Richard Montgomery @ Paint Branch : 5 Takeaways & MOCO 4A Clash on 1-5-18
12-12-12-17, Paint Branch HS. 14121 Old Columbia Pike, Burtonsville, MD. 20866
We would like to thank the great hospitality from Paint Branch HS, Coach Chris Bohlen, his great staff & all the great people at PB HS. Coach Bohlen orchestrated a fantastic off season program for the Panthers this summer & fall. He put in tremendous amount of time & great effort helping his PB Panthers in S&C workouts, basketball drills & mentoring his players. We wound like to thank Richard Montgomery Head Coach David Breslaw for chatting with us before & after the game. Coach Breslaw worked very hard this off-season & fall & fall for his Rockets. We saw RM this summer at the MD Elite Summer League run by Coach David McCloud (Head Coach for Jewish Day) & Richard Montgomery Assistant Coach Azhar Shamsudeen who did a fantastic job. Last night PB Panther 2019 PG Richard Dudley was game MVP & was the games leading score with 26 points (Photo by Kyle McFadden MSA)
Paint Branch Panthers 71 Richard Montgomery Rockets 61
Both Teams will improve as the season progresses.
Paint Branch consensus top 5 MOCO player Bobby Miller (left) played only a few minutes last evening. He was just cleared to play after recovering from a sprained ankle just before last weeks BCC game on 12-5-17. Tonight he tweaked his calf & sat out basically the entire game. We know Bobby very well & he worked extremely hard this summer attending many events, attended every PB summer workout (except when was at events such as Hoop Group) & played in the very tough DeMatha BSN summer league where he earned Honorable Mention Team which was loaded with D1 players. We pray Bobby heals & once he comes back he will take the Panthers to another level.
Paint Branch graduated 2 key players in leading scorer 6’2″ WG Steve Etienne 12.8 ppg), 6’4″ PF James Valle III (9.6ppg)5’10” PG Jarell Body (5.5ppg) & 6’5″ SF Sam Brown (6ppg). Last season Paint Branch advanced in the MD 4A Regionals before losing eventual 4A State Champion Perry Hall in the MD 4A Quarterfinals. Paint Branch has formed a new 9 deep rotation which has great upside & the Panther bench will be playing at a high level in the near future. Paint branch is one of the deepest teams in MOCO 4A.
Richard Montgomery‘ 6’9″ 2019 Stretch 4 Miles Gally was not at full strength tonight, somewhere around 80%. Miles suffered a left index finger injury which was heavily bandaged & he has not been able to practice until recently. This preseason we rated Miles & RM teammate 6’1.5″ PG/ CG Daryn Alexander (pictured left) as top 12 MOCO players. Despite his injury, Miles looked very good tonight. This summer we saw him play for the District Basketball Club & in the MD Elite Summer League. Miles works on his game with great effort & he has made a jump in his level of play. He looks quicker & faster running the court & in his moves. His outside shooting will be a weapon & Miles led RM is scoring with 15 with several inside FGs, but his perimter corner 3 is his bread & butter where Miles can score or facilitate. Daryn is a multi sport star at RM & played WR this season leading the Rockets with 38 receptions. He was named All MOCO 4A All County 1st team this month. Football season ended in late November & Daryn is still in the process of regaining his basketball conditioning & making the transition from football to basketball. However, last night Daryn scored 13 points & played & excellent overall floor game. If we used our 10 Best game Format Daryn & Miles would have been awarded.
Paint Branch will go 9 deep
#1, Juan Bell, 5’10”, PG 2021. Last night Juan played very , scored 1 or 2 FGS & played a very solid floor game. He caught us by surprise & impressed us, especially for being just a freshmen. We will be getting a much closer look at Juan this season
#3 Mishi Etuafal, 6’2″ WG, 2018. Mishi has started both games we scouted this season & played very well in both contests. Last night he was superb scoring 15 points & playing very well on both ends. Mishi clearly has the ability to play in college & in December we will be interviewing Mishi.
