Saturday Results:

Some early scores from tonight's games:

• 

  The team might be struggling but
  Aaron Oden is developing up at Hughes.

  Jeffersontown (KY) 52 Roger Bacon 45: Good effort by the Spartans at the Dunkin Donuts Classic in Lexington against Kentucky's top ranked team. Bacon held J'town to a season low in points and was in the game till the buzzer. JaBriel Coaston scored 10 points for Bacon and led them in rebounding, Gavin Shuman a senior guard was the Spartan's high point man tonight.
  
  
• Aiken 66 Indian Hill 52: Senior forward Femi Thompson (15 points), Willy Moore (10 points), Gene Primus (9 points) and sophomore forward Austin Grimes (8 and 15 boards) led Aiken in scoring. Freshman Tyonte Robertson, Aiken's starting PG, had a nice night distributing the basketball in a balanced Falcon scoring attack.
  
  
• Lakota East 64 Woodward 45: Sophomore shooter Stedman Lowry led East with 15 points and junior swingman Mark Minch scored 12.
  
  
• Elder 48 Lakota West 44: Sophomore PG Ali Barnes of West was the leading point man in a loss.
  
  
• Moeller 68 Hughes 36: Charlie Byers led Moeller with 14 points in a blowout win. Ben Galemmo and Alex Barlow each added 12 for the Crusaders. Freshman PG Aaron Oden led Hughes with 15 points. 

Friday Results:

It was a war all night between Adolphus Washingon
and Devin Williams who both stuffed the stat line at Withrow

Lot of action to recap tonight including the anticipated Taft @ Withrow game, that game was crowded and loud by the beginning of the JV game and it stayed that way thanks to some crazy dunks by both teams. More of tonight's pictures.

• Taft 90 Withrow 76: Taft showed that they are the team to beat in the CMAC, and deserving of Ohio's top ranking, in a great team performance. Withrow just didn't have the depth, conditioning, and ball-handling to match the Senators. Taft blew this one open in the second half where Adolphus Washington was dominant down low. The junior post man scored 28 points and had 15 boards, I was really impressed with his shooting touch tonight as well. Junior forward Dwayne Stanford went for 16 and 9, Stanford was all over the court with great energy. The two guys that made Taft go tonight were senior point guard Kadeem Palmer (11 points, 5 assists, 8 steals) and junior point man Orlando Berry Jr (12 points, 9 assists, 5 steals). These two did a great job harassing Aaron Thomas and other Withrow ball-handlers in the full court. Aaron was able to get his though, scoring 27 points (although Jermaine Freeman, a junior guard from Taft, draped him tight all night). Devin Williams (17 and 10)  and Carl Porter (12 points) also made some shots for Withrow and did a good job keeping Adolphus and Dwayne off of the offensive glass for the most part. Colleges coaches from UC and XU were in the building and they had to be impressed with Devin's physicality and skill set on the block. Video of Aaron Thomas' dunks

  

  Even with Jermaine Freeman's great defense
  Aaron Thomas still managed 27 points tonight.

  
  
• Lakota East 67 Middletown 39: Mike Boyd led East with 17 points in a dominant performance. The senior guard helped solidify East's position as the top team in the GMC. Senior shooting guard Jalen Goodwin added 11 points. For Middletown junior combo guard Geovonie McKnight had 13 points and freshman forward Vince Edwards had 10.
  
  
• Princeton 62 Mason 57: Ulysses Thomas, a senior shooting guard, led Princeton with 11 in a huge win to keep the Vikes near the top of the GMC. This game went to overtime and Princeton was able to win with their team depth.
  
  
• Aiken 68 Woodward 53: Junior guard Willy Moore scored 22 points and had 11 rebounds for Aiken while sophomore forward Austin Grimes went for 17 points and 16 boards.
  
  
• Roger Bacon 59 St. Xavier 55: Bacon came back in the second half and won in double overtime behind the clutch play of Jared Bryant (16 points) and Paul Byrd (15 points).
  
  
• North College Hill 64 Lockland 54
  
  
• Shroder 78 Hughes 51: Jalen Billups had 22 points to lead Shroder and junior post Ladell Griffin added 11. Junior PG Trey Dees scored 7 points and led Shroder in assists and steals. 

• Summit 75 CHCA 44: Kevin Johnson led Summit with 18 points. Tommy Kreyenhagen, Ryan Glass, and freshman PG Antonio Woods Jr all scored in double figures for Summit as well. 
  
  
• West High @ Elder: Canceled due to power outage at Elder.
  
  
• Moeller 64 Purcell Marian 27
  
  
• Winton Woods 70 Mt. Healthy 47: Semaj Christon scored 24 points and Dennis Thomas added 17 for the Warriors. Derrick Floyd led Mt. Healthy with 22.
  
  
• Hamilton 47 Colerain 40: Corey Wise, a sophomore shooting guard, led Hamilton with 13.
  
  
• Lakota West 52 Fairfield 41: Sophomore guard Monty Boykins stayed hot for West with 19.
  
  
• Northwest 64 Harrison 50: Melvin Hunter and Ramar Hairston each scored 16 for NW.
  
  
• Milford 64 Anderson 52
  
  
• Sycamore 49 Oak Hills 38
  
  
• Kings 62 Walnut Hills 40
  
  
• Glen Este 64 Turpin 58

Weekend Preview:

Plenty of good action this weekend including the biggest CMAC clash of the year and some GMC games that will have title implications. Let's preview these games and first take a look at one Wednesday score:

Summit 72 Cincinnati College Prep Academy 32: Sophomore point guard Kevin Johnson again led the way for the top ten Silver Knights with 17 points.

