St. Johns HS defeats Bishop O’Connell in BSN semis: 10 Best
St. Johns College HS Cadets Washington, DC. (WCAC Conference)
Head Coach: Patrick Behan.
VS.
Bishop O’Connell HS Knights Arlington, VA. (WCAC Conference)
Head Coach: Joseph Wooten.
Bishop O’Connell ran into a buzz-saw today as St. Johns played flawless basketball displaying excellent shooting, ball movement and defense, defeating the Knights 99-73. The victory places SJC in the finals of the DeMatha BSN Summer League against an excellent Georgetown Prep team who defeated Pallotti in the secon semifinal game. Earlier this spring 4 year & highly respected Head SJC Coach Sean McAloon left St. Johns for a job he could not refuse with The IMG Academy & Under Armour & CEO Kevin Plank who is a SJC alumnus and University of Maryland football alum. It should be noted that Coach McAloon did an outstanding job at SJC and won a WCAC Title in 2015/16. Coach McAloon more than highly recommended his one time up & coming Assistant Coach Patrick Behan, who was currently the Head Coach at WCAC St. Mary Ryken. Coach Behan accepted the Head Coaching job for St. Johns & we thought this was a great hire for the Cadets. Speaking to several SJC players they are familiar with Coach Behan, have bought in and the transition has been very smooth. This years SJC team is possibly the top 2 or 3 deepest teams in the Washington, DC, DMV. The roster is loaded and over last few weeks SJC is without question a top team in the DMV, as we theorized last month. On the entire roster there could be as many as 10 Division 1 players for theclasses 2021 thru this years 2018 class, led by D1 players, PG Tre Wood, F/C Richard Njoku, W Quanzi Samuels Jr, and possibly CG Zachary Spooner. What has been so impressive with SJC is their focus ,ntelligence and aggressiveness on both sides of the ball, and excellent Coaching. Yesterday we featured Bishop O’Connell who must be commended on recording a 13-1 BSN summer league record. The Knights lost 2 key D1 players to graduation in 6’8.5″ Nate Watson (Providence) & 6’5″ WG Matt Lewis (JMU) plus 3 more in transfers this spring & summer. However,the cupboard is far from bare for Coach Joe Wooten and his Bishop O’Connell Knights who will have a minimum of 4 D1 players this season. The Knights could cause some problems in The WCAC this season for our top 4 teams of: St. Johns, Paul VI, Gonzaga, and DeMatha.
In tomorrows night final it has been agreed by our staff that St. Johns opponent, Georgetown Prep is a challenger for the # 1 ranking in the Washington, DC DMV.
Adam Ayalew wrote a great final 4 previews for the DeMatha BSN semifinals.
https://prephoops.com/2017/07/bsn-summer-league-final-four-preview/
TEN BEST:
GAME MVP:
Casey Morsell, 6’3″, CG, 2019.
Casey totaled 24 points, hitting 3 or 4 three pointers (there is some stat discrepancy, we will try and confirm in 24 hours), shot lights out, dished out 4 assists, made several steals, and had0 turnovers. Casey played PG & WG today excelling at both positions. Also, we awarded Casey Play of the Game, see further down in article. He appears a little taller than last years listed 6’2″ to pair with his excellent wingspan. Additionally, Casey excels in defense and currently holds offers from Virginia Tech, GWU, USF, GMU, VCU, Penn State, Richmond & Temple.
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE GAME:
Devin Savage, 6’3″, WG, 2021.
Devin totaled 20 points and shot 7-9 overall & 4-6 from 3 point range. The incoming freshmen has been very impressive this week and he should be ranked high very high in our 2021 rankings in the future. Devin has a high basketball IQ, plays very hard and he could be an impact player.
BEST RIM ATTACKER:
Xavier Johnson, 6’3″ PG, 2018.
Going to the rim all game long and converting 17 of 21 free throws says volumes for X as the St. Johns defense was keying on him and collapsing defenders on Xavier the entire game. He is an ultra competitor, a great teammate & high major recruit.
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE GAME:
Richard Njoku, 6’8″, PF/C, 2018.
