Hoop In Perspective, & Retrospective-- September 2007
The Tale of One Talented Fanatic…
The Saratogian, in a rare display of off-season hoop indulgence and enlightenment, recently profiled local wunderkind Jordan Stevens, a certified Top-50 prospect nationally in the Class of ’09, detailing the list of AAU Tournaments and Showcase camps he’d participated in during the summer, primarily with the vaunted Albany City Rocks. Stevens—who hit the 1000 point scoring mark for varsity ball halfway through his sophomore season last winter, and was voted Player of the Year in the Suburban Council once already—seemed to be enjoying his year-round cycle of honing his hoop skills as he circumnavigated and performed in the prime hoop cities of the USA, which the writer of the article pointed out was the equivalent of a fulltime summer job for him.
Like the stalwart high school ballers featured in SLAM! Magazine on a regular basis, Jordan is in the rarefied air where prominent college scouts and coaches already know his name and his game, even with two more varsity years to go before graduation. To all those who know him locally, he remains a humble and unpretentious 16 year old, seemingly unfazed by all the attention and acclaim he receives. As far as I know, there certainly is no indication of burn-out on his part—he clearly loves the game and all that goes with it. Will he someday question the whirlwind rigors he was put through in pursuit of his hoop dreams, as some former high school stars I know eventually did—or will the pay-off at the end of the rainbow be sufficient to cancel out any doubts?
Though he reportedly could have excelled (and previously did excel) at baseball or football as well as basketball (and might’ve gone that 3-sport route in the “old days”), he has chosen (rightly, I think) to concentrate on hoop as his primary athletic passion (though he also played varsity volleyball last year). No doubt he will be rewarded greatly with a slew of D-1 scholarship opportunities in the coming year or two. At his present pace, he is likely to end up as the most celebrated athlete in Saratoga Springs High School history, as far as I can see. We wish him and his Saratoga teammates a good ride to come through the Suburban Council and beyond during ’07-08 Hoop season.
Talor & Jimmer Ride Off to the D-1 Scene…
Speaking of celebrated local hoop athletes, though I’d written about each of them quite a bit on my Hoop pages, I regret not putting up a proper end-of-season/end-of-career celebration of two of the finest hoop players in Capital Region/North Country recent history. They were each, like Jordan Stevens, vaunted as prime D-1 prospects in the hoop world by the end of their sophomore seasons, when they were atop the scoring charts in Section 2 for the first of three-seasons running. Both Talor Battle (Bishop Maginn of Albany) and Jimmer Fredette (of Glens Falls High) enjoyed first-name-only recognition among local sports fans and broadcasters since the ’04-05 season. Both were the go-to guys for their teams since their soph seasons, and both ended up at over 2000 points for their careers—Battle gaining the all-time Big Ten record, and Fredette ending up with the Section 2 all-time career total.
Their paths were remarkably parallel from the start, and so were their respective career endings. As luck would have it, I recall seeing both of their initial performances on the varsity level. Battle was playing (and starting) for Catholic Central that year as a freshman in the Tip-Off Tournament held in November of 2003 at Saratoga High. The only other notable talent on his team that year was a senior big guy in the middle named Joe Mahoney, who went on to fame as a college pitcher in baseball, and a wiry sophomore slasher named Dallas Jones (who I believe went on to play at Hamilton College after a good CCHS career). Battle would ultimately move back to Maginn the next year, but that initial year at CCHS did him a world of good, I think he would agree. He had free rein from the start in taking the bulk of the shots, and hit either 19 or 21 in his varsity debut, but his team lost to the Blue Streaks, I believe, that year. Still, his skills were obvious from the outset, and comparisons to the previous year’s frosh sensation Tiki Mayben (of Troy High) were already being made.
Fredette, on the other hand, came off the bench as a freshman in the same Tournament, as Glens Falls played a central NY team from Vestal, or somewhere out near Syracuse. Senior Andrew Parsons was the best player for GF that year, but after Mike Van Schaick’s legendary career had ended, not much help was left behind. As a result, young Fredette seized his first opportunity when he finally got into the game late in the first quarter. As I vividly remember it, he poked away a pass on the defensive end and recovered the loose ball near three-quarter court… glanced at the time clock then focused on the rim with a one-handed line drive shot of about 60 feet that swished cleanly as the quarter-horn went off. What a start!