Weekend Preview:

Orlando Berry will be putting heavy
pressure on the Withrow PG's all night

Friday, January 7^th

• Taft @ Withrow: The one that everyone has been waiting for, this will be a standing room only type of showdown at Withrow. Aaron Thomas was good enough to carry Aiken to a win over Taft last year going 10-16 for 32 points (Taft's only league loss), can he do it again now that he is with Withrow? Ohio's top D3 team seems ready for the challenge as they have blown out everyone they have faced so far this season. Former Aiken teammate Jermaine Freeman will most likely start on AT, that will be a great matchup to follow. The other intriguing matchups in this game will be Taft's Dwayne Stanford and Adolphus Washington inside against Withrow's Devin Williams and Carl Porter. Withrow will need to be able to stop the penetration of Taft point guards Kadeem Palmer and Orlando Berry Jr as well as hold on to the ball when those two get up in them on their press.
  • Prediction: Withrow is really coming alive of late and Taft has looked great all year, this could go either way. Taft's advantage in this game is depth and I think that will take its toll on a Withrow team that doesn't use its bench much. Taft wins a close game. 
    
    
• Lakota East @ Middletown: Credit Coach Wally Vickers of East for having the foresight to supplement an already tough GMC schedule with a game at Huber Heights Wayne early in the year. That win definitely will help East as they prepare for the raucous atmosphere that they will be facing Friday. So far it looks like East is the favorite in the league and this win would really cement their early position. However, after getting upset by West on Tuesday the Middies know that this is a game they have to win at home. The key to this game will be how productive senior forward Kirby Wright is for the Middies. If he can't get going then this will be a tough game for Middletown to win.

  • 

    Taft will have to find a way to stop
    Aaron Thomas if they want to win.

    Prediction: Can see this going either way, Middletown has some advantages with size, athleticism, and depth but Lakota East is experienced in beating these kinds of teams and has been extremely focused so far this year. I'll take Lakota East in this one, should be a very exciting game for those in attendance. 
    
    
• Princeton @ Mason: Another really intriguing GMC match-up Friday night. Both teams must know the importance of this game in the league standings. Princeton's senior trio of Lionel Hill, Ulysses Thomas, and Jay McCants has the experience and ability to go win this game on the road; but they will have to be organized in their attack against Mason's great defense. For Mason we know that Brian Carden will get his, for them to win they need junior forward Darrin Harris and junior shooting guard JD Sprague to hit shots.
  • Prediction: Mason already has an easy win over a talented and athletic team in Winton Woods. I think that this game will go along those lines. Discipline will prevail and Mason wins this game, but it's close.
    
    
• Woodward @ Aiken: Both teams have had a lot of time to prepare for this one, neither team has played since Christmas. Trent Donald will need to set the pace for Woodward to have a chance. Trent's power and skill make him a tough cover inside for Aiken. Woodward will also have to focus on transition defense; particularly stopping whoever has the ball. Experienced players like Willy Moore and Gene Primus know that this is a must win if Aiken wants to stay near the top of the CMAC. Another storyline to follow in this game is Austin Grimes, Aiken's star sophomore small forward, first game against his former school.
  • Prediction: Aiken wins this comfortably. Too much of a talent gap on the perimeter.

Other Notable Games:
• Hughes @ Shroder
• North College Hill @ Lockland
• West High @ Elder
• Moeller @ Purcell Marian
• Mt. Healthy @ Winton Woods
• Colerain @ Hamilton
• Fairfield @ Lakota West
• Harrison @ Northwest
• Roger Bacon @ St. Xavier
• Milford @ Anderson

Saturday, January 8^th

• Roger Bacon vs Jeffersontown (KY): Tough game for Roger Bacon at one of the nation's premier events: The Dunkin Donuts Shootout in Lexington. J'Town has already defeated Middletown this season and is ranked #1 in Kentucky as well as top 25 nationally. They are led by senior center Zac Price (a Cleveland native) who will be suiting up for Coach Pitino at Louisville next season.
• Aiken @ Indian Hill
• Lakota East @ Woodward
• Elder @ Lakota West
• Hughes @ Moeller
• Turpin @ McNicholas

Tuesday Scores:

One major upset in the GMC and a thriller between two top ten teams highlight last nights games:

• 

  Trey Casey led LaSalle to a huge road win.

  LaSalle 68 Winton Woods 55: A game that was much closer then the score indicates, in fact Winton Woods had the lead until a third quarter buzzer beater, this game lived up to expectations. Semaj Christon put Winton Woods on his back and proved that he belongs on the list of elite players in Ohio. Christon finished with 23 points on pull up jumpers, transition layups, and a dunk down the middle of the lane that electrified the crowd early. It was all LaSalle in the fourth quarter however, senior guard Trey Casey was excellent scoring 20 points for the Lancers. Matt Woeste and Ryan Fleming each had 12, Josh Lemmons 11, and Brandon Neel 10. For Winton Woods senior guard Dion Dearmond added 16 and three point specialist Dennis Thomas had 8. Pictures from last night's game. 
  
  

• 

  Winton Woods' Semaj Christon had a huge night.

  Lakota East 64 Colerain 26: No one expected it to be this kind of blowout, but that's the type of season it has been so far for East. Allante Foster, a junior forward, led East with 16 points. Senior point guard Mike Boyd added 10 and senior shooting guard RJ Leppert had 9. 
  