#4 Bobby Miller, 6’3″ WG, 2018. Hopefully Bobby can get back on the court this December. Bobby is a fantastic high energy player who plays on both sides of the ball at a high level. This summer Bobby jumped into our very deep 2018 MD/DC rankings & is rated @ # 55.
#5 Richard Dudley, 5’10”, PG, 2018. Richard had a very strong summer & has picked up where he left off. Last week he was awarded best Floor General. Tonight Richard scored 26 points & was the Game MVP. He has great bounce, a nice handle, & can get inside the paint or score from 3. Richard is making a case to move into the Top 5 MOCO 4 A players .
#10 Marley Sume, 6’2″ WG, 2019. Marley was a key player tonight & we were surprised he scored just 5 points. We will need to recheck the stats tomorrow. However, Marley impacted the game from all levels & we would have given an award such as Best Intangibles fie we did our 10 Best. Marley did knock down a beautiful 3 & he can get in the lane to score or dish.
#11 Christian Lawrence, 6’3″, SF, 2018. Christian caught our eye tonight & impacted the game much more than scoring 4 points. We will be watching Christian very closely this season.
#13 Xavier Reaves, 6’4″ SF, 2018. Xavier had another big game with 11 rebounds, 6 steals & 4 assists. Along with Bobby Miller, Xavier is a stat sheet stuffier. This preseason we rated him as a top 15 MOCO player, but Xavier could very well move up in the rankings. Tonight Xavier was the Defensive Player of the Game & he deserved another award. Xavier scored 6 points, but he is a double digit scorer. He is an excellent athlete with a great wingspan who can score from all 3 levels. We have chatted to several college coaches who are impressed with Xavier. This month we will be writing his Recruiting Report
#20 Jordan Alphonso 6’4″, F, 2020. Jordan is one of the top underclassman in MOCO. Last week he was awarded Best Defender vs BCC grabbing 15 rebounds & rejecting 8 shots. & scored 14 points. We will writing a Prospect Highlight for Jordan in the near future. Tonight he was under the weather, but caused RM problems. He is a player to remember & will be a scholarship player.
#21 Kevin Yomba, 6’5″ PF, 2018. We really like what Kevin brings to the table. He is a very long 6’5″ lefty who is very versatile. Kevin made key scores, passes & defensive plays. We do know that he can play in college, but want to see more of Kevin who perhaps was the games most intriguing player.
Freshmen & sophomore watch: Kordell Lewis, Juam Bell & Jordon Alphons0
#22 Kordell Lewis, 5’10” PG, 2021. We were stunned to learn Kordell is just a freshmen. He started @ PG & played an excellent game against Paint Branch who is probably the most athletic & longest MOCO team this season. Kordell proved to be a very good ball handler, & were impressed in his ability to get inside off the dribble & handle the Paint Branch 1-2-2 press & zone defense. Kordell totaled 7 points & he was impressive on levels playing with superb poise, toughness & very high IQ. His brother, Kolin is a 6’2″, 2019 WG who starts for Bullis HS who is ranked # 11 in our DC/MD rankings. The Bulldogs are 6-0 & have one the best back-courts & most underrated in the DC /DMV & MD. 2108 PG Vado Morse is committed to D1 Mt. St. Marys, 6’2″ 2018 sharpshooter Linclon Yuetter who could be a low mid major, & 6’2″ 2019 WG Nendah Tarke who is perhaps one the top breakout players in the DC DMV & a D1 recruit. We will be updating Kolin with a new article this month as well as Kordell. Remember the very talented brother duo of Kordell & Kolin Lewis who I will be scouting this month.
#20 Jordan Alphonso 6’4″, F, 2020. Paint Branch. Look for Alphonso to enter our 2020 rankings this season. He is an impact player for the Panthers
#1, Juan Bell, 5’10”, PG 2021. Paint Branch. We will be scouting Juan very close this season. He is in the Paint Branch rotation & we predict his playing time will increase this season. We really like what we saw tonight from Juan.