It wasn’t long before savvy GF Coach Tony Hamel realized this kid was going to be on the floor fulltime for the next four years, and one of those senior holdovers lost his starting spot. It didn’t seem possible to me at the time, as I was a huge fan of Mike Van Schaick’s hoop prowess, but Jimmer ultimately became a better, more dominant player overall than Mike, and obviously outscored him (and everyone else) in his career. (Perhaps that Section 2 scoring mark will be endangered by Jordan Stevens in his senior season, but he’s got another thousand points or so to go.)
Parallel Outcomes in Sectionals and then States…
Bishop Maginn and Glens Falls High endured similar fates during
the soph and junior seasons of their respective stars. Maginn couldn’t break the CBA spell or beat the Brothers even once during the years when Brian Monahan, Josh Duell, Datwan Hemingway, Joe Bova, Pete Raponi, and underclassman Greg Holle took turns being dominant in the Big 10 and AA ball in Section 2. With Holle and clutch-shooting Luke Weaver as 3rd-year varsity players, plus sharp-shooting John Cahill and Joe Zappone all as seniors last year, the Brothers looked like odds-on favorites to continue their virtually undefeated 4-year run at the top of the area’s Big School rankings in Talor’s final campaign.
But Battle and Coach Rich Hurley’s squad finally broke through in a pitched heavyweight confrontation at The TIMES UNION CENTER (formerly the Pepsi Arena) in downtown Albany last March 5th, by a score of 48-43. Talor ended up as game-high scorer with 14 against a vicious CBA defense, and Benduka Kargbo was next with 7 plus a key steal and score down the stretch. Terron Victoria hit 3 of 4 key free throws to put the game away, while Shimeek Johnson and James Torres countered CBA’s inside strength with 6 points and a host of rebounds each. Holle finished with a quiet (for him) 13 points but a loud, disgusted punt of the basketball into the upper deck of the arena to punctuate the end of his team’s local dynasty as the buzzer sounded.
Luke Weaver finished his career with 8, while Malcolm Austin (who will be back) hit for 7, Joe Zappone hit two 3’s for 6, and John Cahill went without a 3-ball in scoring 5 points in his last game as well. Don’t feel too sorry for CBA as DeAndre Kennedy and Malcolm Austin return for their senior seasons, joined by 6’8” (or bigger by now) Andrew Stire, who will get big minutes as a junior. Maginn and CBA will likely be contenders for the Big 10 crown for years to come, as each team reloads… but more on that in a couple of months.
Meanwhile, Glens Falls had been trying to regain the “A” Division crown for the first time since Van Schaick graduated in 2003. During Fredette’s reign as dominant player of the Foothills Council, his team had suffered bitter losses to Burnt Hills in the 2005 Sectional Finals, and to Averill Park in the 2006 Finals. This past season they achieved redemption by destroying Ichabod Crane in the semis and then beating Averill Park decisively in the Finals, after watching AP upset an under-achieving Bishop Gibbons team I had picked to give Jimmer and the GF boys a hard time, had they gotten that far.
So both Bishop Maginn (AA) and Glens Falls (A) had their Sectional titles, and proceed to win their next out-of-district games to advance to the Final Four of the State Tournament in Glens Falls. Local fans therefore got the chance to cheer on these two stellar teams at the Glens Falls Civic Center during the weekend of March 16-18th in the NYSPHSAA Boys Basketball Championships.
I was not able to attend the semi-final round of games, wherein Bishop Maginn got past Fairport of the Rochester area (Section 5), and Glens Falls came up with a rousing victory over McKinley High of Buffalo (Section 6), which I heard broadcast by a North Country radio station. Each team therefore had to face a downstate powerhouse from Section 1 in order to claim a State Title, which would’ve been an unprecedented feat for Section 2 teams in the top 2 classes of Public High School hoop for the past 27 years in which these championships have been held at Glens Falls.
