Most Valuable Player: John Wall, Raleigh Word of God
Most Outstanding Player: C.J. Leslie, Raleigh Word of God
All-tournament team:
Antonio Moffit, Knightdale
Justin Watts, Durham Jordan
Ryan Kelly, Raleigh Ravenscroft
Donovan Ingram, Kinston
Eugene Phelps, Woodland Hills (Calif.) Taft
Larry Drew, Woodland Hills (Calif.) Taft
Quinn Cook, Hyattsville (Md.) DeMatha
Naji Hibbert, Hyattsville (Md.) DeMatha
Josh Selby, Hyattsville (Md.) DeMatha
Milton Chavis, Raleigh Word of God
End of 1Q: WOG 17, DeMatha 15
Halftime: WOG 34, DeMatha 26
End of 3Q: WOG 50, DeMatha 43
FINAL SCORE: WOG 64, DeMatha 62
For the first time since 1989, the GlaxoSmithKline Holiday Invitational champion hails from North Carolina.
Raleigh Word of God never trailed after the first three minutes of the game and improved to 14-0 with the victory.
Word of God Levi Beckwith said his Holy Rams take pride in keeping the trophy in the Tar Heel state.
“I’m very proud, very proud,” Beckwith said. “DeMatha made some amazing shots down the stretch and had me thinking that maybe it was meant for them to win. But our guys kept playing hard.”
Glaxo Most Outstanding Player C.J. Leslie led WOG with 19 points, while MVP John Wall added 14. The Holy Rams also got 11 points from Lance Beckwith and 10 from Milton Chavis.
DeMatha was paced by 25 points from Josh Selby and 14 from Naji Hibbert.
Stags coach Mike Jones said, “Obviously, we’re very disappointed with the outcome of the game. But it was a great game and both teams worked hard.”
DeM 15 11 14 22 – 62
WOG 17 17 16 14 – 64
DeMatha: Denning 7, Beckwith 11, Wells 3, Leslie 19, Wall 14, Chavis 10. Word of God: Selby 25, Rouse 6, Grant 4, Hibbert 14, Cook 7, Oladipo 2.
MANY APOLOGIES! INTERNET HAS BEEN DOWN!
End of 1Q: Taft 24, Kinston 5 — KHS lost star sophomore Reggie Bullock only 90 seconds into the game to what appears to be either a high ankle sprain or a knee injury. More updates as I get them. He is out for the rest of the game, though.
Halftime: Taft 37, Kinston 17. Scoring leaders: Taft — Justin Hawkins 12, Eugene Phelps 8, Larry Drew 7. KHS — Akeem Sutton 4, Dallas Best 3, Victor Holloway 3
End of 3Q: Taft 49, Kinston 38
FINAL SCORE: Taft 62, Kinston 55
Notes: Bullock suffered an ankle injury and is day-to-day.
KHS 5 12 21 17 — 55
Taft 24 13 12 13 — 62
KHS: Sutton 14, Hines 5, Ingram 16, Miller 1, Best 3, Jones 2, Benoit 1, Clark 2, Holloway 11. Taft: Phelps 17, Hawkins 12, Drew 18, Carter 9, Smith 2, Hayes 2, Fowler 2.
Most Valuable Player: Hunter McClintock, Northern Durham
Most Outstanding Player: Earnest Ross, Morrisville Panther Creek
All-Tournament:
Jeff Thomas, Northern Durham
Brandon Oliver, Morrisville Panther Creek
Jerry Fairley, Northern Durham
J.D. Pelham, Cary Green Hope
Luke Davis, Raleigh Broughton
Game is underway at 6:10 p.m.
End of 1Q: Northern Durham 18, Panther Creek 15
Halftime: Northern Durham 36, Panther Creek 31. Scoring leaders: ND — Hunter McClintock 21, Jeff Thomas 8. PC — Earnest Ross 12, Brandon Oliver 9.
End of 3Q: Northern Durham 60, Panther Creek 47. McClintock has just tied the record for most 3-pointers in a game (8) and in a full tournament (12). He accomplished it in only two games, whereas the record-holder did it in three games.