  
• Mason 61 Sycamore 35: Another strong defensive game for Mason. Their star, senior wing Brian Carden, scored 13 points and sharpshooting junior guard JD Sprague added 16.
  
  
• Roger Bacon 54 Elder 41: Senior combo guard Paul Byrd led the way with 16 points and versatile small forward Jabriel Coaston added 15.
  
  
• Lakota West 62 Middletown 59: In a major upset West knocked off one of the league favorites in Middletown. Sophomore guard Monty Boykins went off for 23 points, CPHR said earlier watch out when this man gets his confidence. For Middletown, Geovonie McKnight their star junior guard scored 12.
  
  
• Princeton 55 Hamilton 39: Senior shooting guard Marcus Monterio led the way with 16 points.
  
  
  Other Scores: 
• Fairfield 46 Oak Hills 40
• Anderson 62 Indian Hill 56
• McNicholas 48 Seven Hills 47
• Wyoming 43 Mt. Healthy 32
• Milford 50 Glen Este 37
• Walnut Hills 56 Loveland 45
• Turpin 60 Kings 59
• Clark 76 Norwood 44 

Tuesday Preview:

Semaj Christon can  really turn some heads
if he can help lead WW to a victory Tuesday.

Several intriguing games including one must-see event highlight Tuesday's schedule:

• LaSalle @ Winton Woods: One of the most exciting non-conference games of the season, this will be a playoff like battle. With Brandon Neel, Josh Lemmons, Semaj Chrison, and more there is no shortage of star power either. Winton Woods seemed destined to meet up with LaSalle in the playoffs last year but fell short (blowing a big lead against St. Xavier), then lost a lot of talent to graduation. So far this year they have proven the doubters wrong however; Seniors Semaj Christon, Dion Dearmond, and Dennis Thomas have all been awesome this year for Winton Woods. For LaSalle it's mostly the same team as last year: tons of talent, experience, and a group that plays really well together. This one should be exciting and a high scoring, up-tempo affair.
  • Prediction: Winton Woods is good enough to compete but not good enough to win. LaSalle looks like the top team in the city (along with Moeller), they should win this one.
    
    
• Lakota East @ Colerain: Most people are probably expecting East to beat up on Colerain after the start that they've had. CPHR is expecting a little closer game. Eli'sha Campbell, Colerain's leader over their up and down start, will be back from his ankle injury; and Bryan Porter, the star sophomore shooting guard, is really coming into his own after giving Northwest 35 points last game. In a home game that they must win Colerain should come out motivated to show that they belong near the top of the GMC standings. However, saying that Colerain will win would be bold; Lakota East is playing with a ton of confidence and is a team with a firm focus on their goal of a league title. Senior point guard Mike Boyd will be a very tough matchup for Colerain, if he gets loose early it will be long night for the Cards.
  • Prediction: Lakota East wears down Colerain in the second half and wins comfortably.

• Other Games Tuesday:
  • Lakota West @ Middletown
  • Roger Bacon @ Elder
  • Hamilton @ Princeton
  • Wyoming @ Mt. Healthy
  • McNicholas @ Seven Hills
  • Glen Este @ Milford
  • Loveland @ Walnut Hills
  • Clark @ Norwood
  • Sycamore @ Mason
  • Anderson @ Indian Hill

Thursday Results:

Charlie Byers and Alex Barlow-  The heart
and soul of  '10-'11 Moeller basketball

Great effort by all 4 Cincy teams playing in championship games today, 2 were able to bring back trophies. Also had a couple of nice performances in the local games:

• Moeller 36 Mountain View (AZ) 35: It was a defensive battle in the championship game at the VisitMesa.com challenge in Arizona. Moeller knocked off Arizona's number one team in their home gym to take the title. Senior guards Alex Barlow and Charlie Byers were the key players yet again as Moeller gets set to return to Ohio undefeated.
  
  
• Dwyer (FL) 53 LaSalle 50: Lancers take their first loss of the season in the championship game at the Kingdom of the Sun Tournament. Dwyer, a top 25 team nationally, is ranked #1 in the state of Florida and has several D1 commitments on their team. Brandon Neel, the star senior guard for LaSalle, again led them in scoring but it wasn't quite enough. Neel did make the all-tournament team.
  
  
• Taft 55 St. John's College (DC) 44: Senators take the championship at The Piggly Wiggly Roundball Classic in Charleston. Taft, who is still undefeated, beats a St. Johns team that is known for producing D1 talent year in year out. Junior power forward Dwayne Stanford was named the tournament's most valuable player and junior center Adolphus Washington won the most outstanding player award. Jalean Lowe, a junior sharpshooting small forward, also made the all tournament team for Taft. 

• 

  Adolphus Washington- '10 Piggly Wiggly
  Roundball Classic Tournament MVP

  Jeffersontown (KY) 86 Middletown 63: In the championship game at Gaslight Holiday Classic the Middies just didn't have enough firepower to compete with nationally top 25 ranked J'town. Jeffersontown is led by Louisville signee Zac Price a 6-10 center (who transferred out of Cleveland this year). Sounds like there might have been a little bit of home-cooking from the officials tonight but never the less Middletown takes the loss. Geovonie McKnight again led the Middies in scoring, the junior guard is really starting to stuff the stat sheet. 

• Columbus DeSales 52 Clak 49: Free throw misses doomed Clark in the championship game of Hughes Holiday Classic. Clark stole an in-bounds pass with five seconds left and got a shot off to tie but it fell short and DeSales took the title back to Columbus. 

