speice2

SoCalHoops High School & Prep Tournament News

First Day Results: Spiece Run N' Slam
Classic From Indianapolis: Rockfish Wins--(May 3,1998)

Well, they also lost one, but they won the first game over No Excuses (Jason Gardner) but lost to Spiece North.

As most of you know, LA Rockfish (a team coached and put together by Dave "Rockfish" Benezra and Mark Mayemura) which is composed of some of the best players from the Rockfish Spring League which is played at Verbum Dei High School in Watts, flew to Indianapolis, Indiana on Thursday to play in a tournament. And it's not just any old tournament. We searched around and found some information over on Richard's Boilermaker Recruiting Site. No articles, but just some stuff from his Message Forum. He's promising some articles, but our guess is that they will mostly feature the Indiana teams. But some of the messages posted featured some tidbits about Rockfish. Here's wheat we were able to piece together from the tournament. We're expecting Shantay to give us the complete lowdown when he gets back, but for now this will have to do:

Lots of teams we've seen before, lots we haven't. Some we have include EBO, Franklin Covey, Arizona Heat, Sam Rines, CMH 76'ers (which lost), and, of course, Rockfish.

These are the results from Friday's games.

Seniors-to-be" bracket only (although some teams have juniors and sophomores on them too)...

No Excuses 65
LA Rockfish 74

Here's a report from someone who actually saw the No Excuses v. Rockfish game Friday:

Everyone knew the No Excuses (NE)/LA Rockfish (LA) game would be a good one. Surprisingly, LA easily handled NE in the opening game of the tournament, beating NE 74-65. NE did manage to cut it to single digits after falling behind by 18 as the 4th quarter began.

No Excuses had the following players on the floor in game one...Brody Boyd, Michael Bennett, Jason Gardner, Gavin Groninger, Brennon Clemmons, John Stewart, Zack Randolph and Krunti Hester. Stewart led the team with 16 points (7 2FG, 2 FT) and Randolph added 6 points (3 2FG). Boyd was the best guard on the floor, finishing with 13 points (1 2FG, 2 3FG, 5 FT). Jason Gardner added 8 points (3 2FG, 2 FT). Gavin Groninger was one of only three double figure scorers with 11 points (2 2FG, 2 3FG, 1 FT). LA features very good big men (I think Van Der Laan had 25 points), and quick guards. Overall, NE's guards were better, but Stewart and Randolph had trouble stopping the 6'10 Van Der Laan.

No Excuses bounced back in game two with an 88-84 victory over a very good Salt Lake City team. No stats available for the late game.

Some impressions...a 1-1 start isn't bad considering the talent crammed in Pool 1 along with NE. Also in the 4-team pool, and waiting for a 2:30 match-up tomorrow is Spiece North. After seeing both teams tonight, NE must pick up their play in every aspect except post play. Stewart was working in the post, getting good position and getting those long arms up in the air for the inlet. Randolph played more of a garbage role, as the opponents big men had trouble forcing him to do anything. The two teams also have different styles. NE tends to set up things offensively, while Spiece relies more on speed and passing to get quick, easy shots.

Stewart...played like a man-child the first game. Very exhausted by the end of the second game. He has lost a lot of weight, down from 300 to around 260. He still has a nice belly on him, which has to still be working against his endurance. Often the last body up the floor, but he wasn't that far behind. Good offensively with nice moves. Stewart and Randolph make an impressive two big man set. However, with their size and ability to control the position of their defenders, they sure gave up way to many rebounds.

The best point guard on the floor tonight was Brody Boyd. Talking to a scout while going from Mackey to the Co-Rec, the scout said Gardner will take a hit in the rankings after this weekend. The scout, one of the guys that feeds info to college coaches and NOT one that looks to the general public as the market for his service, said Gardner has been overrated, but was being given the benefit of the doubt. Boyd outplayed Gardner in the first game, a game watched by many of the scouts in attendance. It's not that Gardner played badly, he just didn't stand out. He had a solid game. Boyd, on the other had, had showmanship with the scoring to back it up. Handles the ball well in the opening court and can burn you with a stutter step and drive to the basket. He finished with circus shots on two occassions, and both went in. If it is true that IU has already offered the sophomore, I can see why.

Unless NE can beat Spiece on Saturday afternoon, they are looking at having to play a first round game in the tournament Saturday night at 6PM. If Spiece wins, Spiece will end up with the first round bye..