No Shame in Coming in Second in the State…
The Double-A representative from downstate was again Mount Vernon, and the Single-A representative from Section 1 was again Peekskill—both perennial visitors to this State Tournament in recent years. Both were led by junior stars with the last name of Jones, with similar builds and scoring abilities—Kevin for Mount Vernon, and Mookie for Peekskill. How many more parallel similarities could there be?
Well, one unfortunate similarity was that both Jimmer Fredette and Talor Battle had extremely poor shooting games in their final area appearances in high school ball. Because of their all-star reputations (partially earned in the AAU ranks with the 3rd place finish nationally of their mutual City Rocks 17U team the previous summer), both star guards were harassed by numerous double-teams and traps, and rarely if ever got open, uncontested looks in either of those State Finals games.
Both missed more threes than in probably any other game of their lives, and both were carrying the weight of their team’s expectations with each miss. Despite the off-shooting, both scored in double-figures to lead their teams, and put on respectable displays of ball-handling and passing and team leadership that showed they could compete against the elite players of NY State. Both kept their teams in the game until the end. Maginn lost by only 3 to Mount Vernon after an excellent CBA team had been blown out by 19 by the eventual State Champion Knights in 2006. Glens Falls was competitive for all but the last minute of their 10-point loss to Peekskill, who only blew it open at the very end.
Thus Battle and Fredette each led their teams to 2nd place finishes in the highly competitive worlds of AA and A level Public High School basketball, the best advancement of any upper-echelon Section 2 teams since the Schenectady High team of 2001 (featuring Jason MacKrieth and Rayshaun Freeman, under Coach Mark Sausville), which won the States and made it to the Finals of the Federation against St. Raymond’s of the Bronx.
As an avid observer of High School Hoop, especially for the past 7 years, I commend these two highly-talented and self-driven guards for their high school careers, and all the many highlight-reel moments they provided their area fans in the process. Both are great kids who maintained their humility and grace (although laced with some feistiness) no matter what opposing crowds and fans might have been yelling at them during the heat of many games, and both have maturity and personality strengths which lead me to believe they will succeed in Division-1 college ball specifically, and life in general. To Talor at Penn State, and Jimmer at Brigham Young University, I wish you well and good luck. You both inspired a generation of young hoopers coming up behind you, by your style of play and competitive spirit, and have helped upstate New York basketball gain some respect on the national scene, especially when, as I already pointed out, your under-sized but over-achieving City Rocks 17U Team came in third in the National AAU Tournament before your senior seasons.
I wish I’d gotten this commemorative piece posted before you both graduated from the high school scene, but let this be a tribute and a send-off to your college careers, and know that a lot of us back home will be rooting for you to succeed in Division 1 hoop competition.
***********************************************************
WHO STEPS INTO THE STARRING ROLES?
I don’t have time for exhaustive analysis now, other than pointing out the obvious—that Saratoga’s Jordan Stevens, a surefire D-1 prospect, seems the most likely candidate to step into the Section 2 spotlight in the void left by Fredette and Battle.
Some say that Tashaun Newsome (Colonie High) and Bret Marfurt (Guilderland High) will give Jordan and Saratoga a hard time in the Suburban Council before anyone anoints him Player of the Year there again, and each of them would be candidates for that title as well. But Steven’s overall skills and consistently big numbers in scoring and rebounding will be hard to beat—he even won a game last season with a final-second block on the defensive end. He just plays to win.
Taron Buie at Bishop Maginn may quickly step up to assume the mantle of excellence left by his half-brother Battle, though he will be only a sophomore this coming season. By the end of his freshman season, I saw for myself how confident he looked when playing against CBA and even Mount Vernon, which is fairly audacious territory. DeAndre Kennedy and Malcolm Austin will continue the tradition of excellence the CBA Brothers have shown the past several years, and either of them are capable of breakout games to establish their reputation. Devin Grimes and Jordan Gettings at CCHS will try to lead the Crusaders to a level not seen recently during their senior year in the Big 10—either or both of them could feasibly compete for Player of the Year in the Big 10 this year—making them cream of the overall crop.