• Lakota West 70 Hughes 54: It was all West in the consolation game of the Hughes Holiday Classic. Sophomore shooting guard Monty Boykins had another nice night for West, Monty is starting to gain confidence as the leading scorer of that team; other GMC coaches better take notice.
  
  

• 

  G. McKnight had 3 good games for
  the Middies at their tourney.

  Colerain 63 Northwest 62: Sophomore shooting guard Bryan Porter went crazy tonight for 35 points on 12-16 shooting. Porter really picked up slack with the absence of Eli'sha Campbell due to injury. 

• Mason 53 Milford 40: Junior shooting guard JD Sprague led Mason with 16 points and junior power forward Darrin Harris added 14.

• St. Xavier 37 Springboro 28

Wednesday Results:

Another great day for Cincy teams out of town, we're really showing the country what we can do! Good luck to teams playing in championships tomorrow. A few pics from the Hughes Holiday Classic

• 

  Hughes '13 SG prospect Terry Cook Jr.

  Taft 65 James Island Charter (SC) 42: For the second straight night Taft knocked off one of South Carolina's top ranked teams at the Piggly-Wiggly Roundball Classic in Charleston. Adolphus Washington and Dwayne Stanford both had double-doubles, and Taft won with a balanced scoring attack featuring the normal star players. 

• Middletown 73 North Oldham (KY) 48: Game two of the Gaslight Holiday Tournament in Kentucky went a little more smoothly for The Middies as they cruised. Geovonie McKnight, freshman forward Vince Edwards, and Mikey Brown all scored at least 15 points. Edwards is another freshman in the area to keep an eye on right now.
  
  
• Moeller 66 St. Mary's (AZ) 43: Crusaders are now 3-0 at The VisitMesa.com Challenge in Arizona. Senior guard Charlie Byers is still trying to get the college coaches to notice what he can do on the court. Chuck had another big night scoring 22 points in the blowout win.
  
  
• LaSalle 46 vs University School (FL) 44: LaSalle advanced to the championship at the Kingdom of the Sun Tournament in Florida, winning their first close game of the year. Josh Lemmons led LaSalle with 20 points and Brandon Neel added a dozen.

• 

  Clark junior power forward Paul Woodson

  Clark 70 vs Hughes 66: The Big Red couldn't get their first win at their Hughes Holiday Classic against Clark. Clark junior big man Paul Woodson was dominant inside scoring 15 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. Clark also got 15 points from senior guard CJ Taylor. Hughes got 29 points from senior wing Ryan Greene. Green was unstoppable in this one; he scored on threes, pull up jumpers, and finished every play on the break. Sophomore guard Terry Cook had another nice game with 14 points; Terry has really improved as a ball handler to balance out his nice shooting stroke. Freshman PG Aaron Oden of Hughes will be a very good player down the road, he showed some glimpses of the future tonight. 
  
  
• Columbus Desales 62 Lakota West 46: Cincinnati struggled in the opener of The Hughes Holiday Classic. It was one of those nights for Lakota West as they struggled against DeSales pressure and depth. The lone bright spot was the play of Monty Boykins. Monty, a sophomore guard, connected on a few jumpers and was better attacking the rim then he been in the past, he finished with 15 points.
  
  

• 

  Ryan Greene- Hughes senior wing

  Summit 64 Walter Palmer Charter (PA) 48: After some weather delays Summit finally got to play their game at Philadelphia's Holy Ghost Prep Tournament. Summit won their first game of the day over Walter Palmer Charter, a prep school in downtown Philly. Star sophomore PG Kevin Johnson scored 35 points for Summit and only missed one shot from the field. KJ's name is starting to get mentioned with the elite guards in the state of Ohio regardless of class. 
  
  
• Summit 61 Conwell Egan(PA) 43: Game two of the day for Summit at The Holy Ghost Prep Tournament in Philadelphia went much like the first one, Kevin Johnson went off! Kevin scored 15 points and help Egan's top scorer to only 6 points. Junior sharpshooter Tommy Kreyenhagen hit six three balls and finished with 23 points to help Summit finish the event at 2-0.

• Elder 53 Walnut Hills 50: Sophomore guards Sterling Gilmore and Kyree Burton led the way for the struggling, young Walnut squad. Gilmore scored 10 points and Burton addded 14. 
  
  
• St. Xavier 68 Meadowdale 53: Zach Yauss, a 6-1 senior guard, scored 30 points on 10-14 shooting to lead the bomb squad to a win. 

Tuesday's Results:

Lots of great action tonight, another great night to be a Cincinnati fan as we took it to the rest of the nation in the out of town tourneys. Here are the top results: Pictures from Roger Bacon @ North College Hill

• Moeller 64 Sunnyslope (AZ) 40: Moeller improved to 2-0 at the VisitMesa.com Challenge in Arizona. After a non-Moeller like defensive first half in which the game was tied 33-33 Moeller came out and dominated the second half with full court pressure, winning the half 31-7 for a 24 point victory. Moeller wore down Sunnyslope with their depth, playing 11 guys significant minutes. Alex Barlow led Moeller with 10 points, he also had 5 rebounds and 5 assists. Charlie Byers and Ben Galemmo each scored 9 points for Moeller. Junior post Tony Sabato got involved inside for the Crusaders, Tony scored 9 points and grabbed 7 boards. Moeller also got contributions from reserves Hayden Fry, Josh Davenport, and Keith Watkins who all scored two buckets and provided defensive pressure.

