Rumble ends with a bang
BRONX, N.Y. -- Seketoure Henry ended
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the Rumble in the Bronx with a bang. Actually, it was
a swish.
Henry drilled a 24-foot 3-point shot at the buzzer and
he finished with 23 points as H-Squad defeated the
Playaz, 86-83, Sunday in the 17-under final of the
Rumble at Fordham University.
Henry, who is now considering New Mexico State after a
year of prep school, nailed seven 3-pointers in the
game and 6-foot-8 power forward Troy
Gillenwater, who will transfer to Simi Valley
(Calif.) Stoneridge Prep next season from Los Angeles
(Calif.) Fremont, added 18 points. Las Vegas (Nev.)
Mojave point guard Darian Norris chipped in
with 14 points.
"I looked at the clock with four seconds and I had to
make a move and shoot the ball," Henry said. "If he
(the defender) came hard at me, I would have stopped
and popped. But he gave me some room so I just stepped
up and fired it."
Either way, Henry canned the winning shot in a
competitive, back-and-forth game which saw the Playaz
leading by two, 42-40, at halftime. Rashad
Bishop was fantastic for the Playaz as he
finished with 24 points and was unstoppable streaking
to the basket.
Philadelphia (Pa.) Neumann-Goretti teammates
Antonio Jardine (15 points) and Rick
Jackson (12 points), two Syracuse commits, both
played well. Jardine showed precision passing and did
not force the ball in transition. Jackson is a
6-foot-8 power forward who is not afraid to get
physical in the paint.
Corey Raji, who lists Boston College, UConn,
Maryland, Miami (Fla.), Seton Hall, St. John's,
Virginia, Virginia Tech and others had 15 points for
the Playaz, who beat the New York Panthers in the
semifinals and the Juice All-Stars in the quarterfinal
round.
Playaz guard Chris Smith had another
outstanding day. He finished with 11 points in the
final and hit a number of 3-pointers in the earlier
rounds. Jardine scored in the final seconds to beat
Juice in the morning session and then the Playaz won
soundly to advance to the championship.
Miami (Fla.) commit Edwin Rios finished with
22 points for the Miami Tropics Gold as they defeated
Play Hard Play Smart in the 17-under silver division
championship. The Tropics won without forward
Orane Chin, who was hampered with a groin
injury.
The 16-under title game came down to the final seconds
as well and this one ended in controversy as a
3-pointer by Josh Watkins of the New York Panthers
that would have forced overtime was ruled to be after
the buzzer and the Gauchos hung on, 66-63.
The official initially ruled the basket good, sending
a celebratory bunch of Watkins' teammates on to the
court, but after consulting with the scorer's table,
the shot was ruled late and the Gauchos won the title.
Chris Fouch and Kemba Walker led the
Gauchos with 16 points apiece and Melquan Bolding had
17 for the Panthers.
The Gauchos were also victorious in a highly-charged
15-under game as Bronx (N.Y.) St. Raymond's prospect
Kevin Parrom led the team with 16 points and
Stamford (Conn.) Trinity Catholic's Tevin
Baskin added 12 points. Playaz guard Tamir
Jackson rebounded after a sloppy first half and
finished with a game-high 30 points in the loss.
News & Notes
The 16-under Westchester Hawks disposed of Team Next
in the quarterfinal round in large part to the play of
Mount Vernon (N.Y.) prospect Kevin Jones,
Peekskill (N.Y.) forward Mookie Jones and
Jersey City (N.J.) St. Anthony guard Tyshawn
Taylor, who had one of the better performances
seen all weekend.
Taylor was under control and was impressive on both
ends of the court. He finished with 21 points. Kevin
Jones (25 points) and Mookie Jones combined for 39
points.
Lance Stephenson, one of the best players
nationally in the 2009 class, finished with 15 points
for Team Next, Ashton Gibbs had 19 points.
Point guard Erving Walker, from Middle
Village (N.Y.) Christ the King was phenomenal from
deep and he had a team-high 23 points.