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SoCalHoops HS Playoff News

A Word About Some Other Playoffs....NEPSAC Class "A"--(Feb. 28, 2003)

Some of you have been asking where we were and why the site wasn't updated last week.  Well, the fact of the matter is that after getting stuck in Boston in 44" of snow, and a cross-country trek which resembled the movie, "Planes, Trains and Automobiles" (you remember that one with John Candy, right?  Except that in real life, it's not as funny...), we got swamped at work.  But if the truth also be told, we've also been spending some of our free time attempting to keep up with some of the SoCal kids who are now playing on the east coast in the NEPSAC, the New England Prep School Athletic Conference.    Like the CIF, there are many schools which make up the NEPSAC, but there are only a few that compete at the "A" class level;  there are close to 100 other schools competing at the "B", "C" and "D" class levels, which are not based upon enrollment, but instead are based upon competitiveness among and between member schools.  And in the sport of basketball, the NEPSAC has also devised a sort of "power rating" in order to determine which teams make the NEPSAC "A" Playoffs....We won't bore anyone with the details of the formula used (it's called the Saylor Points formula), but suffice it to say, in the NEPSAC "A" league tournament, only 8 out of 12 teams that compete at this level made the tournament.  

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David Gale (14) and Deion James (32) defend against MCI in Brewster's win (photo from MBR.org)

The teams this year which made the tournament, an annual rite which features some of the best basketball anywhere in the country each year and more than 40 Division I coaches at each session were Bridgton Academy, Brewster Academy, Winchendon, Worcester Academy, Chesire Academy, Northfield Mt. Hermon School, New Hampton Academy, St. Thomas More, and Maine Central Institute (MCI).

In the upper half of the bracket, No. 1 seed Bridgton drew Northfield Mt. Hermon in the first round (after NMH defeated No. 9 seed Chesire in a "play-in" game last week for the No. 8 and final spot).

The other game in the top half of the bracket featured No. 4 St. Thomas More (where Julian Sensley and Jake Rohe both prepped), against No. 5 Worcester Academy.  The first round play saw Worcester get the win in a close game.

The bottom half of the bracket though is what will interest most of the folks from California.   In the "A" bracket, defending champion New Hampton was seeded No. 6 this year, and drew No. 3 Winchendon (remember Martin Iti?....Winchendon now has Curtis Stinson and Andres Sandoval among a host of other top players, as well as SoCal native Donovan Morris), and Winchendon managed to squeak out a one point win, 82-81 to advance to the semifinals which will be played today at Endicott College.

The second game in the bottom half of the bracket saw No. 2 Seed Maine Central Institute upended for the second time this season by No. 7 seed Brewster Academy, by a score of 85-83.   Both teams were loaded with players from California:  MCI featured Frank Robinson from Sylmar, and Rekalin Sims and Marquis Kately from NorCal.   Brewster features Joel Smith of Lompoc and David Gale of Sherman Oaks.

With the win by Brewster over MCI, the Bobcats will now get to matchup against Winchedon for the fourth time this season in regular league and tournament play.  All of the earlier meetings have gone to Winchendon.  Brewster plays Winchendon at 6:00 p.m. (EST), while Bridgton and Worcester meet at 8:00 p.m.    Both games are at Endicott College in Salem, Mass.   The finals are this Sunday at Providence College in Mass.  We'll try to keep everyone updated on this tournament as well.  You can also find other coverage of the tournament on PrepStars Recruiter's Handbook (which has provided coverage of the league and players throughout the season from Jeff Goodman, as well as the Prep School Polls which no other site really carries besides PrepStars).  Additional coverage can also be found at RivalsHoops.com from Russ Blake.  The best coverage by far though can be found at MBR.org, or Maine Basketball Report from Tom Nollette, who has been covering the NEPSAC for years, and you'll also find some great game stories and photos as well at MBR.

2002-2003 NEPSAC Class "A"  Tournament

Play In--Game
February 21

Quarterfinals
Wednesday,
February 26

Semifinals
Friday
February 28

Finals
Sunday
March 3

Northfield Mt. Hermon 80
vs.
Chesire Academy 66

 Bridgton Academy 74

vs.

Northfield Mt. Hermon 67

Bridgton

vs.

Worcester

4:00 p.m.
Rhode Island College
 
  St. Thomas More 69

vs.

Worcester Acad. 74
 
   
  Winchendon 82 (2OT)

vs.

New Hampton 81

Winchedon

vs.

Brewster Acad.
 
  MCI 80

vs.

Brewster Acad. 85
 
 

 

Scoring for Quarterfinals--Courtesy of MBR.org. and Tom Nollette:

Game 1 

WINCHENDON 82 VS NEW HAMPTON 81 (2 ot)


Click here for picture gallery of this game

Scoring:
Winchendon: Curtis Stinson 30, Donovan Morris 17, Dominique White 7, Karron Clarke 8, Andres Sandoval 8, Oktay Yilmaz 9, Marlon Pompey 4

New Hampton: Tony Chapman 10, Tom Leikas 17, Todd Checovich 6, Michael Cook 24, Jerrell Lewis 8, Oluwafemi Ibikunle 4, Julius Lamptey 9

Game 2

BREWSTER 85, MCI 80

Click here for picture gallery of this game


Scoring:

MCI: Frank Robinson 14, Rekalim Sims 15, Marquise Kately 18, Mike Tuck 3, Kieron Achara 14, joshua Daniels 5, Darnell Evans 3, Justin Jones 11

Brewster: David Gale 5, Frank Gilroy 2, Deion James 27, Norm Plummer 12, Blake Schilb 13, Joel Smith 12

Game 3

BRIDGTON ACADEMY 74, NORTHFIELD MOUNT HERMON 67

Click here for picture gallery of this game

Scoring:


Bridgton Academy: Darren Shine 7, Alray Taylor 14, Carlos Rivera 14, Cody McGrath 2, Alex Johnson 23, Moses Sonko 2, LAmont Hamilton 4, Lukasz Obrzut 2

Northfield Mount Hermon: Kashif Payne 20, Fred Jones 3, Robert Taylor 12, Cori Boston 13, Eli Manna 2, Samuel Manhanga 15

Game 4

WORCESTER ACADEMY 74, ST. THOMAS MORE 69

Click here for picture gallery of this game

Scoring:
Worcester Academy: JR More 2, Tim Burns 11, Steve Hailey 14, David Ball 3, Nick Stafford 4, Carl Elliot 12, Dwight Brewington 15, Sam Kaplan 14

St. Thomas More: Loren Stokes 19, Van Crafton 15, Steve Cotton 3, Donald Brown 5, Anthony Bruin 4, Ryan Cahak 11, Sam Dolan 5, Issac Ansah 6

 

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