BMore Hoops Extravaganza Thrills

I.W. Asir, Baltimore Correspondent

Welcome I.W. Asir to the i95Ballerz.com family, as our Baltimore Correspondent

August 22, 2008 - Saturday, August 16th 2008, proved what many of the national player ranking experts already know; and that is, the Baltimore Metropolitan area has some of the best high school basketball talent in the nation. The legendary Madison Square Dome, located in the heart of East Baltimore, was the place to be for basketball lovers this past Saturday night. BMore Hoops hosted a spectacular event, the 4th Annual BMore Hoops Anniversary Basketball Extravaganza.

A committee of Baltimore basketball aficionados selected the top high school players of the upcoming season from Baltimore and its’ surrounding counties. What culminated was a night to remember. The two main event games of the night were the junior and senior American game and the junior and senior National game.

Josh Selby, here at the NBAPA Top 100 Camp was dominant in the BMore Hoops Extravganza.

The first junior/senior game was the American game. The Blue Team defeated the red team 82-71. Top scorers from the Blue team were the game MVP, John Carroll’s Wyatt Smith, who put up 14 points and Bilal Smalls of Mount Carmel who chipped in 11 points. Red Team scoring was lead by the game sportsmanship award winner, Calvert Hall’s Damien Lee, who provided 10 points and St. Francis Jimmy Hamilton’s 8 points. Wyatt Smith demonstrated an excellent shooting touch around the perimeter and a solid presence inside the paint, by blocking shots, rebounding and dunking with authority, while Bilal Smalls showed his trade mark sharp shooting skills.

The Red Team’s Damien Lee, wove through the defense and shot well and the explosive Jimmy Hamilton attacked the basket effectively. Overall the game was well played and the scoring was spread evenly amongst all the players.

High School American Game 6:30PM Coach – Tarik Brown- red team
Player- Points Scored- High School
Keron Deshields 4 Towson Catholic
Josh Boyd 6 Poly
Damien Lee 10 Calvert Hall
Brandon Fields 3 Woodlawn
Leon Porter 4 Palloti
Sean Holmes 7 Calvert Hall
Greg Lewis 7 St. Frances
Raphael Jordan 6 John Carroll
Terard Ansar 6 Woodlawn
Tron Rodgers 4 St. Frances
Jeffrey Jones 6 Poly
Jimmy Hamilton 8 St. Frances

High School American Game 6:30PM Coach Baseline- blue team
Player- Points Scored- High School
Bilal Small 11 Mt. Carmel
Troy Kelly 3 Walbrook
Davon Usher 7 Digital Harbor
Anthony Goode 5 Milford Mill
Gerald Hill 8 Mt. St. Joseph
Daryl Thompson 6 Poly
Sidney McCray 7 St. Paul
Wyatt Smith 14 John Carroll
Ryley Beaumont 8 Mt. St. Joe
Tore Turner 8 City
Lawrence Weldon 5 Poly

The closing act for the nights’ gala was the National game, where the Red Team defeated the Blue Team in dramatic fashion, 98 to 95. The first half of the game was ignited with the play of Josh Selby (red team) and Will Barton (blue team). Josh Selby, the National Game MVP had 18 first half points and 35 points overall, hitting six 3-point shots in the contest. Selby certainly had help from his team mates as the game seesawed back and forth with Roscoe Smith chipping in a tough 14 points and Antonio Barton adding 13 dazzling points of his own, for the red team.

Terrell Vinson has broadened his game tremendously, and is not shy about showing those skills.

The Blue Team was led by their big three; William Barton, Andrew Fitzgerald, and Terrell Vinson. William Barton, who scored 26 points, coupled with 4 spectacular dunks, several blocked shots and an array of assists, had his overall game in high gear as he ran away with the game’s Sportsmanship award. Andrew Fitzgerald dominated the paint with 23 points, six power dunks and a plethora of rebounds. After a slow start, Terrell Vinson showed a beautiful array of inside and outside shooting skills, knocking down three 3 pointers and finishing with 24 points.

The largest lead in the game was eight points and the crowd seemingly oowed, ahhed or gasped with anticipation on nearly every ball possession. The game came down to the last 40 seconds of play: Terrell Vinson hit a three point shot which was disallowed because of an offensive foul. The Red Team then lost possession of the ball with 15 seconds to go. The Blue Team pushed the ball up the floor to Terrell Vinson, who knocked down another clutch three pointer to tie the game at 95. With 6 seconds remaining on the clock, what followed will go down in Baltimore basketball folklore, as another of the great high profile, basketball game finishes, under the legendary Madison Square Dome. With time running out, Josh Selby pushed the ball up the floor, squared his shoulders and with perfect form, launched a near forty-foot three ball with a hand in his face and buried the winning shot at the buzzer, igniting pandemonium among the standing room only crowd.

High School National Game 7:45PM Coach – Tony Baylor - Red Team Score 98
Player-Points Scored-High School
Durrel Edwards 9 Dunbar
Antonio Barton 13 National Christian Academy
Alex Jackson 8 Queens City Prep
Jordan Lathan 7 City College HS
Roscoe Smith 14 Walbrook
Josh Selby 35 Dematha
Ricky Meekins 4 Our Lady of Mt Carmel
Kevin Smith 0 Freedom Academy
Jimmy Hamilton 8 St. Frances

High School National Game 7:45PM Coach – The Deal- Blue Team Score 95
Player-Points Scored-High School
Corey Spence 7 Dunbar
Wayne Sparrow 8 St. Frances
Terrell Vinson 24 St. Frances
Will Barton 26 National Christian Academy
Devon Saddler 2 Aberdeen
Andrew Fitgerald 23 Brewster Academy
Adam Johnson 0 City
Stuart Clark 2 Friendship Academy
Quinton Goodwin 3 City

For Coverage of the Freshman and Sophomore games, visit i95Ballerz.com's message board, where I.W. Asir has allowed his work to be posted.