Welcome

to another edition of Basketball Weekly,

our first of the 2008 New Year. I'm

back from my trip last week to Myrtle Beach, SC covering the Beach Ball Classic

and two of our Virginia teams, Nansemond River and Bishop O'Connell.

We'll do a wrap-up of the Beach Ball Classic, but there's plenty of

basketball to wet our appetite this weekend, too.

This Saturday, Omni Sports Group presents Slamfest Tour (www.slamfesttour.com)

at Randolph-Macon College with several of the top teams and players in the state

of Virginia on display. Also, on

Saturday, January 5^th at Virginia Wesleyan College, Marvin

Terry is back and better than ever with his Hampton Roads Basketball

Classic, featuring eight games total (5 boys, 3 girls) that should entertain

local fans for up to 12 hours.

Beach

Close,

but no cigar. The Nansemond River

Warriors traveled from Suffolk, VA to Myrtle Beach, SC and had a date with

Duncanville (TX), the top-ranked team in the preseason in the country by normal">Sporting News and second-ranked team by normal">USA Today, to begin their stay at the Beach Ball Classic.

They lost a double-overtime thriller, 79-75, almost making history and

landing on the basketball map in America. Most

thought, myself included, that the Warriors would get beat rather handily, say

by 20 or maybe even 30 points. It

looked that way when they got down by 13 points in the first half and as many as

11 in the second half. Reserve guard

normal">Dion Bivins nearly even got on ESPN's normal">SportsCenter as he launched a shot from past half-court with the

game tied in regulation that went in, but came after the buzzer.

Overall,

the trip was a success though as they won three of four games in a quality

tournament, gained some valuable experience and minutes for their bench players,

and opened some people's eyes outside of the Commonwealth.

All that being said, they returned home on Monday night thinking what

could've been… had they defeated Duncanville, a team that has won 58 of its

past 59 games with the lone loss coming in overtime to Oak Hill.

They would've earned some much deserved respect.

They might've popped up somewhere in the national rankings.

And they could've silenced their critics, maybe even some of them

forever. So much for that soft

schedule and weak district competition they have, huh?

As

far as the game between Nansemond River and Duncanville goes, which we suggest

you check out at the following link: http://www.sccoast.net/beachballclassic/game10.html

…

It was nothing short of a classic that had everyone on the edge of their seats.

If you ask me, it was the best High School Basketball or High School

Football game I've witnessed since covering the Eastern Region in 2004.

Others that come to mind include the 2005 State Championship basketball

game between Landstown and Woodside, where Percy

Harvin was dominant in a close loss for the Eagles.

The 2007 State Playoff semifinal football game with Westfield and Oscar

Smith, two of the Top 30 teams in the country according to Rivals.com, was

undoubtedly the most exciting football game I saw in '07.

What

made this one, easily the best basketball game for 2007, ahead of the others in

my book were a few factors. Every

great game needs outstanding individual efforts, which it had, and clutch,

memorable plays. Andre

Jones, who was 0-for-5 from the field to start, re-gained his confidence by

knocking down the game-tying shot with 5.9 seconds to go in regulation.

Shawn Williams hit three

consecutive three-pointers in the second overtime.

Those moments stick out. It

also needs a rally or comeback; that was there too.

Lastly, you throw in two overtime sessions and the national implications

against a ranked team, and that propelled it to the top of the list for me for

now.

When asked

which of his players showed the most progress from the start of the Beach Ball

Classic to the finish, Nansemond River Head Coach Ed

Young paused for a moment to ponder the question.

His answer? Nick

Wright, the team's senior big man who's committed to Old Dominion

University. With the Warriors

leading 65-60 in overtime, he missed a dunk that he normally finishes, and in

this case, would've capped a historic moment in basketball history because

they would've likely beaten Duncanville. Wright

didn't go into a shell and sulk. Instead,

he lit up Toronto's Eastern Commerce, the top-ranked team from Canada, for a

career-high 29 points on 9-of-14 shooting, 15 rebounds and four blocks.

In my opinion, he's the most improved player in the region from the

limited amount of games (15 or so) I've seen so far.

Until the

BBC, I had only seen Kendall Marshall in

AAU action, playing for Boo Williams' 17&U squad.

Bishop O'Connell has a tremendous sophomore class, led by Marshall, who

was most impressive in a 74-51 triumph past St. Edward (OH).

In that game, Marshall scored eight points to go with 10 assists and no

turnovers while shooting over 50% from the field.

