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Bonji Osinake (sr, F) left, Kenneth Murphy (#10, sr, guard), and his mother celebrate after Mather's heartthumping 60-50 win over King on a Murphy driving shot with 10 seconds left.
After seeing Kenneth Murphy of Mather play two days ago against Clemente, I declared Murphy "one of the best if not the best player in the Red-North Conference." Tonight, he helped solidify my opinion even more as Down by one, Murphy drove in the teeth of the King defense and hit a short driving shot to give Mather a 60-59 lead. Glenn Heffernan (jr, guard) of Mather iced the win when he stripped the ball from King's Justin Reynolds (sr-F) at the top of the key before Reynolds can put up a shot.
"I knew he was going to shoot the ball so I went up to him and played good defense," said Heffernam about his defensive stop on Reynolds.
"I created that shot on my own...I model my game after Derick Rose," said Murphy on his game winning shot.
Mather was in the lead the entire game until the end of the 4th quarter. They were up 20-12 at the end of the 1st quarter, 33-20 at half time, and up by 11 in the 4th quarter. But the lead never seemed safe as King kept the game close. At the beginning of the 2nd half, king erupted with a 10-0 run. But Mather got the lead back up to 11 again. Then at the end of the game, a Michael Ruffin (sr-guard) and a Darnell Fishback (sr- F) helped the King comeback. But they fell just short.
King had a tournamnet filled with close games. They beat Lane and Taft by 1, before falling to Mather by 1.
The victory gives Mather their 2nd straight Luther North Tournament.
"We feel we can win conference. We beat Loyola, Notre Dame, Lincoln Park, and a whole lot of other teams during summer league ball," said Mather forward Bonji Osinake.
I will say that Mather goes into January's conference games with a lot of momentum. Lane, Taft, Lincoln Park....WATCH OUT FOR MATHER!
Darnell Fishback (sr-Forward) of King hit a 3 pointer with 4 seconds left to stun Taft 56-55 in the Luther North semi-finals.
This is a game that blew. Taft was up 42-31 in the third quarter before King came back. With 34.7 second left Taft had the ball with a 2 pont lead. But, their normally good shooting guards Josh Doss (so- guard) and Gerardo Sandoval (sr- guard) missed front end of one on one free throws to give Fishback an opportunity for heroics.
King escaped past Lane 53-52 in a heart thumper yesterday.
King plays the winner of Mather and Jones for the Luther North championship tomorrow night at 8:00pm.
update:
King will play Mather, who beat Jones 58-37 in the other semi-final.
Kendarius Tucker (6-3, guard), Clemente's leading scorer.
Other Day 3 Luther North Tournament scores
Luther North 75, Clemente 71
Lane Tech 46, St. Francis DeSales 41
Jones led by junior point guard John Chico (#23) put itself in the semi-finals and matchup with mighty Mather.
6:30pm -King vs Taft
I thought King was going to roll through this tournament, but Lane gave them all they could handle. King is the biggest team in the tournament with 4 centers on their roster (all 6-4 and above). Their best player could be Darnell Fishback, a 6-4 senior forward. The good news for Taft is that Taft is the only team in the tournament that can match King height wise. I like Taft center Kevin Siudut(6-5 center). Key for Taft will be continued solid guard play by high scorer Jonathon Doss (6-3, sr, guard) and Gerardo Sandoval (6-2, guard, sr). I like the play of Sandoval. He's got a good inside/outside game and at 6-2 matches up well with the big King team.
On paper, King is the slight favorite. However, Taft is capable of an upset.
8:00pm - Mather vs Jones
I thought Clemente would give Mather a better game in the quarterfinals. They did for a half, but after that it was all Mather. Mather as a team is much improved over last year. Last year, forward Brandon Roby was the star scorer for the team. This year, many of the returnees have stepped up to truly make this a team effort. Kenneth Murphy (sr-guard) is quicker and a better scorer form last year. Glenn Heffernan (6-3, jr) really improved on his outside shooting and is a dangerous 3 point shooter. Kyle Gordon (6-2 sr, guard) went from a role player last year to a really solid contributor this year. He has got a surprising quick drive to the basket. Jones can run the ball, but if that tactic won't work well against Mather, who is really good in transition play. Expect Mather to roll in this game.
Reggie Ruffin (sr-5-9 guard) is surrounded by Lane players from left to right Zach Barth (#34, so) Dillan Torres (#22, guard) and #21.
King, Taft, Mather, and Jones advance to semi-finals
I just got back from watching ALL the quarterfinal games at the Luther North Tournament. Below are the scores and a recap of the games.