FINAL SCORE: Northern Durham 79, Panther Creek 62
PC 15 16 16 15 — 62
ND 18 18 24 19 — 79
PC: Toney 4, Ross 26, M. Oliver 8, Berry 2, B. Oliver 12, Rankin 8, Hood 2. ND: Thomas 12, McClintock 39, Fairley 6, Frush 10, Holley 5, Boone 1, Parker 2, Cleary 2, Diggs 2.
Most Valuable Player: Kaila’Shea Menendez, senior guard, Raleigh Wakefield
Most Outstanding Player: Kesheria McNeil, junior guard, Garner
All-tournament team:
Kathleen Slay, sophomore center, Raleigh Wakefield
Amelia Partin, senior guard, Raleigh Wakefield
Kanita Shephard, senior forward, Garner
Chareya Smith, senior forward, Raleigh Athens Drive
Kurie McDowell, senior guard, McDowell
End of 1Q: Wakefield 10, Garner 9
Halftime: Wakefield 31, Garner 21. Scoring leaders — Wakefield: Amelia Partin 12, Kaila’Shea Menendez 7. Garner: Kesheria McNeil 6, Kanita Shepherd 5.
End of 3Q: Wakefield 44, Garner 32
FINAL SCORE: Wakefield 58, Garner 44
Wakefield opened the second half on a 10-0 run to put the game out of reach. The Wolverines finished second last year when they lost to Wake Forest-Rolesville.
“We’re excited to come away with the championship,” Wakefield coach Danielle Blackburn said. “Winning this year, after losing last year, makes it that much better.”
Wakefield (13-0) was led by Amelia Partin’s 16 points, 12 of which came in the first half. Kristen Hanzer had 11 points for the Wolverines, while tournament MVP Kaila’Shea Menendez scored 10.
“I’m honored to be the most valuable player; it means a lot, especially since this is my last year,” Menendez said. “But I couldn’t do it without my teammates.”
“They’re a good team,” Garner coach Hardrick Mays said of Wakefield. “We didn’t come to play like I thought we would, but my hat’s off to Wakefield. Hopefully, down the road we’ll run into them again somewhere.”
WHS 10 21 13 14 — 58
GHS 9 12 11 12 – 44
Wakefield: Shephard 9, McNeil 13, Mark 2, Johnson 7, Moody 3, Dugal 4, Covington 6. Garner: Slay 9, Evans 6, Hanzer 11, Partin 16, Menendez 10, Wollett 2, Smith 2, Harris 2.
End of 1Q: Ravenscroft 27, Jordan 10
Halftime: Ravenscroft 29, Jordan 17 (yep, Ravenscroft only scored two points that quarter!). Scoring leaders: RR Dominic Parker 8, Hampton Story 7, Ryan Kelly 6, Casey Stevenson 6; DJ: Justin Watts 12, Austin Curry 5
End of 3Q: Ravenscroft 43, Jordan 35
FINAL SCORE: Ravenscroft 64, Jordan 47
Ravenscroft rode its hot start to a win in the fifth-place game. The Ravens took a 27-10 lead after the first quarter and never trailed again to improve to 11-3.
The Ravens were led by Dominic Parker’s 18 points. Ryan Kelly scored 16 points and finished with 74 points in the tournament. That’s good for 41st all-time in the 36-year history of the GSK and ties him with Samaki Walker (Whitehall, Ohio, 1993), Donnell Williams (Bayonne, N.J. Marist, 1992) and Raymond Miller (Garner, 1972).
Kelly said he was more impressed with the fifth-place finish than his personal statistics.
“I think it’s more important that we came out with two wins,” Kelly said. “Walking out of here 11-3 is really big for us.”
Jordan (3-8), which was out-rebounded 25-11, was led by 18 points from Justin Watts, whose three-game total was 69 points, good for 55th all-time. Watts is tied with Scott Johnson (Marietta, Ga. Lassiter, 1994), Fred Smith (Springfield, Mass. 1990), Harold Thompson (Hoke, 1979) and Michael Cottrell (Cullowhee, 1986).
