Memo to ESPN: go ahead and cancel the Southwest Atlanta Christian Academy (Dwight Howard) vs. Landmark Christian (Randolph Morris) rematch. Whitefield Academy, the reigning Georgia single-A state champs, dashed the hopes of the headliner game on Monday night with their telling 95-74 victory over Landmark. Read on for more.
Had SACA and Landmark met again, this time in the state title game, ESPN was trying to get the game once again for a live broadcast. Now the sports media giant doesn’t have to worry about it.
Morris scored 41 points, pulled 17 rebounds and had seven blocked shots but it wasn’t enough to keep the War Eagles (22-9) season going. The McDonald’s All-American could not do it on his own and saw his amazing prep career come to an abrupt ending.
Georgia Tech has been hot on Morris in the last couple of weeks, as the whispers now become a little louder regarding the possibilities of jumping to the NBA. With the season now over, Morris must get closer to making a decision. Which way will he go? Stay tuned…
Marshall-bound Ryan Lamb (17 points) leads Whitefield's quest for defending their state title hopes but the strength of the team lies within the freshmen class. Sharp-shooting guard Kelvin McConnell scored a team high 20 points. McConnell has already had interest from Arizona State. Cameron Heyward, the son of former NFL player Craig ‘Ironhead’ Heyward scored 19 and Dominic Knight added 17. All three will suit up for the Georgia Stars during the AAU season.
In other action, super sophomore An’juan Wilderness came alive in the second half for his still undefeated Dunwoody squad (28-0) by scoring 15 points in the third quarter against a very talented Columbia HS from Atlanta.
After being up 35-33 at the half Dunwoody erupted in the second half, eventually taking home an impressive 81-65 victory in the quarterfinals on Monday night in Dalton, Georgia.
Wilderness finished with a game high 30 points and 10 rebounds, despite sitting several minutes due to foul troubles. He continues to improve on a game-to-game basis. Nearly every high major is in the evaluating stages of the recruiting process. With Dunwoody’s team success and a nice run over the summer, Wilderness could solidify himself as one of the top-notch players in the class of 2006. Currently, he sits at No. 47 on the Rivals150.
Dunwoody has a roster full of Division I prospects at all levels including junior Kris Thomas has looks from College of Charleston, East Carolina, Furman, Penn State and UT-Chattanooga.
Wildcat head coach Scott Bracco said, “Kris is a player that I could honestly see somewhere in the ACC or SEC. He has that kind of talent. I really believe he is a high major player.” We think so, too. Thomas will suit up for the Atlanta Celtics this AAU season and Dunwoody will play in several major holiday tournaments next season.
Columbia (21-9) had a solid showing from Duquesne bound DeVario Hudson, who scored 23 while his current and future college teammate Brian Kelly scored 21 points. Both players will shine in the Atlantic-10 over the next four years. The duo both attack the basket on both ends of the floor and have non-stop motors.