• 

  Rozelle Nix was the MVP today for Withrow

  LaSalle 70 Leesburg (FL) 51: LaSalle remained undefeated and won their second game at The Kingdom of the Sun Tournament in Florida. Trey Casey helped lead LaSalle into the semi's with 19 points. Brandon Neel and Ryan Fleming each scored 14 for LaSalle.

• Withrow 82 vs Detroit Renaissance 52:Withrow finished the Motorcity Roundball Classic at 3-0 with a blowout win. Rozelle Nix was the surprise game MVP for Withrow with a stat line of 15 points, 15 rebounds, and 6 blocks. Big Ro' is getting better and better everyday, the 6-11 junior has a giant frame and can eat up space inside. Aaron Thomas had his third consecutive big game in Detroit with 21 points in only three quarters of play. Carl Porter scored 14 for Withrow.

• Taft 50 Goose Creek (SC) 39: Taft was impressive in the opener of The Piggly Wiggly Roundball Classic in Charleston. Goose Creek, one of SC's top teams, tried to slow down the pace but they couldn't keep it low scoring enough to avoid their first loss of the year to Taft. Jalean Lowe led Taft with 20 points, hitting 6-9 three balls. Adolphus Washington and Dwayne Stanford each added 10 points for Taft.
  
  
• Summit vs Conwell Egan (PA): The first game of the Holy Ghost Prep Holiday Tournament in Philadelphia was postponed due to weather. Summit will now play two times tomorrow.

• Middletown 57 Bryan Station (KY) 54: Middletown got the overtime win in their opener at The Gaslight Holiday Classic in Kentucky. Geovonie McKnight hit a three at the buzzer to send it to overtime and Middletown never looked back. McKnight had a big night for the Middies finishing with 24 points.

• 

  Paul Byrd has serious heart at Roger Bacon

  North College Hill 74 Roger Bacon 67: Heavyweight prizefight for D2 bragging rights that was as good as expected. Tie game with under three minutes and NCH made just enough plays to win the game. The crowd was into it and emotions were flaring, Roger Bacon probably would've won if not for the crowd luring them into a costly technical. Paul Byrd did everything he could for Roger Bacon, scoring 16 points, but it wasn't enough. Byrd does deserve compliments for his toughness and leadership all game. For NCH it was a three man attack of Greg Sevilla's 15 points (this man will be ranked next time they're updated!), Jalen Render's 14, and Donald Bush's 17 points. For Bacon, Gavin Shuman scored 13, Jared Bryant 11, and Jabriel Coaston 7 in limited action due to foul trouble. NCH proved that they are for real, their press is excellent and if you let them get out and run your in for a long night. 

• 

  Greg Sevilla is getting into a serious scoring rhythm at NCH

  Lakota East 66 Huber Heights Wayne 58: Huge road win for Lakota East. One of Cincinnati's top teams defeating Dayton's top team in a game that came down to the final minute. Lakota East hit their free throws after getting a stop with a minute to go and held on to win the game. Mike Boyd led the way for East scoring 14 points. Wayne stars Travis Trice and Markus Crider were both held in check by East and forced into horrible shooting nights. Jalen Goodwin and Allante Foster also scored in double figures for Lakota East.
  
  
• Winton Woods 64 Hamilton 46: Semaj Christon scored 17 in a Warrior road win.

• Madeira 58 CHCA 47

• Colerain 59 Mt. Healthy 53: Colerain senior wing Khari Pleasant had 22 points. Owls senior guard Derek Floyd scored 14.

• Mason 67 Loveland 38: Senior forward Brian Carden scored 21 points and grabbed 8 rebounds for Mason who is still undefeated. 

Monday's Out of Town Results:

Ben Galemmo might be Cincy's
best long range shooter

Tonight's out of town games: Cincinnati went 3-0 for the day!

• Moeller 62 Dobson (AZ) 41: Comfortable win for Moeller in their first game at The VistaMesa.com Challenge in Arizona. Was able to catch this game online and to describe it in two words the game was: typical Moeller. They jumped out to a ten point lead, held it through three quarters, and took advantage of a worn down opponent to bust the game wide open. Ben Galemmo played the best game that I've seen him play at Moeller, he scored 17 points (hitting 5 threes) and made several nice passes for layups. Ben also did a great deal of ball-handling in transition. Charlie Byers was next in scoring for Moeller with 11 points, Chuck was able to get the better of Dobson star Malcom McKinley holding him to just 9 points (about 10 below his average). Junior wing Alex Voss was also effective for Moeller, Voss is another weapon for the Crusaders who can shoot or take his man off the dribble, and is also a passing and defensive threat. Moeller plays again tomorrow at 12:30 ET, the game can be seen online at: http://www.livestream.com/moellerbasketball1
  
  

• 

  Josh Lemmons had another
  double digit scoring game for LaSalle

  LaSalle 61 Tampa Prep 28: The Lancers dominated their first game in The Kingdom of the Sun Tournament in Ocala, Florida. Brandon Neel led the way with 14 points and Josh Lemmons was next with 12. LaSalle also got 8 points from both Matt Woeste and Ryan Fleming. This was a convincing win for LaSalle over one of Florida's top programs (Tampa Prep made the 2A state semi-final and only lost three games last year). LaSalle will play again tomorrow. 

• Withrow 80  East Grand Rapids 70: Aaron Thomas and Devin Williams had their second consecutive big nights with 23 points a piece as Withrow moved to 2-0 at Detroit's Motorcity Roundball Classic. Junior forward Kendall Beamon also added 10 points for Withrow. Withrow plays their final game of the classic tomorrow afternoon at 4 PM against Detroit Renaissance. 

