Briarcrest Stuns IMG, Montvede Rolls, Hamilton Heights Survives, & Moussa Cisse Makes the Case for a #1-Ranking at the ARS Rescue Rooter National Hoopfest
We attended the ARS Rescue Rooter National Hoopfest, which was held over the weekend at Briarcrest Christian High School in Memphis, TN, and it doesn’t get any better than the last four games in this event on Saturday. We begin with the game between Memphis (Lausanne) TN and St Louis (Vashon) MO and the big story here was the total dominance in the paint by 7’0 Jr Moussa Cisse, who led the former to a 68-50 win over the latter and, in the process, finished with 31 points, 16 rebounds, seven blocked shots, 11-17 field goals, 2-2 3-pointers, and 7-11 free throws.
We’re talking about a long athletic shot blocking intimidating presence in the post, as well as somebody who runs the floor extremely well, plays with a lot of energy, and can step out and keep you honest with the soft touch that he has on his jump shot. He will need to get bigger and stronger physically, but he is an excellent passer and extremely quick to the basket, active in the post, and aggressive on the boards, plus he played so well that he definitely belongs in the discussion, along with the likes of 6’9 Jr Jonathan Kuminga from Newark (St. Benedict’s) NJ, 6’8 Jr Patrick Baldwin from Sussex (Hamilton) WI, 6’8 Jr Paolo Bancherofrom Seattle (O’Dea) WA, and 7’0 Jr Chet Holmgren from Minneapolis (Minnehaha Academy) MN, when we start talking about the #1-ranked player nationally in the Class of 2021.
He also knows that he’s a big man and we also don’t think it was a coincidence that Georgetown head coach Patrick Ewing and assistant coach Robert Kirby showed up just in time for the start of this game. And, when one remembers that Kirby used to be used to be an assistant coach at Memphis, Mississippi State, and LSU, it’s easy to see why the Hoyas would already be in the hunt, along with a lot of other heavy hitters, like Kentucky, Memphis, Michigan, Michigan State, LSU, Georgia, Florida, Florida State, Ole Miss, UCLA, USC, St. John’s, Texas, and Pittsburgh.
Cisse also was aided by the fact that neither 6’8 Cam’Ron Fletcher nor 6’7 Shane Clark, who are Vashon’s two best players, have the size and strength necessary to match up against him inside. Fletcher is bound for the University of Kentucky and he finished with 17 points and nine rebounds. Clark is one of the better unsigned players still available and he finished with nine points and seven rebounds. And, while they both have the versatility, athleticism, and skills necessary to play multiple positions, it was clear that the intimidating presence by Cisse in the paint affected their shooting, as Fletcher and Clark combined to go 10-42 from the field and 1-14 from behind the arc and, as a team, Vashon shot 18-69 (26.1%) from the field and 4-27 (14.4%) from behind the arc. In contrast, Lausanne shot 24-44 (54.5%) from the field and 4-10 (40.0%) from behind the arc.
The next game was one of those games that 6’6 Frosh Elijah Fisher from North York (Crestwood) ON would probably like to forget. We pick things up when 5’11 Trevon Thomas knocked down a big 3-pointer in the final seconds of the game to cut the lead to only two. Then, there was a steal and, after Thomas got another look at the basket, Fisher got the rebound and was fouled in the act of shooting on the play. But, with no time remaining on the clock and, after several timeouts by Hamilton Heights to ice the shooter, Fisher missed the first free throw and the game was over. And to make this an even more ignominious defeat for Crestwood is the fact that they were up by 13 points at the end of the third quarter, but then allowed to Hamilton Heights to go on a 25-10 run down the stretch and win the game.
On the other hand, Hamilton Height is a very good team, as is evident by the fact that they are now 16-0 and are ranked #2 in Ronnie Flores’ latest FAB 50 National Team Rankings powered by Ballslife.com. And 6’7 Samson Ruzhentsev is one of the most unheralded players in the senior class nationally. Remember, this is the guy that singlehandedly took over the game and scored the last five points when his team knocked off Bel Aire (Sunrise Christian) KS in the Championship Game of the Signature Series in the City of Palms Classic. He also was quick and aggressive to the basket the previous night when we saw him finish with 13 points, eight rebounds, 5-10 field goals, 1-2 3-pointers, and 2-3 free throws in his team’s 52-45 win against Arlington (H.S.) TN. However, this time around, Ruzhentsev did not have a good shooting night, as is evident by the fact that he only had nine points, 0-12 field goals, and 0-7 3-pointers.
Instead, the three guys who got Hamilton Heights over the hump were 6’7 Andersson Garcia, 6’11 Soph Felix Okpara, and 6’7 Jr Drew Williams. Garcia is like a jack-of-all-trades with his ball handing and passing skills, ability to both score and rebound in the post, and quickness and athleticism, which allows him to guard both bigger and smaller guys. He had 17 points, 16 rebounds, five assists, 6-10 field goals, 0-1 3-pointerts, and 5-8 free throws the previous night against Arlington and he had 10 points, 14 rebounds, five assists, 4-8 field goals, 0-1 3-pointers, and 2-2 free throws in this game against Crestwood. He also is good enough to be ranked among the top 100 seniors nationally and, as an added bonus, for the college coach who is reading this, he’s still very much under the radar and he’s still available. Okpara will need to get bigger and stronger physically and he’s more of a potential guy than a finished product right now. However, it’s hard not be enamored with his size, length, and athleticism and he did have 12 points, 11 rebounds, two blocked shots, and 5-6 field goals against Crestwood. Williams is a great role player and he gets mentioned because he knocked down 3-6 3-pointers and led the way in scoring with 13 points.
