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FORT MYERS, Fla. -- One could make a pretty good argument that

the City of Palms stands as the nation's premier in-season high school event.

Now in Year No. 40, the C.O.P. is certainly one of the most stable events and it got

off to a fine start on Tuesday. Many of the heavy hitters won't take the floor

until Wednesday and Thursday, but there was still some good stuff off Tuesday, including Rondae Jefferson helping to lead his team to an impressive

win.

Chester (Pa.) High and star small forward Rondae Jefferson entered

their Tuesday night game against Orlando (Fla.) Lake Highland Prep on a 60-game

winning streak. By the end of the night they had extended that run to 61 games to set a

Pennsylvania state record. While Jefferson has the most

notoriety, the Clippers are a team all the way.

Before tip-off, Chester was already at an advantage as Lake Highland Prep's star

junior point guard Joel Berry was sidelined with a knee injury. Berry

could have helped keep things a bit closer, but at the end of the day the

results likely would have been the same as Chester is overwhelming.

Loaded with athletes, Chester plays a tough, physical and aggressive style of

basketball that the Arizona-bound Jefferson spearheads.

The 6-foot-7 senior isn't a huge scorer and he's not a guy that will

consistently make teams pay with the jumper, but he's plenty effective.

Jefferson is one of the country's best defensive players and can do a lot of

things. He rebounds at a high level, is a very good passer off the dribble

and he sets a tone on both ends with his physical play.

It's important to recognize Jefferson's strong supporting cast as well. Junior

point guard Conrad Chambers is slick with the dribble and can score

going to the rim. When Lake Highland Prep dared Chester to shoot from deep, it

was senior guard Darius Robinson (who had Hofstra watching) who came up

big burying a trio of 3-pointers. He's a physical 6-foot-2 shooting guard

who can also get to the rim. Finally, senior big man Richard Granberry

was also big on Tuesday and converted over and over at the rim with dunks and

layups.

In the absence of Berry, junior

Jay Henderson stepped things up for his

team. A 6-foot-3 shooting guard, Henderson has plenty of confidence in his

jumper and made 5-of-11 from the land of 3s. He's got decent length, is

starting to fill out and is beginning to show a bit more game off the bounce

than we had seen in the past. Henderson finished with a game-high 25 in a losing

effort.

Currently ranked No. 99 nationally in the 2014 Rivals150,

Kobe Eubanks is already a fairly well-known player. The 6-foot-5 wing at

Plantation (Fla.) American Heritage is also a top-shelf athlete and capable

slasher.

Now, he's working on being more of a two-guard than a small forward and is

trying to take his recruitment to the next level.

His jumper wasn't there on Tuesday, but Eubanks didn't panic and eventually did

what he does best: attacked the basket. He scored 23 points and

grabbed eight rebounds.

"I'm making that move to the two," said Eubanks. "I can play it or the three

though. Either or, it doesn't really matter to me."

On the recruiting front, Eubanks is starting to generate some heat.

Georgia was there watching him and Central Florida, South Florida,

Missouri State and George Mason have all offered scholarships. More

high-level programs are starting to test the waters with his recruitment, so the

C.O.P. could be big for him down the road.

tip-ins

• Central Florida has itself a nice player in wing Steven Haney. The 6-foot-6 senior from Ft. Lauderdale (Fla.) St. Thomas

Aquinas had a good performance in a tough loss. Haney used a great shot fake and

a nice little hesitation move to drive into the lane and score a late bucket and

draw a foul to take a one-point lead. He missed the free throw and Aquinas ended

up losing to host school Fort Myers (Fla.) Bishop Verot on a buzzer-beating two-pointer. That aside, Haney showed game. He can fill it from deep, has good size

and is a very crafty and aware passer.

• Bishop Verot junior big man

Ricky Doyle was unfortunately out with

an injury, but senior shooting guard

Tyler Mason came up huge in Doyle's

absence. The 6-foot-3 Taylor was the entire Verot offense early and did an

impressive job on the glass. He finished with 24 points and 13 rebounds and will

be a good college player on one level or another.

• The game between Tift County from Georgia and Long Beach (Calif.) Poly lost a

little bit of star power with Poly's top 50 junior wing Kameron Chatman

sitting out due to transfer. But, there was still plenty to go around as

Kansas bound senior

Brannen Greene and four-star junior

Tadric Jackson of Tift County did battle with the Pac-12-bound duo of

USC signee Roschon Prince and Oregon signee

Jordan Bell.

The 6-foot-6 Prince and 6-foot-8 Bell combined for 36 points and 15 rebounds and

they were both strong around the rim. They each play physical defense and Bell

showed again why he's one of high school basketball's top shot-blockers. For

Tift, Greene hit on some deep bombs but also used his big body to shield off

defenders on some drives in a 21-point, seven-rebound effort. Six-foot-2 and

solidly built, Jackson is a to-the-rim guy all the way and very tough. He

finished with 20 points.

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