Richard was a disruptive force blocking shots, altering shots & rebounding today. He will start at center once again for SJC this year & has several D1 offers to date. Richard has excellent explosion and can finish very hard at the rim. He wore #34 today in the video below:
Please read our excellent Recruiting Report by Adam Ayalew below:
https://prephoops.com/2017/01/recruiting-report-richard-njoku-2018/
BEST ALL AROUND PLAYER:
Jalin Abbott, 6’5″, G/F, 2019.
Jalin has been fantastic all summer and has played major minutes for the Cadets. It will be very hard to keep him off the floor this season and Jalin has shown he is an excellent all around player. Over the weekend he suffered a blow near his eye after getting am unintentional knee on a lose ball requiring some stitches vs rival Gonzaga Thankfully he is doing fine & played great today, totaling 14 points, facilitating, collecting rebounds & defended very well. Jalin is #10 in the video of the game.
UP & COMING 2020:
Ishmael Leggett , 6’2″, G, 2020.
Ishmael has grown 3 inches from his freshmen year at SJC where he played varsity. This spring he has played very well at various camps & is ranked #11 in our 2020 rankings. Today Ishmael scored 10 points and played very high IQ basketball. It is very early for Ishmael but he appears to have the skills & mindset of a D1 player.
BEST GLUE PLAYER:
Zachary Spooner, 6’3.5″, CG, 2018.
Zachary could be one of the most underrated players in the DMV. He played both guard positions today displaying a very nice handle and can play on both sides of the ball very well. He rarely makes mistakes and sacrifices for his team. His stats could easily improve in college *& overall Zachary has excellent skills.
BEST FACILITATOR:
Tre Wood, 6’1″, PG, 2018.
Tre was awarded Game MVP in the quarterfinals vs Gonzaga and played an excellent game totaling 15 points on just 8 shots. He found a open teammates all game long for assists or hockey assists.
PLAY OF THE GAME:
Casey Morsell, 6’3″, CG, 2019.
Casey was phenomenal today and he another plays made one great play after another. At the 4:30 mark in the game highlights below, Casey receives a kick-out pass on the right wing short corner, and in one motion with perfect in place footwork, rises high and knocks down a 3 pointer after getting fouled. Casey then hits the free throw and coverts a 4 point play.
BEST SNIPER:
Xavier Johnson, 6’3″, PG, 2018.
Xavier knocked down 5 of 6 three pointers today in all forms, but mostly off the dribble. If his shooting keeps up, he will be unstoppable. Without question we think X is a high major player.
SPECIAL MENTION:
Charlie Webber, 6’7.5″, F, 2019.
Charlie had a very solid game scoring 13 points and since arriving at O’Connell this summer looks better each time out. He can play inside out, and is very tough & smart. We think he is a D1 player and appears to still be growing.
Matt Brecht, 6’3″ WG, 2018.
Matt scored 9 points on 4-9 FGs today and the usual dead-eye sharpshooter reversed his role scoring 3 two point FGS, 2 at the rim and one on a pull up off the dribble, but managed just one 3 pointer as SJC keyed on shutting down his 3 pointers. The big news is Matthew verbally committed to D1 Mt. St. Marys College in Maryland today. Congratulations Matthew.
Devon Dunn, 6’0″, G, 2019.
Devon has had an outstanding summer and has broken out as an excellent college recruit. On a deep and talented SJC team Devon could see a Microwave roll off the bench for instant offense for the powerful Cadets. We believe Devon has the potential for a D1 recruit and is one the best sharpshooters we have seen this summer.
Please see the video below for Devon:
Jahmal Banks, 6’5, WG/WF, 2020.
Jahmal is a rising sophomore and in our opinion has broken out and ready to start for Bishop O’Connell this coming season. He is an outstanding player and ranked # 38 in our Virginia 2020 rankings & could be a stock riser this season. Jahmal is fearless, smart and score from all 3 levels and will become a D1 recruit in our opinion.
Below are the highlights for the game. Also, follow our own Adam Ayalew on Twitter.
Game highlights courtesy of Marc Stern @ Capitol Hoops, great video.