And the same also can be said about Thomas, who finished with 22 points and was 5-9 from behind the arc for Crestwood. Fisher also chipped in with 10 points, four rebounds, four assists, six turnovers, two steals, 3-6 field goals, 2-3 3-pointers, and 2-3 free throws. But he is going to have to play a lot better than this if he is going to live up to the hype of being the #1-ranked player nationally in the Class of 2023. He does have good size and skills, is versatile enough to play multiple positions, and is capable of scoring in a variety of ways. However, he does not appear to have that burst of great speed and quickness necessary to blow past would-be defenders and he did not appear to have the kind of killer instinct that one might expect from somebody with his reputation and ranking.
The next game went exactly the way it was supposed to go, as Memphis (Wooddale) TN was able to hang around long enough to make the score 18-12 at the end of the first quarter. But then Montverde (Academy) FL went on a 17-0 run in the second quarter and went into the locker room at half time with a commanding 48-24 lead. And from there Montverde coasted to a 82-51 victory and 6’7 Cade Cunningham, who is bound for Oklahoma State and is our #1-ranked player in the senior class nationally, led the way with 23 points, five rebounds, five assists, two blocked shots, 10-12 field goals, and 3-5 3-pointers. Also chipping with 12 points, 15 rebounds, five assists, four blocked shots, two steals, 5-9 field goals, and 2-4 free throws and making a strong case for a top 10-ranking in the senior class nationally was the University of North Carolina-bound 6’10 Day’Ron Sharpe.
There also was the stellar performance that was turned in by 6’5 Moses Moody, as this University of Arkansas athletic wing forward chipped in with 15 points, five assists, seven rebounds, 6-9 field goals, 3-5 3-pointers, and 1-2 free throws. And, as a team, they shot 32-55 (58.2%) from the field for the game and they shot 12-17 (70.6%) from the field in the second quarter and 7-8 (87.5%) from the field in the third quarter., They won the battle of boards 42-23 and had a 22-to-seven assist turnover ratio for the game. Are you starting to get the idea that this might be the best high school teams I’ve ever seen? And what about an Oscar Robertson-like comparison when we start talking about Cade Cunningham, who is capable of getting a triple-double on any given night?
The other big story in this game was the great performance that was turned in by 6’8 Jr Jonathan Lawson from Memphis (Wooddale) TN. Not only did he finish with 23 points, eight rebounds, two assists, 7-19 field goals, 3-3 3-pointers, and 6-7 free throws, but also was his team’s primary ball handler on offense, played in the post on defense, and brought a competitive edge to the table and showed no fear when the deck was totally stacked against him. Needless to say, this is the best we’ve ever seen him play. And, if he can duplicate this on a regular basis, he not only will turn out to be better than all three of his older brothers, but he will be in the discussion when we start talking about the top five or 10 players nationally in the Class of 2021.
The final game of the day did not go anything like what one might expect, as Eads (Briarcrest) TN in general and 6’1 Jr Kennedy Chandler specifically did a great job of controlling the tempo and totally dismantling Bradenton (IMG Academy) FL defensively, as they turned an 18-11 half-time deficit into a stunning 32-22 victory. And even more incredible is the fact IMG Academy only scored three points in the third quarter and only one-point in the fourth quarter. Chandler finished with only 12 points, four assists, and 3-12 field goals. But don’t let that fool you. He displayed incredible poise, confidence, savvy, and skill and, even though he and his teammates had their shots altered on numerous occasions, he still kept taking it right at 7’0 Mark Williams and 7’3 Zach Edy, both all of whom have incredible size and are excellent rim protectors.
However, when the dust had cleared, the North Carolina-bound Williams finished with only one point, five rebounds, and eight blocked shots and the Purdue University-bound Edy has failed to score and had only one rebound and one block. Remember, Williams is extremely athletic around the basket, he makes a living off put-backs, dunks, rebounds, and dunks and we go back-and-forth on which one we like better – him or 6’10 Day’Ron Sharpe from Montverde (Academy) FL. Edy doesn’t have any quickness and athleticism, but he provides a tremendous physical presence in the post, he can rebound, block shots, and score around the basket, and, with the exception of this game, he gets better and better every time we watch him play (we’ve already seen IMG Academy play eight times this year).
The two leading scorers for IMG Academy were the Ole Miss-bound 6’3 Matt Morrell, who finished with eight points, but was only 3-14 from the field, 2-9 from behind the arc, and 1-5 from the free throw line, and 6’11 Jr Moussa Diabate, who had eight points, five rebounds, and 4-8 field goals, but was 0-3 from behind the arc. In fairness to IMG Academy, they are not the same team without 6’ 5 Jaden Springer, who has been sidelined with an injury and, as a result, did not play a single minute this entire weekend. Springer is not a point guard, but he’s versatile enough to play anywhere out on the perimeter and he’s talented, skilled, and athletic enough to be a legit top 10-ranked senior nationally. And just think how good this team would be with 6’9 Jalen Johnson. If you recall, Johnson was enrolled in school at IMG Academy up until the Thanksgiving holiday break. But he has not been seen since. Remember, Johnson is a like a point/forward, he has a great combination of size, skills, and athleticism, and, any way you slice it, he is good enough to be ranked among the top five players nationally in the Class of 2020.
We also don’t want to forget to mention 6’5 Rodney Newsom. He doesn’t pass the look test and, with his lack of size and athleticism, he’s more ideally suited to be an offensive lineman on the gridiron than a recruit on the hardwood at any level, However, he played set more than his share of picks and screens, blocked out on the boards, and finished with nine points, four rebounds, and 4-6 field goals. He also was the guy who put the dragger right in the heart of the IMG Academy team with three big baskets when the game was on the line, including a 3-point play the old-fashioned way to put his team up 22-21 late in the third quarter.