Preview of Tuesday's Games

Huber Heights Wayne SR PG Travis Trice
is Michigan State bound after this year.

A couple of late Christmas gifts to Cincinnati hoops fans with two great games tomorrow, as well as some coverage of out of town tourneys. Also, a few more top Cincinnati teams will be in action locally: 

• Lakota East @ Huber Heights Wayne: Two of SW Ohio's finest meet up in the Dayton suburbs for this playoff like match-up. Wayne features two high major players in Michigan State signee Travis Trice, the 6-0 SR PG is the son of the coach and a great shooter; and Marcus Crider a 6-6 SR SF who has signed with Providence. Crider is a great athlete that can put points up on the board. While East might not have two players as talented as Trice and Crider they do have a team loaded with senior talent. Expect Mike Boyd, Jalen Goodwin, Cameron Lee, RJ Leppert, and the rest of the team to come out ready to play. The key to this game for Lakota East might be the production of Mark Minch. Minch, who likely will guard Crider, will be counted on to put pressure on Wayne's defense and to match Wayne's superior athleticism.

  • 

    Wayne SR forward Markus Crider
    will be playing in the Big East with
    Providence next season.
    
    

    Prediction: Should be a close game as long as LE can handle the road atmosphere; if they can contain Crider then I like their chances of pulling the upset. 

• Roger Bacon @ North College Hill: Everyone is going to want to see this matchup of Cincinnati's top two D2 teams. Roger Bacon, as always, will be led by the senior trio of PG Paul Byrd, versatile forward Jabriel Coaston, and postman Jared Bryant who should be back from a minor injury. These three will try and lead the Spartans against NCH Trojans star small forward Greg Sevilla. Sevilla is a big time scorer from distance as well as off the dribble, and he can surprise you with his athleticism in transition. NCH might not look like a great team but they have the overall team size, depth, athleticism, and hustle to make them a tough opponent for anyone. The winner of this game will be able to claim to be Cincy's top D2 team.
  • Prediction: This will be NCH's first home game and they seem like they're on a mission to prove their doubters wrong. If they can slow down Coaston and Bryant's production inside then I think NCH takes this one with a big second half.

• Out of Town Tournaments:
  • Withrow plays game three of The Motorcity Roundball Classic against Detroit Renaissance
  • Moeller plays game two of The VistaMesa.com Challenge (AZ)
  • LaSalle plays game two of The Kingdom of the Sun Tournament (FL)
  • Taft plays game one of The Piggly-Wiggly Roundball Tournament (SC)
  • Summit plays game one of The Holy Ghost Prep Tournament
  • Middletown plays game one of The Gaslight Holiday Classic

• Other Local Matchups:
  • Colerain @ Mount Healthy
  • Winton Woods @ Hamilton
  • CHCA @ Madeira

Withrow @ Motorcity Roundball Classic

Give Devin Williams 10 shots and he'll
put up big numbers no matter who the opponent is.

Withrow 82 Detroit Pershing 73
A great start to Detroit's finest event for Withrow as they defeated Detroit Pershing by nine. Seems like this one was a game of star performances. Aaron Thomas, Cincinnati's top player, led the way with 30 points and 10 rebounds. Aaron shot 10-16 from the field, an efficiency that is tough to achieve in HS, and hit 7-10 from the line. Devin Williams was next for Withrow; the 6-7 sophomore PF scored 19 points and grabbed 13 big rebounds. Devin shot 8-10 from the field and 3-5 from the line. Also for Withrow, Carl Porter scored 12 points and had 8 rebounds, and Kevin Jones added 9 points. Withrow's big four really came through this game when they were needed most.

For Detroit Pershing, sophomore SG Martez Walker (a top 100 nationally ranked player) scored 29 points and his older brother, point guard Sherron Walker (ranked as one of Michigan's top 5 juniors) added 24.

Withrow plays tomorrow at 9pm vs East Grand Rapids HS- Check in tomorrow night for a report from this game, as well as updates from Moeller and LaSalle's out of town tournament games.

Thursday Night Scores:

Corrected Summit score from last night:
Summit 62 Purcell Marian 33: Kevin Johnson led Summit with 14 points in an easy Knights win. Tommy Kreyenhagen and Ryan Glass also scored in double figures; Jack Gustafson, Milt Davis, and Antonio Woods Jr were all productive for Summit.

Roger Bacon 49 Newport Catholic 42: Jabriel Coaston scored 18 points and grabbed 7 rebounds. Coaston is having a great year so far, colleges coaches should take notice.


Little Miami 47 CHCA 46

Wednesday Night Results:

Thurgood Marshall 72 Hughes 39: The Big Red took another loss in a tough season, Terry Cook led them with a 13 points in the loss.

Lawrence Central (IN) 62 Aiken 55: Willy Moore scored 26 points (for the second game in a row) and grabbed 10 rebounds but it wasn't enough as Aiken lost their third game in four tries. Austin Grimes had a double-double with 12 points 10 boards, freshman PG Tyonte Robertson had his best statistical game with 15 points and 7 assists, and Landen Gaulden scored 10 for Aiken.

Thoughts on Leadership

Had the privilege of playing for Coach Rich Hoyt at Summit his first year coaching varsity, it gave me an opportunity to 
learn a lot of life lessons about preparation, dedication, teamwork, responsibility, and many more.

Coach has some excellent things to say on leadership and basketball on his blog:

Check it out

Tonight's Scores

Greg Sevilla had a great game for NCH
tonight scoring 26 in the buzzer beater win.

