Bass Pro Tournament of Champions

[VTIME]

>It looks like I missed a good one in St. Charles and I'm

>happy to see the Billikens pull it out in the last seconds.

>However, Vashon's game wasn't half bad either.

>

>Vashon pulled out a squeaker against Northside, 52-51. I

>believe Northside's record is 14-5, but do not be deceived.

>They play a challenging schedule, including a few out of

>state teams and I don't think they've lost by more than 2

>points in any game.

>

>Vashon was in control most of the game, but got into trouble

>when they tried to slow it down in the last two minutes.

>Northside's tenacious defense forced some late turnovers and

>they had a chance to win it with three seconds. While the

>crowd disputed the non-call, I didn't see any contact by any

>of the Vashon players as they swatted away a shot in the

>paint. It looked disputable because Northside's player was

>triple teamed as he drove to the hole, but I thought

>Vashon's players went straight up and did not initiate any

>contact.

>

>Vashon's Hill, Washington and Powell were the three stars

>tonight. Washington reminded me of SLU's Jamal Walker.

>That is to say he was a good distributor, showed a decent

>outside shot, but didn't display the great athleticism like

>his counterpart from Northside. That Fuselage, Northside's

>point guard, is one exciting player, but for some reason he

>couldn't feed their big guy inside, who was nonexistent in

>the game, but will be going to UK next year. Excellent game

>plan by Irons in stopping Northside's post player, but I

>thought he made a mistake at the end in slowing down the

>tempo.

>

>Vashon has either Christ The King or Santa Fe in the finals

>tomorrow night.

Thanks for the recap. Looks like Vashon went with a short rotation. Cornelius Walker who had 15pts the night before isnt even listed in the boxscore. 4 games in 4 nights for Vashon is going to be tough. The 3 challenging Bass Pro games and then the MLK shootout Monday, hosted at Vashon instead of Savvis this year.

[aj_arete]

against Oklahoma's Santa Fe team. Tournamnt organizer said he thought Santa Fe would really be a team to look at and he was right. They a couple of beasts inside that were complimented by role players and scrappy players. Santa Fe did a complete meltdown and succombed to Christ The King's full court press. They blew a 17-point lead.

Christ The King is ranked 16th in the USA Today Poll, but I wasn't that impressed with them. They have an excellent guard, whose name I believe is Davis, but they don't have too much size. I think Northside had a better team, but you never know. Christ The King might have had an off night.

[aj_arete]

As expected, Vashon rolled over USA Today's nationally-ranked Christ The King of New York, though that ranking is undeserved. One could make an argument that they were the 4th best team in the field. PG James Washington was named MVP, which surprised me, but he was a solid field general throughout. Bobby Hill also made the tournament team.

VTime, who is #24? He was impressive tonight for the V with some long range bombs off the bench. As for the team, I thought it was their worst performance of the weekend, but their defense was fierce in shutting down Larry Davis of Christ The King.

Based on their amazing depth, tenacious defense, and multiple scoring options; this looks to be one of Vashon's greatest teams. Of course, McKinney and Polk's 2002 team may be able to handle this team because they had superior ball-handlers, b I'd say this year's team could rate with any other in V's illustrious history.

One last note is that tournament organizers said that this was probably their best tournament field their history with great depth throughout.

[Cowboy]

Need a history lesson about Bobby Hill, did we offer him?? if not why not??

In watching 3 ToC games, what was he asked to do, he did it.

Rebound, defend, block shots(fantastic), handle, score. he made I think 6 or 8 straight ft's at the end of championship game.

I heard someone say Floyd told him to get off the floor as there was a problem Sat night, I thought perhaps medical as he did not return, but I saw no issue.

Bobby was very impressive against very good competition.

Leon Powell rose in my estimation this weekend also, but still a lot of streaky there, but could be very nice.

#24 was Hobbs, I think, looked very much like Polk, very small lefty, though no evidence he is as quick as DP (he might be, he didn't have a chance to show it).

Congrats to the V.

It is hard work being a Billiken fan.

[p diddy]

yes, bobby was offered by slu and floyd endorsed it as well, but he chose illinois state because he felt he could play right away. he's probably right, because illinois state is really struggling right now. bobby's father really got involved (even causing a little rift with floyd), which was a major factor in him choosing ISU over bradley, wichita state and slu.

bad boyz for life

[VTIME]

#24 was the sophomore Darren Hobbs. He's grown about 5 inches since last season allowing him to play off guard and get minutes after being the third string pg last year. He's started several games this season as he and #12 Cornelius Walker, another sophomore have been alternating start this season. Hobbs is a very good shooter and at sub 6 ft dunks easy. He need some weight though. The best of their sophomores is probably 6'4 sg Kenneth Harris. He played for the Eagles this past spring and summer and transferred to Vashon after playing for Soldan last season. 3 kids to watch in 2008. Powell did a good job against bigger more highly touted bigs this weekend. Hill is an example of people scared to take a chance on potential. His numbers werent glowing last year, but with his versatitility, he should've had at least one offer before seasons end. The Illinois native chose Illinois State.

[VTIME]

>As expected, Vashon rolled over USA Today's

>nationally-ranked Christ The King of New York, though that

>ranking is undeserved. One could make an argument that they

>were the 4th best team in the field. PG James Washington

>was named MVP, which surprised me, but he was a solid field

>general throughout. Bobby Hill also made the tournament

>team.

>

>VTime, who is #24? He was impressive tonight for the V with

>some long range bombs off the bench. As for the team, I

>thought it was their worst performance of the weekend, but

>their defense was fierce in shutting down Larry Davis of

>Christ The King.

>

>Based on their amazing depth, tenacious defense, and

>multiple scoring options; this looks to be one of Vashon's

>greatest teams. Of course, McKinney and Polk's 2002 team

>may be able to handle this team because they had superior

>ball-handlers, b I'd say this year's team could rate with

>any other in V's illustrious history.

>

>One last note is that tournament organizers said that this

>was probably their best tournament field their history with

>great depth throughout.

If you can come see Vashon play locally in the MLK Classic hosted at Vashon today. Other teams include Ritter featuring senior sharpshooter Marquis Jones, junior phenom Deandre Gilmore and Jonathan Mosley returns after sitting out most of the season with an injury. McCluer North features super soph, Torres Roundtree, the younger brother of former area start Chris Carawell, Kenzie Burke, their leading scorer is a senior and the younger brother of 2003 All-Metro player of the year Ken Burke. Normandy is also in the tourney and they are led by fantastic sophomore in Anthony James and senior 6'4 forward Corey Wright. Anthony James is something special.

[courtside]

All the more reason to ignore national rankings for high school sports.

[aj_arete]

but this tournament field was legitimate. While Christ The King was overrated, Vashon defeated two other teams that have and will compete for state titles.