SBP BASKETBALL TEAM HAS ANOTHER GREULING CHALLENGE ON ITS HANDS
Postseason tournament to compliment national caliber schedule
Nov. 26, 2008
St. Benedict's basketball program has soared to new heights under the tutelage of coach Danny Hurley.
The team has been at or near the top of every national poll for the last few years, including a No. 2 final ranking after posting a 24-1 record a year ago.
Yet, one thing has been ominously missing from Hurley's resume the last couple of seasons - postseason championships. But the only reason the Gray Bees season came to an anticlimactic ending was because St. Benedict's, which plays an entirely independent schedule, had no postseason tournament in which to compete.
That, however, will all change this year.
The Gray Bees have been selected to participate in the National High School Invitational, a first-of-its-kind postseason event that will involve most of the nation's top programs. The tournament, which is being put together by ESPN, Nike and Paragon Marketing, is set for April 3 through 5 - the Final Four weekend - and will be held at Georgetown Prep in Washington D.C.
"This is exciting for us. We now can start talking about setting a goal for the end of the year," said Hurley, who, in seven years, has produced a sparking, 179-17, record. "In the past couple years, we haven't had anything to build toward, but this year, we have something at the end and that adds a little incentive to strive for and that should help."
Senior guard Tamir Jackson, who recently signed a national letter-of-intent to attend Rice University next fall, is also thrilled about the prospects of playing in the postseason.
"It's been really tough cause when our season has ended in the past, all my friends at other schools are still playing in the playoffs," he said. "To have this happen for my senior year is great. Playing in this type of tournament has us really pumped up."
But Jackson will throw caution to the wind, knowing full well the Gray Bees will once again have one of the toughest schedules in America to contend with before even thinking about playing in the nation's capitol. Not to mention the fact that his team will be entering the 2008-'09 season with a new cast of leaders.
Hurley's club, despite losing 500 pounds of muscle underneath with Samardo Samuels and Greg Echenique now making their marks at Louisville and Rutgers, respectively, is excited about the upcoming campaign and the challenges that come with it.
The last couple of years, with the Twin Towers, St. Benedict's was forced into a more half-court style of play. This season, expect the Gray Bees to be a more up-tempo team that will cover the entire floor.
Besides Jackson (6-3, 180 pounds), a senior, who was the team's second-leading scorer last year with a 13.8 per game average last year, the Gray Bees will rely on other returnees who saw plenty of action last year: juniors Tristan Thompson (6-9, 215), Mike Poole (6-6, 195) and Aaron Brown (6-4, 180), and sophomore Myck Kabongo (6-1, 155).
"We're fortunate enough to have had a number of guys who were freshmen and sophomores last year that contributed," said Hurley, who also noted that senior Steve Frankoski will play a more pivotal role this season in the full-court game. "They all relied on two great players (Samuels and Echenique) while getting some valuable playing time last year. But now it's their turn to show what they're made of."
The Gray Bees will fortify its lineup with a solid influx of newcomers, including Pittsburgh-bound Lamar Patterson, a 6-5, 220-pound senior. Patterson, who averaged 18.7 points per game at McCaskey High in Pennsylvania, will give the Gray Bees some firepower up front with junior Gilvydas Biruta (6-8, 225), 7-foot sophomore Blaise Mbargorba and 6-10 junior Jean Paul Kambola.
"We'll definitely play a different style this year. We have a lot more depth," said Hurley. "We're going to play 9 or 10 guys comfortably - much more of a 94-foot game with pressure to attack both ends of the court."
A talented bench with numbers, called one of the deepest talent pools of any team in the country by a number of national publications, will come in handy with the type of schedule the Gray Bees have lined up.
St. Benedict's, which beat seven teams ranked in USA Today's Super 25 rankings last year, is listed as No. 6 in the national preseason rankings. Hurley's troops, which also started as the sixth-ranked team in the nation last year, will compete in the Marshall City Hoopfest (Benton, Ky.) Dec. 5-6; the Kreul Classic (Ft. Lauderdale, Fl.) Dec. 19-23; and the Nike Invitational (San Juan, Puerto Rico) Dec. 26-30.
And that's just the December schedule.
The new year will bring another host of challenges, including a Feb. 4 showdown at Rutgers with its stiffest in-state rival, St. Patrick's of Elizabeth. Three days later, on Feb. 7, it's on to California where the Gray Bees will tangle with No. 1 ranked Mater Dei of Santa Ana in the Nike Extravaganza.
"What makes it special coaching and playing here is that you play in great atmospheres in meaningful games all the time," said Hurley, "and to have something at the end to play for makes it an exciting time around here. We have a lot of talented players and our expectations are that we're going to be at the top."
NOTES: The Brian Doherty Memorial Classic will be held this season at the Prudential Center. The tournament, which will be held off school grounds for the first time, has expanded to include a 12-team field.
Unlike other nationally showcased tournaments, the Doherty Classic will have a unique offering - featuring a New Jersey team against a national-caliber opponent in every game and will even showcase one girl's game.
The out-of-state teams scheduled to play in the Jan. 24th showcase at "The Rock" are Whitney Young of Chicago, Lincoln of Brooklyn, Pinewood Prep of South Carolina, Neuman Goretti of Philadelphia and John LaFlore of Alabama. Other than the Gray Bees, the New Jersey schools are St. Anthony, Don Bosco, Union, St. Peter's and the girls' teams from Shabazz and Bloomfield Tech.
The Gray Bees open the season 4 p.m. at home in Dalton Gym this Monday, Dec. 1, against Edison Academy.
--By Ron Jandoli
There's no disgrace in losing to the No. 1 team in America.
"The time off has given us time to get ready and find an identity," said Kabongo, who committed the University of Texas earlier this year. "(We will) have time for others to step up."
Mike Poole has become a more vital part of the St. Benedict's basketball team over the last two weeks.
Aaron Brown got into the act in the second quarter, scoring half of his 14 points when coach Dan Hurley's team extended the lead to 36-23. Brown, a 6-4, 180-pound junior, and Myck Kabongo each handed out seven assists in the contest.
St. Benedict's, the No. 2 ranked team in the nation, was plagued by fouls and the inability to convert free throws in the first half Wednesday night and wound up being beaten for the first time all season, 88-62, to ninth-ranked St. Patrick of Elizabeth.
he could have blamed it on a nine-day layoff or horrible officiating - he had nothing but praise for his counterpart, "St. Pat's played great and their guard play dictated the (tempo)."
Kabongo, who was born in Zaire and lived in South Africa before his family moved to Toronto when he was three years old, is the second St. Benedict's player to give an early verbal to Texas. Junior power forward Tristan Thompson, raised in the suburbs of Toronto and who Kabongo said is "like my brother," also committed to Barnes and Texas last year when he was just a sophomore.
Thompson established the tempo right off the opening tip. The 6-9, 215-pounder blocked Life Center's opening shot, which sent Aaron Brown coast-to-coast for a layup. Tamir Jackson made his presence felt early too, scoring off a fast break himself before connecting on a three pointer when the Gray Bees broke out to a 7-2 lead in the opening 90 seconds and never looked back.
Kabongo was constantly busy breaking the press with his speed and nifty ball handling.