Keevin Tyus' 28 points weren't quite
enough tonight for West High to win.

• North College Hill 66 West High 64: Another devastating close loss for West High. Vince Edwards tipped in a miss with 2 seconds left to give NCH the lead; Keevin Tyus scored at the buzzer to tie but it was waved off. Keevin finished with 28 for West High in another great performance, this kid gets better every game and has so much hear (no one has improved more over the last few months). Greg Sevilla of NCH is the real deal; hadn't seen him play in a while  but he impressed with euro-step finishes in transistion, mid-range pullups, three balls, and more. Sevilla finished with 26 for NCH. NCH looks like the second best D2 team in the city, very good win for them tonight. For West High, Bubba Hill added 13 points and Durrell Bullock 8. West High struggled without JaMarcus Crawford who was sick, and they really uncharacteristically struggled to beat the NCH press.  More pics
• Roger Bacon 47 Carroll 40: JaBriel Coaston had his third straight double-double in a win. 
• LaSalle 58 McNicholas 41: Brandon Neel, Ryan Fleming, Trey Casey, and Josh Lemmons all scored in double figures of LaSalle.
• St. Xavier 39 Bishop Fenwick 36
• Moeller 41 Chaminade 30: Ben Galemmo led Moeller with 10 points in a balanced but low scoring game.
• Arlington Country Day (FL) 65 Princeton 54: Marcus Monterio led Princeton with 16.
• Fairfield 56 Sycamore 39
• Lakota West 49 Colerain 36: Monty Boykins gave West 18 points and Phil Cooke added 15.
• Middletown 63 Oak Hills 46: Geovonie McKnight and Jalin Marshall each scored 14 for Middletown.
• Mason 58 Hamilton 38: JD Sprague led Mason with 18, Corey Wise scored 12 in a loss.
• Taft 85 Ironton 65: Adolphus Washington, Chris Lowe, Kadeem Palmer, Orlando Berry, and Marquez Johnson all scored in double digits for Taft.
• Northwest 58 CHCA 47: Mel Hunter led NW with 13 points.
• Anderson 57 Walnut Hills 46

Also, Congrats to Lakota East for winning their tournament in SC with 3 blowouts and to Shroder for going 1-1 against great competition in Detroit. 

CPHR's Christmas Present to the Readers

First I want to thank you guys for all of your support! With almost 7,000 views in exactly three weeks this has grown faster then I could have imagined, and that is all thanks to the basketball fans that check in here.

To all the players that have helped me with this whether it's giving me scores, stats, a heads up on a player, or anything else thank you for your selflessness and help.

Here is my slightly early Christmas present to you guys: The much anticipated updated and expanded rankings!


After listening to reader feedback the rankings did have some flaws, and I always planned on adding to them, these new ones I feel are a very strong and an accurate representation of Cincy's top talent. Am I still missing someone, ok, let me know.

Note: Congrats to Alex McGlothin, heard from a very reliable source that he will be back in less then a month, his return means that he claims his rightful spot in the top ten of the '11 rankings.

The rankings can be accessed by clicking on the links at the top of this page.


Thanks again and Happy Holidays,
Corey Albertson

Cincy Prep Hoops Report
cincyprephoopsreport.blogspot.com/
cincyprephoopsreport@gmail.com

Top Games for the Week

A few pre-Christmas games that could be intersting: Check back into CPHR each night for scores, stats, pictures, and analysis.

Tuesday 12-21

North College Hill @ West High
Taft @ Ironton (perennial northern Ohio D3 powerhouse)

Middletown @ Oak Hills

Colerain @ Lakota West

LaSalle @ McNicholas

Chamminade @ Moeller

Fenwick @ St. Xavier

Turpin @ Milford

Wednesday 12-22

Aiken @ Indianapolis team

Thurgood Marshall @ Hughes

Thursday 12-23

Purcell Marian @ Summit

Newport Catholic @ Roger Bacon

Week 3 Top Performances:

This week's top performers are the top teams in the city so far this season. These 4 teams all had targets on their back from day 1 and have stepped up the challenge thus far.

Brandon Neel has LaSalle looking great.

• Withrow: The Tigers survived two good opponents best punches this weekend. First against West High, Aaron Thomas hit two free throws with less then three seconds left to win by two. Saturday, against Aiken, Withrow won another close game by four. Thomas went for over twenty points both nights, inlcuding a great performance against his former school. Withrow was also led by Carl Porter (a D1 Binghampton commit), Carl averaged 19 points and 11 boards over the weekend. Devin Williams, Kevin Jones, Damon Gooch, and the strong play or rotation player Rozelle Nix are all crucial for the continued success of Withrow. Williams, ranked 2nd in our '13 rankings, scores just about every post touch he gets down low and has really improved his shooting touch. 
• Taft: If the state tournament started today it would be tough to imagine a team beating Taft. They are such a balanced attack with a deep aresenal of weapons. Adolphus Washington and Dwayne Stanford continue to kill it down low, and Kadeem Palmer and Orlando Berry Jr. have been great at the point guard spot. Jermaine Freeman, Jalean Lowe, Chris Lowe, Marquez Johnson, and the rest of the Taft team have looked great on both ends of the floor so far. Expect Withrow and Taft to fight it out for the CMAC title down the stretch. 
• LaSalle: This is their season, coaches have been saying it since last year ended, they look like they're on their way to Columbus if they keep up what they've been doing. Brandon Neel and Josh Lemmons have been dominant this year as expected; no one can find a way to stop these guys in transition or the half court. Ryan Flemming, Matt Woeste, and Trey Casey round out a really special nucleus for Coach Flemming. All five of his guys can shoot, run, drive, pass, and are relentless in the press. This group might be undersized but because they are so tough to prepare for expect LaSalle to stay undefeated for a while. CPHR can't wait until they run into Moeller in a few weeks.  
• Roger Bacon: Since taking a tough L against Winton Woods these guys have really turned it all around. Led by the talented senior trio of Jabriel Coaston (averaging a double-double), Paul Byrd (second in the league in scoring), and Jared Bryant (who has been banged up but will play next game) Roger Bacon looks like they have what it takes to play with anyone. They look like they're on pace to make a run in D2.
• Mason: Haven't seen them yet this year but it seems like they're doing big things. Followers of the AAU circuit are familiar with junior guard JD Sprague and junior power forward Darrin Harris. These two are having productive years scoring the ball and stepping into more prominent roles this season. The Comets are led this year by Brian Carden who is averaging over 13 points per game so far. With a convincing win over Winton Woods and an undefeated record these guys might be able to match Lakota East and Middletown when the time comes in the GMC. 
• Other teams: Sycamore, Winton Woods, Moeller, Middletown, Summit, Shroder, and West High all had good weeks as well in their respective conferences. 