The rest of the scores (that we found out about) from Friday:

Spiece Gym Rats North 84
Salt Lake City 74 OT

Harvey's Hustlers 72
Indy Majik 75 2OT

Loganland All-Stars 55
Michiana Basketball 79

Team Indiana 68
Spiece Gym Rats South 71

Tiffany's AAU 64
Abbey AC 81

Bloomington Red 58
Sport Youth Foundation 44

North Cincy AAU Blue 70
Southern Indiana Stars 89

Bloomington Silver 54
Northern Cincy AAU White 38

Ramsey Basketball Academy 62
Arizona Heat 94

Franklin Covey 54
Martin Brothers Select 86

Waterloo Canada 71
Sam Rines Basketball 65

Elite Basketball Org. 90
Team Utah 61

Team Kansas - Wichita Heat 81
Tim Thomas Playaz 70

Utah Royals 64
Team Texas 75

Team Kansas H.E.A.T. 86
Grand Rapids Storm 73

Indy Metros Blue 60
DTA Team Wisconsin 78

Illinois Fire 82
CMH 76ers 74

Indy Metros Gold 61
Illinois Warriors 68

Columbus Basketball Club 74
Dallas Slam Jam 65

Albany City Rocks Won
Chicago Demons (No Show)

Cincy AAU #1 77
Gateway Basketball Club 51

Alabama Ice 74
Bray Center Nike 76 OT

Cincy AAU #2 61
NBDA Team Nebraska 60

All Ohio Red 64
St. Louis Eagles 72

Virginia Diaper Dans 58
Houston Hoops 76

All Ohio White 62
Howard Pulley Panthers 82

Illinois Heat 86
Milford Sharpshooters 81

St, Louis Pistons Won
Michigan Mustangs (No Show)

Go JO All-Stars 67
Memphis Sounds 71

And more from the second round of games including the Spiece v. Rockfish game:

After the first evening of the tournament, Spiece North is king of Pool 1 with a 2-0 record. They are sitting in good position for a first round tournament bye tonight, as their margin of victory is now at +16.

Despite earlier reports, Vincent Hart is not on Spiece North. He is listed on SYF Players along with Darmetrius Kilgore and Shane Power, but neither Hart or Kilgore showed up on Friday. In talking with Jamaal Davis (who's brother John is playing on SYF), Davis said both Kilgore and Hart had family problems that kept them away on Friday.

The roster for Spiece was still impressive, featuring Carlton Baker, Martin Brothers, John Gates, John Hamilton, Kenny Lowe, Austin Parkinson, Davis Meece, Brent Snodgrass and Ricky Wright. As Paxton pointed out, Greenfield-Central's Josh Mullins was not around for Friday games.

Spiece needed overtime to beat Salt Lake City in Friday's first matchup, but dominated overtime with a 10 point win. Stats for the first game...

Baker 9 points (3 2PT, 0 3PT, 3 FT)
Brothers 10 points (5 2PT, 0 3PT, 0 FT)
Gates 4 points (1 2PT, 0 3PT, 2 FT)
Hamilton 22 points (9 2PT, 1 3PT, 1 FT)
Lowe 6 points (1 2PT, 1 3PT, 1 FT)
Meece 6 points (2 2PT, 0 3PT, 2 FT)
Parkinson 11 points (1 2PT, 2 3PT, 3 FT)
Snodgrass 7 points (2 2PT, 1 3PT, 0 FT)
Wright 9 points (4 2PT, 0 3PT, 1 FT)

In game two, Spiece took on LA Rockfish, who was fresh off a win over No Excuses. Rockfish is a big team featuring a 6'10 kid who can hit the three. Despite a very talented opponent, Spiece was able to outrun LA. Spiece North is a very athletic team, with scorers at every position, which allows them to adjust well to different styles of play. Despite being a smaller team, Brothers, Baker and Wright could outjump their opponents with ease. 6'4 Kenny Lowe exploited his jumping ability by launching a three over a 6'5 defender. Baker was unstoppable at the beginning of the game. LA looked rather shocked to see this kid bang it inside and finish. John Hamilton also had a great game. Fluid perimter shot, and he gets it off quick. The guards were especially solid. Parkinson, despite only practicing with this team once before Friday, dished off several crisp passes, including a lob ove the 6'10 Van Der Laan right on the money to Ricky Wright. Parkinson surprised me with his speed. He could close on defenders on the break, and was always wisking by taking a swipe at the ball when a defender would make it the length of the court. Lowe is a SOLID, SOLID player. Great in many aspects of his game. Excelled on defense and can jump like a rabbit. Great size for a kid who can handle the ball-handling job, and also followed the offense well enough to grab some rebounds. He was key against containing LA guard Shantay Legans. I stopped counting assists for Parkinson, but he had two within the first three minutes of the game (only field goals and freethrows are counted in the official stats).

Next up for Spiece is a 2:00PM showdown with No Excuses, which will be a game of contrasting styles. No Excuses will run more of a controlled half court game, taking some time to set up the post. Spiece will be up and down the floor, using quick passing and slashing big men to get buckets and fouls. Stewart will work hard for offensive position in the post, and Wright and Brothers both need to guard themselves against his pivot, and possible dump off to Randolph. Spiece is a team with the tools to go far into the tournament Sunday. The finals team must play 5 consecutive games on Sunday, and Spiece is deep and athletic enough to still be fresh late Sunday afternoon.