King 53 Lane 52
King dominated this game throughout until the last half of the 4th quarter. King, behind the play of their big guys like Dante Johnson (at 6-6 the tallest man in the entire tournament, King has 4 centers on their roster) led Lane by about 16 points in the 4th quarter. Then Lane went on a furious rally. Up 50-40 with a couple minutes left, King decided to go on a prevent/stall offense. That strategy backfired as Lane's defense stepped up combined with two three pointers by Dillan Torres cut the lead. Down by three and the ball, Lane's Eric Butler made a shot and was fouled. He had a chance to tie the game with a free throw, but he missed it. Lane got the ball back with 6 seconds left and a chance to win the game. But they were not able to get the shot up and King survived.
Taft 61 St. Francis DeSales 53
St. Francis spurted out to a 10-2 lead. Taft battled back and tied the game at halftime. In the second half, Taft controlled the game. Taft is solid team. They are big with with a starting line up with everyone 6-2 and above. Guard Jonathon Doss (6-2) controls the offense. Freshman John Joyce (6-3 G/F) showed me some good promise with his outside shooting. he is the future of Taft. Big man Kevin Siudut (6-5, Center. jr) gave much shorter St. Francis problems all day with his rebounding and inside play.
Mather 54 Clemente 32
The first half was close with Mather up only 27-24 at the half. Clemente's guard tandem of Kendarius Tucker (sr-6-3) and Kendal Harris (jr- 6-4). But in the 2nd half it was all Mather as Mather allowed only 8 Clemente point for the entire 2nd half. Clemente guard Kendarius Tucker averages about 19 points per game. In this game, I think he had only 9. I thought Mather was good last year as they won the Blue-North and finished with a stellar record. This years version looks even better. Kenneth Murphy, a senior guard may be the best, if not one of the best players in the entire Red-North conference.
Jones over Luther North
I left this game with 6:37 remaining in the 2nd quarter. Jones had a commanding 20-1 lead. Jones did not give up a single field goal in the entire 1st quarter. Jones plays Mather in the semi-finals. However, do not expect Jones to give Mather much of a game. Despite their 20-1 lead to start the game, the score was a reflection more of Luther North's poor shooting than Jones' great play. Jones only had 8 players suit up for the game. I did not notice 6-5 C/F Jerome Rhodes. For some reason he was MIA. Jones does have some athletes on the team. Colin Blaydes (6-3 jr guard) and John Chico (5-9 jr guard) shows some promise.
Much more coming soon...
Eric Butler (sr-guard), led Lane Tech with 18 points in their surprisingly close 50-42 win over much smaller enrollment Holy Trinity.
Quarterfinal Schedule
December 28, 2010
3:30pm - King vs Lane Tech
It's too bad these teams are meeting in the 2nd round. This game could have been a championship match up. Both teams took care of business in the first round. King beat Latin 54-45 and Lane got by Holy Trinity 50-42. Lane was led by guard Eric Butler's 18 points. I've got King favored in this game. They are bigger and more athletic. The key for Lane will be their defense, who gave up only 42 points versus Holy Trinity. If they can continue to play tough defense, they can keep the game close.
5:00pm - Taft vs St. Francis de Sales
Taft beat Gordon Tech in the first round with a comfortable 62-46 score. Kevin Siudut had a monster game with 15 points and 17 rebounds. Watch out for St. Francis de Sales Eric Washington who had 23 points, 17 rebounds, and 9 assists in their 59-46 first round win over Elmwood Park in the first round. That's a game!
6:30pm - Mather vs Clemente
As expected, both teams had blowouts in the first round. Mather beat Northtown 78-44 and Clemente came up with a big win over Maine East 53-36. This is the big game to watch in the quarterfinals. I picked Mather to win the Red-North this year after winning the Blue North this year. Look out for Mather's Kenneth Murphy (sr). Do not be fooled by Clemente being a Blue conference team. Clemente leads the Blue-West with a 9-2 record. I picked Clemente to be a dark horse in this tournament - largely due to the strength of high scoring Kendarius Tucker. Tucker could be the best player in this tournament and will give Mather fits. The winner of this game is a large favorite to make it to the finals.
8:00pm - Jones vs Luther North
Jones beat Chicago Academy 49-38. Both are mid-tier blue conference teams. Jones relies on balanced scoring from Colin Blades, Jerome Rhodes (sr-F), John Chico (guard, jr), and Dandre Taylor(guard, jr).
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