Saturday CMAC Results:

Aaron Thomas came to play against his former school. AT led
Withrow with twenty points, his second twenty point game in as many nights.

Three games were played in the city league tonight; two were blowouts and one was nail-biter. Fortunately, CPHR was at the nail-biter: Tonight's pictures

• Withrow 69 Aiken 65: Another close call but thrilling win for the Tigers. In his first game against his former school Withrow star guard Aaron Thomas scored 20 points including several emphatic pull up threes; reminding Aiken of what they used to have. Thomas was on a mission tonight and overcame the ball-hawking defense of Gene Primus to have another big night; for the second night in a row AT also iced the game from the foul line with two makes with less then two seconds remaining. Carl Porter was huge again tonight for Withrow scoring 16 points on several strong lefty drives and pounding the offensive glass as usual. Also as usual, Porter was big on the defensive end blocking shots and grabbing boards. Withrow also got a good contribution from sophomore big man Devin Williams who scored 17 points and grabbed double digit boards. Devin was simply too much to handle down low for the undersized Aiken team. Aiken got a huge first half from Willy Moore, he scored 19 of his game high 27 in the first, and led at the break. Moore was on target from three and was able to finish in the lane in transition, including one dunk. In the second half Gene Primus and Landen Gaulden (who scored 11) kept Aiken alive but it wasn't enough to match Thomas and the Tigers. Austin Grimes scored 8 points for Aiken in limited time due to foul trouble.

         Note: Top ten '13 prospect Time Coleman, a PG on the Withrow JV team, has really improved

         his overall point guard skills particularly his ball-handling and passing. Everyone knows that

         Tim can score, now that he is really a dual threat he is going to be very tough to contain.

• West High 71 Hughes 42: Keevin Tyus had another big night scoring 16 points in the blowout win. Josh Chancellor and Bubba Hill each scored 14 for West High. 

• Taft 94 Woodward 69: Adolphus Washington scored 22 points and grabbed almost as many rebounds in a dominant performance. Chris Lowe scored 14 points for Taft and his brother Jalean added 12; Jermaine Freeman also scored in double figures for Taft with 10. Taft blew the game wide open in the third quarter thanks to their press which was led by Orlando Berry Jr, who scored 8, and Kadeem Palmer, who contributed 7 points. In the loss Woodward sophomore power forward Trent Donald scored 21 points. 

Saturday's CMAC Preview:

All seven CMAC teams play Saturday; we have three league matchups and Shroder plays another game in Michigan in their holiday tournament. Let's take a look at the league matchups:

Shroder's game can be seen on ESPNU @ 2:00 PM

• Aiken @ Withrow: Withrow avoided disaster in their home opener against West High, now they want to make it two in a row against another tough opponent. As with most Aiken games this will be a clash of styles; Aiken wants to run and gun and Withrow wants to be a little more deliberate. The thing to watch in this game is how well Aiken keeps Carl Porter, Devin Williams, and the rest of the taller Withrow team off of the offensive glass. If Aiken can keep the Tigers from owning the pain then they will have a good chance. Expect Aiken's quickness to give Withrow fits on the defensive end. The main storyline for this game is obvious; what will Aaron Thomas do in his first game against his former school? When it comes to scoring it is never wise to wager against AT. This has the potential to be another classic game at Withrow.

• Prediction: I'm thinking upset, Withrow plays another close league game and this time falls a little short to a motivated Aiken team.

• West High @ Hughes: After coming so close on Friday, losing in the final seconds to Withrow by 2, West High will be fired up to take this game (one that they should win). Hughes has been able to hang with most league opponents for at least a half, but has not yet registered a win. Expect a motivated West High team to handle their business. The depth, toughness, athleticism, and skill of West High is too much for most teams to handle right now.
  • Prediction: West High by 15.

• Woodward vs Taft (@ Aiken): Both teams were off Friday, so they had a little extra preparation time; and both teams are known for defense so this might be low scoring. Low scoring games in this case benefit Taft who has too much firepower for Woodward. The guard play of Kadeem Palmer, Orlando Berry Jr, and the rest of the Senators should be enough to get the win; even if Trent Donald is holding his own down low against Taft's Adolphus Washington and Dwayne Stanford.
  • Prediction: Taft by at least 20, they look unbeatable right now.