SoCal High School & Prep Report

Reebok Vegas Prep Classic:
Jason Day's Championship Game Report--(December 23, 1997)

Here's our correspondent Jason Day's report from the last day of the tournament, including his take on the Championship Game, played Tuesday, December 22, 1997:

MT. ZION DEFEATS RICE FOR THE CHAMPIONSHIP

Tuesday December 23, 1997

By Jason Day

Mt. Zion's coach, Joel Hopkins, told me that his players were much more concerned about Mt. Zion having been left off of USA’s Top 25 list than he was. He said he just wanted them to come out and play hard and the rest would take care of itself.

Well, against Rice, Mt. Zion did just that, winning their second consecutive Reebok Holiday Prep Tournament Championship. Led by 6'-6" guard Corey Hightower, the Mt. Zion Warriors sent a strong message to all the pollsters, and to Rice, USA Today's No. 9 "nationally" ranked team (actually it's just Dave Krider's opinion, but that's ok, since he's pretty accurate in his assessment of the top prep talent). As the defending tourney champions, (last year they were led by Tracey McGrady, now with the NBA Toronto Raptors), Mt. Zion, from Durham, NC, felt it definitely needed to make a statement. But don’t think for a moment that Rice (New York, NY), anchored by 6'-5 "monster" forward Anthony Glover, and led by 6'-5" senior guard, Pyree Wilson, would go down quietly.

This was a tight game all the way, but it was won by the stronger and more talented team, with the deeper bench. So Dave Krider: Take note, Mt. Zion is back. Or maybe they never really went away.

Mt. Zion opened with a half court zone and Rice pressed full court. Pyree Wilson of Rice did a masterful job of getting to the basket against the Zion zone early and gave a glimpse of the huge game he was going to have in this one. The senior guard was absolutely fearless as he slashed to the rack time after time against the Zion front line, which consisted of, alternately, Marcus Williams (6'-7" Jr. F), Eric Short (6'-10" Sr. C), Kenneth Booker (6'-8" Jr. F), Rodney White (6'-8" Jr. C) and / or Travis Robinson (6'-7" Sr. F).

There were some truly major battles on the boards, bodies slamming everywhere, with Glover leading Rice to a 39-31 edge in rebounds. But because of his aggressive play, particularly in the first half, he also picked up two early fouls and sat down at 4:36 left in the first half, with the score tied 20-20.

At 1:21 to go in the half, it was still tight when Hightower, a truly gifted player, showed in two successive possessions why he’s being compared to Koby Bryant at this stage of his career.

On the first possession, Hightower dribbled to the wing, let the defender set, then literally did a "figure eight dribble between the legs " drill (yes, the one most kids are taught in order to improve their handle), mesmerized the defender, crossed him over, pulled up, and shot the 3. Nothing but net.

On the second possession, he cut along the baseline, took the pass deep in the corner, and pulled up again. Nothing but net.

Half-time: Mt. Zion 36 - Rice 30.

In the second half, Rice came out with a bit more defensive intensity. Glover windexed the glass for some putbacks, while Wilson (26pts. 12 for 18, 5 boards, 2 assists, and a steal) and 6’-2" Jr guard, Kenneth Satterfield (18 pts., 9 boards - 8 offensive-,1 assist, and 2 steals) , hit some big shots from the perimeter. Rice outscored Mt. Zion 9-2 and led at 12:50 of the half.

But with only 1:30 run off the clock in the half, Mt. Zion had scored again, and was now up by eight. Mt. Zion's Travis Robinson, a senior who’s college plans are not completely formulated, but who told SoCalHoops that he's leaning toward Missouri, led the charge with some pretty J’s from distance, and aggressive attacks on the basket. He was fouled repeatedly in this game, and calmly went 12 for 14 from the line. He also had 9 rebounds, 1 blk. and a steal. He finished with 19pts.

The game was up and down, back and forth with Zion leading but not being able to pull away from Rice. Robinson dropped a pretty 3 pointer to give Zion a 10 pt. Lead at 8:30 to go, but Glover came right back with a smooth baseline drive. Mt. Zion, very patient at this point, works their half court game to perfection and gets a nice pass from SR PG, Gerald Raymond, to Kenneth Booker cutting. Booker lays it in, "and 1". He drops the FT, 11 pt game.

Booker is a lanky Jr. forward who had an impressive tournament off the bench. In the 5 previous games, he averaged 5pts. and 5 boards. He didn’t block a lot of shots, but sure did alter quite a few.

Satterfield and Wilson made back to back to back jumpers for Rice. But, Hightower answered each and every time. They had handed out the All-tourney ballots at the beginning of this game, and when Corey hit for that third answer, every one at the press table picked up a pen and wrote his name in the MVP slot. 10 pt. game, 62-52 Zion, at 4:46.

Ahh. But it wasn’t over just yet.

Glover brought the house down with a spectacular dunk off a great pass from PG Andre Barrett.

8 pt. game.

Short jumper by Wilson for Rice.

6 pt. game.

Zion turnover, Rice on the break, shooter misses, Glover raises up and tip dunks the ball so hard that the rim is still shaking the next time Rice came down.

4 pt. game.

Then Travis Robinson, who was fouled on Zion’s next possession, drops both free-throws to put Zion back up by 6.

Robinson, who is one of the more, shall we say, expressive players (think Dennis Rodman, but without the tatoos or colored hair), was just pumped, and he hurries back on D.

Rice’s Bronski Bockery (6'-3" Sr. G)--now there's an "All Tourney Great Name" if ever there was one--pulls up for a long range J, Robinson elevates from the low block and swats it into the 10^th row.

Rice inbounds, misses the shot, Glover gets the offensive rebound and is fouled. He makes one, misses the other, and now it's a 5 point game.

Zion misses on it's next possession down the floow, and fouls Bockery on the break. He misses, Robinson rebounds, and he's quickly fouled by Glover, his 5^th. And so with only 2:00 showing on the clock, and Mt. Zion leading by 5 at 69-64, Glover goes to the bench for good with 18 points, 12 boards, 1 assist, and a steal.

The last two minutes see the teams go back and forth for a bit, with Rice scrapping and clawing, but with Glover out, there's no way Rice can do it, and Zion was just too strong, too tall, and too deep for them. With Glover on the bench, the final two minutes were never in doubt. Mt. Zion 83, Rice 74.

Final.

This was a great game between two great ball clubs. Even with a weaker field this year, this tourney produced some great matchups, and this was certainly one of em.

We hope to have more to come on some of the players from both of these teams with some highlights and particular notes on some of the players soon.

In the meantime, it's back to L.A.

Later.

Jason Day.

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