alexander Hamilton:  It will be interesting to see how Darnell Harris responds after coach Tom Diener benched the junior forward down the stretch of Wednesday’s overtime victory over Concord (N.C.). Harris, Chuck Lee, and Elgin Cook lead the Wildcats in nearly every statistical category. Using just a seven player rotation a short-handed Alexander Hamilton team may be fatigued playing its fourth games in six days.