St. Frances Putting It All Together

No. 5 St. Frances handles Poly, moves to 6-0 

St. Frances Academy boys’ basketball coach Nick Myles said often last season he and his players were learning each other. It showed as the talented Panthers were inconsistent.

The so-called learning curve is gone, and the road has been smooth for St. Frances this season. The No. 5 Panthers posted a 67-48 victory over ninth-ranked Poly in a non-league match on Cold Spring Lane Friday evening.

Senior guard/forward Tevon Saddler had 17 points and 13 rebounds for St. Frances (6-0 overall), and sophomore point guard Kurk Lee added 13 points and seven assists. Darrion Stokes-Graham led all scorers with 19 points for Poly (1-1).

The east Baltimore private school used a big first quarter run and weathered a third quarter charge from the Engineers to remain perfect on the young season. St. Frances went 21-9 last season, losing in the MIAA A Conference and Baltimore Catholic League semifinals.

For a team that opened the season ranked No. 2 in the VSN’s preseason Top 20, it was viewed by some as a disappointment. Myles, an assistant under Mark Karcher, took over shortly before the start of last preseason after Karcher and the school abruptly parted ways.

Myles said the coaches and players have a better understanding.

“Being with them throughout in the summer becoming  a close tight-knit unit makes a difference,” said Myles.

“Last year, everybody didn’t want to play,” said senior Maurice White, one of five returning letterwinners. “This year, everybody has come together as a family and everything has clicked.”

Playing inside a hot Poly gym, St. Frances quickly took the festive home audience out the game, going a 16-0 run to take a 22-5 advantage early in the second quarter. It was 26-6 after White (12 points), a Loyola University commit, slammed home an alley oop pass from Lee.

After struggling in the first half, Poly got into a rhythm from the perimeter as Stokes got Poly’s deficit under double digits with a three-pointer, midway in the third quarter. The upstart Engineers were within 40-34 after a three-pointer by junior point guard John Crosby.

Lee, the son of former Dunbar and Towson University star Kurk Lee, answered for St. Frances with a trey. Stokes dropped the third of his four trifectas, but the Panthers closed the third quarter with 6-1 spurt with Joshua Garrett converting a three-point play for a 49-38 advantage entering the final quarter.

“When somebody hit us, we got to hit them back,” said Saddler, whose future coach, Wes Miller from University of North Carolina-Greensboro,  was in the audience Friday along with George Mason coach Paul Hewitt, Maryland assistant Beano Ranson and Florida Gulf Coast assistant Kevin Norris.

Poly coach Sam Brand, a former standout at Morgan State University, said his squad had few answers for St. Frances.

“At the end of the day, I don’t think we were prepared to be beat St. Frances,” said Brand, who has eight letterwinners back from last season. “The effort was there, but I think we out-toughed. Against a team like that, you have to bring your A-game.”

St. Frances has a huge week coming up, starting Monday at home against Prince George’s County’s Princeton Day Academy with former Patterson star Aquille Carr followed Wednesday with MIAA A/BCL rival John Carroll School, which has defeated the Panthers seven straight times over the previous two seasons. Saturday at Loyola’s Reitz Arena, they play Texas power Travis, featuring highly-touted twin brothers and Kentucky commits

 

The trio of Maurice White, Kurk Lee and Tevon Saddler combined for 42 points Friday for St. Frances. The unbeaten St. Frances will host Princeton Day Academy with former two-time VSN player of the year Aquille Carr Monday evening in east Baltimore“The kids told me they wanted to big games, travel the country and have fun,” said Myles. “We’ll play anybody and everybody.”

No. 5 St. Frances Academy 67, No. 9 Poly 48

St. Frances – Saddler 17, Lee 13, White 12, Richards 8, Garrett 6, Morgan 2, Ayemi 6, Wattie 3. Totals 23 19-30 67.

Poly – Stokes 19, Shaw 4, Crosby 9, Wyche 3, White 1, Jones 2, Kelly 4, Quickey 6. Totals 15 9-17 48.

St. Frances 16 16 17 18 – 67

Poly 5 15 18 10 – 48

Last Updated (Saturday, 08 December 2012 10:46)

 

 

Kam Williams Shows Off in Nightcap Of Gonzaga DC Classic

5 hours ago by Marc Stern in ( Capitol Hoops Video , High School , Top Stories )

Syracuse, Miami, Marquette, Wake Forest, Virginia Tech, Ohio St, on, and on, and on. Kam Williams had his pick of the litter when it was time to decide where he would play at the next level.
The 6’3” senior combo guard from Mount St. Joe’s in Baltimore went with the Buckeyes and with all of that pressure relieved, it’s time for Kam to play ball, and keep his Gael’s ranked as the top team in the Charm City. That task could be a tough one as Mount Saint Joe’s is playing in the ultra-competitive Gonzaga DC Classic.
Up first for the Gaels was what most thought would be an easy victory and perhaps the most lopsided game in the tournament. They faced Carroll of Washington D.C. who returns zero starters from last year’s team.
The game was smooth sailing for Kam and his Gaels through three quarters as the Baltimore school took a 50-29 lead into the final frame. But Carroll stormed back as senior guard Antwan Haskins almost single-handedly scored twice as many points in the final quarter as the entire Mount Saint Joe’s team. Haskins scored 17 of his game high 30 points in the fourth quarter.
Williams finished with 22 points while playing all 32 minutes in the game. He took high percentage shots, played smart defense, through down a couple thunderous dunks, and showed the combination of poise and skill that has landed him as one of the nations top guards. Teammate Phil Booth, another blue-chip recruit who is just a junior and is being recruited by dozens and dozens of top D-1 schools added 14.
The Gaels advance to the semi-finals where they will play a familiar opponent. Bullis, who defeated Roman Catholic of Philadelphia 61-49 scrimmaged Mount Saint Joe’s just a few weeks ago. Bullis, like Mount Saint Joe’s is stacked, featuring a handful of future D-1 players. Bullis put four players in double figures Friday, and as a team shot 26-32 from the stripe, despite center Andre Walker going 0-4. Once again, the Gaels will play in the night cap of Saturday’s quadruple header.
In the two earlier games a pair of future Villanova Wildcats led their teams to victory.
Host school Gonzaga was tied at the half with Archbishop Milloy of Queens, NY. But reigning all-met player of the year Kris Jenkins willed his team to victory scoring a tournament high 31 points on the opening day. Jenkins converted on 14-16 free throws and sank a 3-ball from half court to end the third quarter. When it was all said and done the six-time defending Gonzaga DC Classic champions won 78-66.
In the tournaments first game Kris Jenkins’ future collegiate teammate Josh hart scored 27 points in leading Sidwell Friends to a 63-57 victory over Germantown Academy of Fort Washington, PA. On Saturday the future Villanova Wildcats will play each other, and likely guard each other for a good part of the game.

Stephon Marbury doesn’t want to pay $300K to Ex-mistress

I’m curious to see the outcome of this case. Former NBA player Stephon Marbury has said he’s not going to pay his former mistress Thurayyah Mitchell the remaining $300,000 he owed her as part of their confidentiality agreement related to their 2006 affair.

Marbury paid $600,000 but stopped paying in 2010. Thurayyah Mitchell filed court docs back in October in an attempt to collect the funds.

Marbury is trying to flip the judgement arguing that her filing the judgement broke their agreement and he doesn’t have to pay her anything…

According to Marbury, the documents violated the confidentiality agreement because they were filed publicly rather than under seal.

So the fact that had Steph simply held up the original terms he probably wouldn’t have been sued therefore the agreement wouldn’t have been breached… But that’s too much like right.