Shootout At The Hall

December 16, 2008

CHAMPAIGN – High school basketball fans from all over the state were treated to a great day of hoops at Assembly Hall, located on the campus of the University of Illinois, last Saturday.  Instead of recruits visiting to watch the Illini play on their home court, current Illini players sat in the bleachers watching their future teammates play with their high school teams.  Out of the seven games played, five featured players committed to play collegiately at Illinois.

The day began with a game between two central Illinois high schools, the Olympia Spartans and Mahomet-Seymour Bulldogs.  The Spartans jumped on the Bulldogs early, and did not relent.  After Mahomet-Seymour senior center, 6′9”, Nick Washburn picked up two first quarter fouls, Olympia began getting buckets inside.  Junior Spencer Pratt, Olympia’s starting point guard hit his second three pointer of the game as the first quarter buzzer sounded, giving the Spartans a nine point lead.

With Washburn still on the bench to start the second quarter, Olympia wasted no time jumping back on the Bulldogs working their offense inside-out.  Olympia senior, Brady Cremeens, scorched the Assembly Hall nets all morning while recording five three pointers in the game.  Matt Frahm, a 6′6” senior for the Spartans, also played a solid all around game which included a perfect six for six at the free throw line in the first half.  By halftime, the Spartans led the Bulldogs 40-19.  Mahomet-Seymour’s Luke Radliff, a 6′5” senior, did all he could to keep the Bulldogs in the game in the second half but it wasn’t enough as Olympia came out on top 68-54.  It should not be a surprise to anyone if they are reading about Olympia in March during the 2A playoffs.

In the second game of the day, the Robinson Maroons took the court against the Sabers from St. Thomas More.  Robinson’s starting center, junior Meyers Leonard, committed to play for the Illini prior to the start of the season.  The 6′11” center has been facing double and triple teams all season, and this game was no different.  Leonard still finished with 15 points, displaying a wide array of post moves and a nice touch from ten feet out.  He also made his presence felt defensively by blocking six shots, and altering several others.  While St. Thomas More’s tallest player was 6′2”, they fought extremely hard the entire game in spite of being matched up against a player who was 6′11”.  Great free throw shooting down the stretch sealed the 49-42 victory for the Maroons.  St. Thomas More junior guard, Nate Freeman, scored 18 points to lead the Sabers.  Robinson also received a significant contribution from junior guard Derek Hannahs, who came up with some huge three pointer’s in the second half which included a buzzer beater at the end of the third quarter to extend the Maroon lead to four points.

The next game featured perennial powers from Peoria and Chicago, Peoria Central and Crane.  Prior to the school year, class of 2009 guard, and Illini commit, D.J. Richardson transferred from Peoria Central to Findlay Prep in Nevada.  This left only three seniors on the roster.   However, head coach Dan Ruffin and the Peoria Central Lions, have one of the state’s best group of underclassmen.  Crane traveled south to Champaign led by first year head coach Tim Anderson, and junior transfer student Crandall Head.  Last year during The Shootout at the Hall, as a sophomore and student at Rich South, Crandall wowed onlookers with a dominating performance that displayed his versatile scoring and playmaking ability.  Shortly after, the 6′4” guard committed to play for the University of Illinois.

The game was closely contested throughout, as both teams applied full court pressure nearly the entire game.  Despite turning the ball over 22 times, Crane came away with the narrow 51-49 victory over Peoria Central.  Head led his team with 21 points, and also grabbed 11 rebounds.  Crane’s 6′3” junior, and one of the most underrated players in Chicago, Deshun Watkins, couldn’t find his shooting stroke on the offensive end but helped out defensively with eight rebounds, a block, and three steals.  For Peoria Central, three of the aforementioned underclassmen led the team in minutes.  Freshman Antonio “BoBo” Drummond, and sophomores Darian White and Travis Kellem, combined for 34 of the team’s 49 points.  Drummond, a 5′9” point guard, did a great job defensively on Crandall Head when he was matched up on him.  Kellem, 6′4”, made an impact in the paint throughout the game.  In spite of the loss, it is quite obvious Peoria Central will be one of the best teams in the state in the future.

Keep your eyes peeled for part two in which the final four games of the day are covered.