Benedictine Capital City Classic Recap

Rivals.com's Mid Atlantic Hoops Tour made its final stop of 2004 in Richmond, VA for the final day of the 39th annual Benedictine Capital City Classic, one of the nation's oldest and most prestigious holiday tournaments. This year host school Benedictine faced Archbishop Spalding from Maryland for the title.

Benedictine 69

Archbishop Spalding 68

Horrendous officiating marred an otherwise superb basketball game between once beaten Archbishop Spalding from Severn, MD and host school Benedictine from Richmond, VA in the championship game of the Benedictine Capital City Classic.

The Cadets were led in the early going by the red-hot shooting of 6-foot senior guard Chris Harris, who connected on his first three 3 point attempts and staked Benedictine a 20-14 lead after the first period. Bucknell signee Justin Castleberry kept the Cavaliers in the game with some sharpshooting of his own, and it was a 3 point game at the break with the Cadets up 36-33.

The beginning of the third quarter saw Archbishop Spalding go on a 13-5 run behind their three guard attack of Castleberry, 6-foot senior Marquis Sullivan, and 6-foot-2 junior PG Derek Young. The Cavaliers held on to keep that 5 point lead heading into the 4th quarter.

As the capacity crowd of 1300 plus Benedictine fans roared to life in the fourth, the Cadets came to life behind the play of seniors Reid Augst and Matt Kittrell. The 6-foot-6 Augst was the Cadets' main playmaker, as he time and time again was able to create off the dribble and either find teammates or get to the foul line. The 6-foot-9 Kittrell was a big target under the basket and his offense powered the Cadets back into the lead with time winding down in the 4th.

However the Cavaliers, despite a generous amount of home cookin' from the referees, refused to go away quietly. Another 3 pointer from Castleberry pulled them to within two at 68-66, and a pull-up jumper in the lane from Sullivan tied the game with just 23 seconds on the clock. Benedictine put the ball in the hands of their best player, and Augst took it hard to the glass and drew a foul with 7 seconds remaining. Augst drained 1-2, and the Cavaliers rushed the ball up the floor, but Castleberry's shot from the corner was short and the Cadets escaped with the win.

Harris finished with 22 points to lead Benedictine. Augst had 16 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 assists, and Kittrell had 15 points and 5 rebounds.

Castleberry led Spalding with 21 points. Derek Young had 17 points and 2 assists, and Marquis Sullivan added 15 points and 3 assists.

Don Bosco Prep 67

Curtis 60

6-foot-8 260 pound Pittsburgh signee Tyrell Biggs turned in a dominating performance scoring 31 points and grabbing 8 rebounds to lead Don Bosco Prep (NJ) to a 67-60 win over Curtis High School (NY) in the third place game of the BCCC. 6-foot-3 senior Carl Augustin added 13 points in the win. Curtis was led by 6-foot senior guard Sheraun King with 27 points on 10-17 shooting, 5-7 3pt. and 6 rebounds.

The Baylor School 61

Douglas S. Freeman 39

The Baylor School (TN) got 23 points and 14 rebounds from 6-foot-5 Old Dominion signee Jonathan Adams as they coasted to a 67-39 win over Douglas S. Freeman (VA) in the fifth place game of the BCCC. 6-foot junior Adam Plavich and 6-foot sophomore Kevin Cooper each had 11 for the Red Raiders in the win. Freeman was led by 6-foot-4 senior Ryan Butler with 20 points. 6-foot senior Fela Ogun added 13 points for the rebels in the loss.

Penn Charter 57

Trinity Episcopal 50

5-foot-11 sophomore PG Sam Zeglinski scored 24 points and handed out 3 assists to lead Penn Charter (PA) to a 57-50 win over Trinity Episcopal in the 7th place game of the BCCC. Brian Teuber and Joe Rauchet had 12 and 10 points respectively in the win. Trinity was led by 6-foot 11 St. John's signee Thomas Jasiulionis with 32 points, 12 rebounds and 2 blocks. Jasiulionis shot 14-23 from the field, but the rest of the Titans shot just 5-31 in the loss.

Notes

Tyrell Biggs led the tournament in scoring with 27 points per game. Jonathan Adams was the leading rebounder at 15.3 per game, and Joe Cantafio from Benedictine was the leading assist man with 5.6 per game.

All Tournament Team

MVP: Reid Augst - Benedictine

MOP: Jonathan Adams - The Baylor School

Chris Harris - Benedictine

Justin Castleberry - Archbishop Spalding

Marquis Sullivan - Archbishop Spalding

Ryan Butler - Douglas S. Freeman

Sheraun King - Curtis

Sam Zeglinski - Penn Charter

Tyrell Biggs - Don Bosco Prep

Thomas Jasiulionis - Trinity Episcopal

Thanks to Rivals.com and all of the fans on the network for a memorable end of the year. Best wishes to all in what is sure to be an exciting 2005 in the world of college basketball recruiting coverage!