LSI Thursday Evening Recap

It was upset city in the evening session of the Les Schwab Invitational in Portland, Oregon on Thursday night. DJ White's Hillcrest team fell in the opening round as did Verbum Dei from California and local favorite Jefferson. In the process, a couple of unknown national players had fantastic games.

West Albany (OR) 75, Hillcrest (AL) 59

The boys from Oregon welcomed Hillcrest to the Pacific Northwest with a 13-0 run in the first quarter and connected on their first seven shots. From there, they set the tone and controlled the majority of the game. Mixing good team defense and costly Hillcrest mistakes, West Albany forced 15 first half turnovers. The Patriots finished with 23 errors.

DJ White became infatuated with showing off his ball skills and perimeter game in the first half, limiting his effectiveness inside the paint. White did have some trademark two handed dunks and skied for rebounds. In the second half, he muscled in for buckets and showed off a crafty little baby hook. The Indiana bound big man owned the boards, collecting 11 rebounds and finished with 17 points.

William Barnes, a 6-foot-1 sophomore guard, is a pesky defender with a nice touch from the perimeter. He has quick hands and a nice burst to the basket. The muscular guard led Hillcrest with 19 points. We will have a full feature story on him coming soon.

For West Albany, Tyler Roberts, a 6-foot-5 senior point guard, had a game high 23 points, 10 of which came from the charity stripe. The curly haired floor general used his size to attack the basket and muscle in from some tough points.

Brian Freeman, a 6-foot-9 center pulled White out of the paint, opening up things for teammate Jordan Hanslovan’s 16 points. Freeman, the son of former NBA player Gary Freeman, is a good high post passer with nice court awareness and good vision. The mid major prospect scored 14 points and cleaned seven rebounds off the glass.

West Albany moves onto play South Salem while Hillcrest draws Jefferson.

Georgetown Prep (DC) 57, Sam Barlow (OR) 49

Davis Nwankwo didn’t do a whole lot to impress although he controlled the boards with a game high 10 rebounds. The 6-foot-10 forward added seven points.

Like Nwankwo, 7-foot-2 Roy Hibbert didn’t do a whole lot other than fill the lane although his stats tell a different story. The future Georgetown Hoya had 17 points and nine rebounds.

Aris Williams, a 6-foot-9 small forward looked pretty good. The Valparaiso-bound forward didn’t do anything too flashy but played a solid all around game, scoring 11 points and pulling four rebounds.

Tommy ‘Rice’ Moss, a Syracuse football commit, added 10 points. The 6-foot-3 guard does a nice job of getting up and down the floor. The wide receiver prospect has nice hands and will catch just about anything in the air.

Nick Klinger was the entire Sam Barlow team, scoring 30 of 49 total points. The 5-foot-10 senior guard was absolutely fearless, taking it to the huge frontline of Georgetown and connecting on seven of 13 three pointers.

Georgetown Prep will meet up with Lincoln in the evening session on Friday. Sam Barlow will face a tough Hillsboro team in consolation bracket.

Aloha (OR) 53, Verbum Dei (CA) 50

7-foot, 210 pound center Joe Wolfinger played a very strong game inside for Aloha going for 18 points and nine rebounds. In a very thin center class for the class of 2004, Wolfinger showed a nice array of skills in order to receive some respectable interest. We will have a story on him coming soon.

Jeremy Reedal came alive as a perimeter shooter in the third quarter and got after it with some awkward but effective buckets late in the fourth quarter to help secure the win. The 6-foot-6 junior guard scored 14 of his 17 points in the second half.

Verbum Dei’s promising sophomore Matt Shaw had a dismal night, going 1 of 10 from the field and finished with eight points and 10 rebounds. Verbum Dei has some good talent on their roster but no one rose to the occasion tonight.

Aloha will have a chance to make up from a loss against in conference foe Jesuit as the two face off in the winners bracket on Friday. Verbum Dei should walk through an inexperienced Marist team in the loser’s bracket.

South Salem 67, Jefferson 62

For those that stayed late for the final game of the day, they got their money’s worth. Although picked to win, Jefferson had a hard time putting the game away thanks to the balanced attack of South Salem.

6-foot senior guard Steve Taylor put in a game high 21 points thanks to his dead-eye range. The unassuming shooting guard connected on four long balls and seemed to always counter a Jefferson surge with a score.

South Salem point guard Jeremiah Dominiguez can dribble out of a maze with his eyes closed and he certainly did on Thursday night. The 5-foot-6 mighty-mite point guard has amazing handles and court vision.

For Jefferson, Cedric Burton led the way with 18 points, with 15 of them coming in the first half from three pointers. In the paint, Brian Morris has the body style of Zach Randolph and uses his size like the Portland Trailblazer, pounding it in down low. The junior power forward had 16 points and eight rebounds on the night.

Here is a quick look at the Best of Day One:

Best Player: Freshman Kevin Love of Lake Oswego was hands down the day’s best after putting a tourney high 30 points and 18 rebounds against Sunset.

Best Surprise: Joe Wolfinger of Aloha. The string bean center had a great game against a tough Verbum Dei team from California.

Best Game: South Salem’s defeat over the traditionally strong Jefferson team was an intense battle of who wanted it most.

Faces in the crowd: Nearly every PAC-10 school expect USC and Arizona. DePaul, Portland, Portland State, a gazillion Division II schools and a handful of junior colleges.