Nationally ranked Oak Hill and Benedictine square off!
On Saturday, December 17th
at the University of Richmond's Robins Center, there will be a doubleheader of
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basketball, including what is being billed as 'The Re-Match on the River'
between Oak Hill Academy and Benedictine at 7:30PM. Each team has one of the top
players in the country, and Benedictine attempts to avenge the 71-58 loss they
suffered to Steve Smith's Warriors from a season ago.
Preceding
that must-see nightcap will be a 6PM contest featuring Mills E. Godwin vs. The
Collegiate School. General admission is $10 and the box office will open at
4:30PM the day of the game at the Robins Center.
The matchup everyone is going to be talking
about leading up to the game is which five-star rated prospect will perform
better – 6-foot-2 point guard Brandon Jennings for Oak Hill or
6-foot-9, 215-pound power forward Ed Davis? A 2007 Parade All-American
that is ranked as the nation's top player according to ESPN, Jennings comes in
with monster averages of 40.5 points, 9.6 assists and 6.8 steals per game. In my
opinion, he's a future NBA player to join a long line of former Oak Hill
Academy standouts to reach the pros. That list includes the likes of Denver
Nuggets All-Star Carmelo Anthony, Seattle Sonics Rookie of the Year
candidate Kevin Durant, Jerry Stackhouse, Ron Mercer, Marcus
Williams, Josh Smith, Stephen Jackson, Jeff McInnis, Steve
Blake, DeSagana Diop and Rajon Rondo. The Warriors also
produced the current Natl. Freshman of the Year front-runner in College
Basketball in Kansas State's Michael Beasley.
Against Booker T. Washington last week,
Jennings poured in 45 points in his team's 96-61 rout, prompting Bookers Head
Coach Darren Sanderlin to describe him as "incredibly poised." The
talented lefty is committed to the University of Arizona.
A commit to Roy Williams and the
University of North Carolina Tar Heels, Davis has excellent bloodlines. His
father, Terry Davis, played in the NBA, spending ten seasons in the
league. The five-star recruit is the 20th overall rated player in the country by
Rivals.com, proving to be dominant over the summer and spring while playing for
Boo Williams' 17&U AAU travel team. Cadets Head Coach Sean McAloon and
company will need to figure out a way to slow down a lethal Oak Hill attack that
is averaging over 95 points per game entering the Warriors' game on Thursday.
On the horizon for Oak Hill is a date with
Duncanville, which was ranked #1 in the country in the preseason by Sporting
News and went a perfect 39-0 last season on their way to a Texas Class 5A
state title. The two power programs will square off on Wednesday, December 19th
in the highly anticipated Dallas Dunkfest. But before that, they must get past a
Benedictine team that should offer a stiff challenge. Not only do the Cadets
have Davis, but they also have Bradford Burgess, who's a 6-foot-5
forward committed to VCU, and his younger brother Jordan Burgess, a
6-foot-4 freshman, is a solid player-in-the-making.
How They Stack Up:
*** For more information on this event and
others by Omni Sports Group, please visit www.slamfest7.com!
***
Matthew Hatfield has served as the authority on
Eastern Region Hoops since 2004 for VirginiaPreps.com – the #1 High School
Sports Site on the Rivals Network. Check out Hatfield's website – www.matthewhatfield.com
– for plenty more on the sports world. To contact Matthew, please e-mail hatfieldsports2k4@yahoo.com.