“I think I played well,” Watts said. “I do what my coach tells me to do and it helps me be successful.”
RR 27 2 14 21 — 64
DJ 10 7 18 12 — 47
RR: Kelly 16, Stevenson 6, Parker 18, Story 14, Wilson 4, Kok 6. DJ: Curry 7, Blanton 5, Watts 18, Major 9, Malone 2, Thorpe 2, Blue 4.
End of 1Q: Knightdale 19, Southern Durham 17
Halftime: Knightdale 40, Southern Durham 33; scoring leaders — KHS: Antonio Moffit 15, Dennis Chineke 11, Dijon Manns 9. SD: Jamario Clayton 8, Marcus Wells 5, Lavell Wells 5.
End of 3Q: Knightdale 59, Southern Durham 56
3:25 left in 4Q: Knightdale 69, Southern Durham 63
FINAL SCORE: Knightdale 77, Southern Durham 68
Senior Dennis Chineke scored 26 points to lead the Knights to the victory. Knightdale coach Battle Watkins said it was good for his team to come away from its first appearance in the 8-team GSK with a victory, especially with a big conference game looming against West Johnston on Jan. 4.
“We played hard all three games, but found a way to win tonight,” Watkins said. “Now, we have some work to do in our conference to catch up a little bit. This win is going to help us.”
Antonio Moffit had 21 points for the Knights, who also received 17 from Dijon Manns, who added 12 rebounds.
Southern Durham (7-6) was led by 16 points from Jamario Clayton, 11 from Marcus Wells and 10 from Will Rollack.
“I was very happy with the way my guys played tonight, especially how aggressively we played defensively,” SD coach Art Richmond said. “We’re ready to roll into conference play now.”
SD 17 16 23 12 – 68
KHS 19 21 19 18 – 77
SD: Hayes 2, Clayton 16, Springfield-Cobb 7, Anderson 5, Hunter 2, M. Wells 11, Wiggins 2, Rollack 10, L. Wells 5, Williams 8. KHS: Chineke 26, Manns 17, Moffit 21, Mealy 1, Coppedge 6, Jackson 3, McIntyre 3.
Whitney’s singing the National Anthem now. Game to start shortly.
End of 1Q: McDowell 11, Athens Drive 4
Halftime: McDowell 20, Athens Drive 14. AD closed the first half on a 7-0 run. Leading scorers: McD — Xandi Gellman 7, Kurie Washington 4, Kelsea Greene 4. AD: Rachel Collins 10.
End of 3Q: McDowell 35, Athens Drive 33
End of regulation: McDowell 50, Athens Drive 50 — the first OT game of the 2007 Glaxo
FINAL SCORE: Athens Drive 61, McDowell 57
Athens Drive trailed much of the game, but rallied for the victory in the third-place game.
The Jaguars (6-5) were without injured point guard Tyonna Willingham, which AD coach Chris Danehower said contributed to the slow start.
“I didn’t what to expect tonight,” Danehower said. “We struggled early, but as the game went on, we started to get our rhythm.”
Four Jaguars scored in double figures, led by the duo of Makeisha Gatling and Rachel Collins, who had 16 points each. Gatling finished with a double-double as she also had 13 rebounds and four blocked shots. Chareya Smith and Alys Ingram added 10 points apiece for the Jags. Athens Drive outrebounded McDowell 41-17.
McDowell was led by Kurie Washington’s 18 points and Xandi Gellman’s 14.
“They played undermanned, but they played a heck of a basketball game,” McDowell coach Brian Franklin said of Athens Drive. “For a quarter and a half, we played really well and did exactly what we were supposed to. For whatever reason, we got away from that and that’s my fault.”
McD 11 9 15 15 7 — 57
AD 4 10 19 17 11 — 61
McD: Gellman 14, Hamilton 4, Washington 18, Ward 4, Greene 9, Medford 2, Brooks 6. AD: Gatling 16, Collins 16, Smith 10, Ingram 10, Childrey 2, Joyner 7.