It doesn't get much more efficient than that, does it?

normal">Mystifying: It's

really mystifying to me that nobody has recruited or shown serious interest in

Scott County (Georgetown, KY) 6-foot-5 senior forward Tyler

Portwood. Don't give him space

because the kid can flat out shoot it, as shown when he scored eight of his

team's first ten points in the first few minutes of their win over Socastee

(SC). He scored 35 points with nine

three-pointers in the first two games of the tournament.

John Marshall – Owning a record of 11-3, the Seahawks from Atlantic Shores

are on the cusp of great things, led by Andre

Dawkins and normal">Steve Pledger, a pair of future Division I prospects.

"I feel a difference in the gym," says Head Coach Bruce

Croxton. "The support from the

administration, athletic director and fans has been great.

They seem to be really proud of what we're doing."

Shores takes on a John Marshall team from Richmond that features super

6-foot-6 sophomore Travis McKie.

This isn't the only big game they have upcoming as a date with

Benedictine, the school where Croxton once coached at, is next Saturday.

"It's going to be a nice homecoming for me, I hope," he says,

adding "I don't want a morale building loss."

This past weekend, the Seahawks reached the Championship game of the

Marlins Mania Tournament, where they lost late to Bayside.

"We need to be more mentally tough," Croxton insists, and he'll

look to Dawkins, Pledger and 5-foot-10 point guard Todd

Haynes, who is drawing interest from Virginia Wesleyan and Hampden-Sydney,

to help them take that next step.

vs. The Collegiate School – Coming off their only loss of the season to

date, a 56-50 suffered at the hands of Lovett (GA) in the Westminster Holiday

Tournament, Hampton Roads Academy will try to bounce back against The Collegiate

School. HR Academy turns to 6-foot-7

junior Ovie Soko to be a difference

maker in this contest.

vs. Benedictine – Perhaps the most anticipated game of the weekend, the

Bookers from Booker T. Washington try to bounce back from a rough time last week

in the Ronald Curry Christmas Classic and attempt to knock off one of the

state's finest squads in Benedictine. Obviously,

the matchup is being billed as Booker T. junior DeShawn

Painter against Cadets senior Ed

Davis (North Carolina) and for good reason.

Both are 6-foot-9 and among the Top 25 ranked prospects in the nation for

the Class of 2008 and 2009. Which

Painter will we see, though? The one

who went 14-for-20 from the charity stripe in a win over Granby, or will we see

the one that struggled mightily against Kecoughtan when he notched just eight

points and missed a handful of free-throws?

Booker T., which proved it can win on the road when they defeated

Petersburg in December, has guard Desmond

Lee (16.3PPG) to lean on if Painter isn't playing well.

Benedictine counters with 6-foot-4 senior normal">Brad Burgess (VCU). What

should decide the outcome is how well the Bookers play defensively because they

are a perfect 5-0 when allowing 61 points or fewer.

When BTW allows 62 or more points in a game, they are winless at 0-4.

Meadowbrook – Sitting at 4-2 overall and ranked 21^st in the

state as well as fifth in the Central Region by VirginiaPreps.com, Meadowbrook

gave Petersburg a battle not too long ago and looks for a similar type of effort

when they take on The Miller School. Miller

has a pair of Division I hopefuls in 6-foot-3 shooting guard Shamarr

Bowden (Charlotte) and 6-foot-7 Menchville transfer normal">Marshawn Powell.

This

Saturday at Nansemond River High School, there will be basketball beginning at

2PM with Wilson's JV team taking on the Warriors' JV squad, followed by the

Wilson JV girls facing the Nansemond River JV girls.

The action concludes at 5PM with an Australian girls' basketball team

taking on undefeated Wilson, coached by Roger

Smith. The Australian team

features three solid players with Emma

Lobb (6-foot-2), Ashlee Wallis and

Sarah Short (6-foot-tall).

Wilson is led by Old Dominion commit JoNiquia

Guilford and Shakiyla Finney.

Tickets are $5 at the door.

normal">*** Battle of the Beach is

this Saturday Landstown High School in Virginia Beach with the host Eagles

facing Petersburg in the nightcap. It'll

be the guard tandem of sophomore Reggie

Williams and junior Allen Powell,

the leading scorer in the Beach District,

trying to keep pace with the Crimson Wave's combo of normal">Cadarian Raines and Terneil

Rhodes. Petersburg comes in

ranked fourth in the state in our Top 25 with Landstown checking in 19^th

overall and sixth in the Eastern Region. Whichever

team's supporting cast steps up should get the nod.

Other

matchups include the Petersburg girls facing Landstown; Green Run boys playing

Roosevelt (D.C.); Churchland against Thurgood Marshall (NY); the Bayside girls

vs. Roosevelt; and American Christian (PA) taking on Word of God Christian

Academy (NC) in the nightcap. American

Christian is led by on the top guards in the country, Tyreke