What impressed most about Napier was that his shot wasn't falling early (a shocking 1-8 from the free throw line in the first half), but he found ways to impact the game by making nifty passes and pressuring the ball as well as any point guard Friarbasketball saw all weekend. He forced the action a bit throughout the afternoon, but made huge plays in the final five minutes to pull this one out for Lawrence. A stark contrast to the Marquette game a day earlier.
Napier capped a 23 point second half by connecting on a 30 foot game tying 3 pointer with 15 seconds to go, committing an overly-aggressive foul with 11 seconds left leading to 1 NMH free throw, and then knocking down what must have been a 32 foot 3 off of a crossover with 3 seconds left to win it. He did this while playing all 40 minutes in his third game in three days. His Lawrence Academy team remains undefeated with wins over Tilton, St. Mark's and now Northfield Mount Hermon.
Need in indication of how big the Napier buzz has gotten? When I called my better half after the game all I said was "I just saw an amazing performance by a kid PC has to get" and she responded "Was it Shabazz?" Yes, indeed it was.
Other notable performances from the St. Andrew's win over MCI, a Winchendon drubbing of Canarias Basketball Academy, and the Lawrence/Northfield game.
- Mike Carter-Williams is a big time player. After scoring 36 in his Invitational debut he dropped 26 first half points on a variety of jumpers, layups, and leaners. Carter-Williams has great length, plays with poise, and seemingly didn't miss all weekend. He may not be the best player in the tournament, but he played better than anyone I saw. Had no idea he was this good. A possible tournament MVP.
- Majok Majok of NMH had some buzz heading into the weekend and didn't disappoint. Playing a small Lawrence team he displayed surprisingly good footwork around the basket and shot well from the free throw line. Word is academics are important to Majok and he may end up at Harvard with teammates Matt Brown and Laurent Rivard. Majok would be a huge get for Harvard and a good get for a Big East level team. He has dramatically improved from last year's NPSI. Rivard is a solid small forward with a solid stroke who is another good find for Tommy Amaker.
- Ricky Ledo played better today after struggling on Friday. His first half resembled his first game against Westwind Prep, but Ricky came alive in the second, finding his outside stroke and carrying the offense after MCI focused more attention on Carter-Williams. He needs to get better off of the dribble, but he is a willing passer and a good athlete.
- As I wrote previously, Levan Shegalia is a nice find for Jim Baron at URI. The 6'9, 265 pound power forward has range out to the 3 point line, loves to mix it up inside, sprints up the court, and is a good passer for a player his size. I've seen him twice and in each game he got into it with the man covering him: Ron Giplaye got into a shoving match with him in December and today it was Youri Dascy sharing words with him after Shegalia slapped his hand away when jockeying for a rebound. This kid will raise the ire of PC fans, guaranteed.
- It was a quiet afternoon for Khem Birch. Winchendon seemed to sleep walk through their win against Canarais Academy. Birch had a few blocks, including one which he pinned against the glass. Friarbasketball favorites Anthony Ireland and Eric Ferguson had opposite days. Ferguson was quiet for once, while Ireland, the heady Winchendon point guard, was tough as always.
- Still not seeing it with Angel Nunez. He doesn't seem to be playing with a lot of confidence and his offense consisted of missing, often badly, from 3. Interestingly, he's backing up Ferguson, who was quiet all year as a junior for Winchendon until an end of the year explosion that carried into his senior year. Will Nunez follow the same path?