Pat Lanoue of Hoosic Valley may be a sleeper candidate for one of the Top 5 players in the area during his senior season, despite playing for a Class CC team, if his AAU performance I saw last May was a true indicator of his talent. He dropped 3-pt. bombs with a perfect stroke from way deep—territory I’ve only seen Jimmer hit from consistently.
Chris Pelcher, formerly of Columbia High (East Greenbush)-- but now, I hear, a transfer-- will be one of the area’s premier big men, at about 6’8”. Herb Tedford (listed at 6’4” last year) of Colonie, off a great AA Sectional performance against Maginn last year, is a proven star now entering his junior year, and will mesh with Tashaun Newsome to make the Garnet Raiders a potent force in the Suburban.
Shimeek Johnson of Bishop Maginn (6’7” or so) will certainly be a force in the Big Ten, alongside strongman James Torres, who will have to work his way back into the good graces of his coach and teammates after mysteriously being kept out of the two games in Glens Falls at the State Final Four, which definitely hurt Maginn against the muscle of Mount Vernon at the end of last season’s run. I never saw a word in print about his absence, but it was a telling loss to his team at the time.
Mark Blair of Schenectady (a muscular 6’5”), in his junior year, could turn into another force in the Big 10, and his improving teammate, Rayshaun Freeman’s younger brother (never got his first name) will give The Patriots more strength upfront in time. Junior-to-be Brian Hamor is already one of the best shooting guards in the area, and his senior Bishop Gibbons teammate Zach O’Brien is one of the most solid forwards. With slashing forward Avery Mitchell as a third scoring threat, they have more returning experienced talent than most teams, but will still have a tough time in the A Sectionals against Academy, given what I’ve heard about some of their new recruits, which I haven’t fully confirmed as of this writing.
At Albany Academy, among players that are returning there, Jamel Fields will purportedly be in his last year of eligibility as a sophomore, but as a relentless driving force on offense should end up among the scoring leaders of the area this coming season under the tutelage of Brian Fruscio and his ambitious scheduling. True sophomore 6’6” Shavar Fields (no relation to Jamel, and more than 2 years younger) at the same school will also have a stellar season, I believe, in his second full varsity season, and will likely be dominant inside against Colonial Council competition. Junior shooter Tyler Foster will likely prove to be one of the most accurate shooters around for a third potent threat on that improved Academy team.
Albany High returns 3 or 4 dangerously talented players who could easily gel into one of the best squads in the area, or underachieve once again if they don’t—Jamiek Tarver, Isaiah Duke, Colin McCarthy
and Anthony Carrasquillo will be seniors, while Victor Muniz and Ha’Dae Graham are large and strong returning juniors there.
Other teams with dynamic duos I haven’t mentioned yet will be Mohonasen, with senior Cameron Couball and junior Jordan Macejka returning to lead that squad; and in the Foothills Council, Queensbury High senior guards Josh Hooper and Kellen Henderson will hope to take advantage of the post-Jimmer era in that league. At Troy High they have some good scoring guards coming back, and two of them are juniors Donovan Johnson and Steve Hunt. At Averill Park, cagey guard Gerard O’Shea will be featured in his senior season, but how much help will he have this time around? The same can be asked of high-scoring Shea Bromirsky of Cambridge, who was in the high 20-pt. average stratosphere with Battle and Fredette throughout his junior season last year, playing in the Wasaren League. Evan Christner (6’5” third year varsity center) is in the same position at Voorheesville High, returning for his senior year without any familiar scoring threats alongside, though Voorheesville’s JV team had some talent that will be moving up.
I’m sure there are improved players and some returning stars I’ve failed to mention, but I have roughly two months to learn more about the coming season through the grapevine. I’m open to hearing about some coming stalwarts I may have overlooked… especially move-ups from JV ball, or transfers. Contact wayne@waynesword.com for any compelling hoop information before the high school campaign gets underway.
Needless to say, I am looking forward to the ’07-08 Hoop season, and will talk about team prospects (AA, A, & B Divisions, at least) a bit next month before it all starts.
--Copyright Wayne Perras 2007