It could come down to, Springbrook vs Paint Branch for the top 2 MOCO 4A Teams
We are seeing separation in the MOCO 4A & our preseason prediction of Paint Branch & Springbrook rated as the top 2 teams with BCC in 3rd might hold true. However, according to the Washington Post, undefeated Springbrook was almost upset tonight by the MOCO 3A Blake Bengals in a narrow 96-93 win. In our opinion Paint Branch will heavily challenge Springbrook when Bobby Miller returns to the Panther line up & while he is on the mend the Paint Branch is 8 deep, can hold serve & become more cohesive this month. Springbrook defeated BCC by double digits without All Met candidate & D1 Quinnpiac Commit Matthew Balanc who received a technical on a very bad call for hanging on the rim after a dunk & was ejected just several minutes into the game.The Blue Devils add 6’1″ sophomore Tim Hawkins who caught our eye playing for Blake this summer. 6’7″ Point Forward Cameron Rucker who has D1 upside exploded for 32 points vs BCC. Newcomer 6’0″ PG Delanio Jessup is poised for a breakout year after having a superb summer. Matthew is our Preseason MOCO Player of the Year while Cameron & Delaino are in our top 10. Seniors Mike Germaine, 4 year Springbrook varsity player 6’2″ Anthony D. & 6’1″ Paint Branch transfer Sam Rafidi round out the top Blue Devils. We will be in attendance for both showdowns this season with game 1 on 1-5-18 @ Springbrook & game to be played on 1-25-17 @ Paint Branch.
We predict Richard Montgomery will be in Tier 2
6’9″ 2019, Stretch 4 Miles Gally & & 6’1.5″ 2018 CG Daryn Alexander are the Richard Montgomery Rocket leaders & both are not 100%. 5’10” 2021 PG Kordell Lewis has great upside & already a key Rocket starter who improves each time out. The Rockets suffered a huge blow this preseason when 6’7″ 2019 D1 prospect Oliver Nkamhoua, 6’7″, WF, 2019 suffered a leg fracture & Coach Breslaw sadly informed us Oliver could possibly miss the season. He was going to start @ swing forward & he is very athletic, can shoot the 3 & bring the ball up court & a very good defender. Our prayers are out to Oliver for a 110 % recovery. We met him this fall after his injury & Oliver who is from Finland looks the part. Before Oliver was injured we rated RM as a Tier 1 team. Despite losing Oliver, Richard Montgomery will be capable this January off knocking off any MOCO 4A team once Mils & Daryn round into shape. Clarksburg is off to as strong start @ 3-0 who we rate in tier 2 with Walt Whitman who clashes with Springbrook @home on Friday. We predicted Northwest, Gaithersburg & Quince Orchard & Wootton as other Tier 2 teams
2017/18 key Richard Montgomery players:
#3 Daryn Alexander, 6’1.5″ PG/ CG, 2018. Daryn is one of the best GGs in MOCO 4A & his brother starts for Frostbug State. We will update his Recruiting Report in early January. Daryn scored 13 points last evening which were mostly inside, but he can scored from all 3 levels & defend. Daryn is an excellent college prospect.
#33 Miles Gally 6’9″ Stretch 4, 2019. Miles led RM with 15 points, & rejected 3 plus shots. While he is a stretch 4 , Miles scored on a several nice low post moves. Like Daryn we will update his Recruiting Report in January. D1 Lafayette is expressing interest in Miles in addition to several other schools. Miles has a bright future at the next level
#12 Xavier Brown 6’4″,PF/C, 2018. Xavier played very well & scored 10 points. Coach Breslaw said in the preseason,”Xavier will probably start this season in our era of position-less basketball. He brings great energy & hustle to our team in addition to excellent rebounding skills. His playing style is similar to Dennis Rodman.” We agree with this assessment & are very intrigued with Xavier who we will interview this month.
#20 Willem Brown 6’3″ G/F, 2019. William was one the best players off the bench & totaled 8 points. He caught our eye & William is a very good shooter who will come off the bench for Richard Montgomery providing instant offense.
#22 Kordell Lewis, 5’10” PG, 2021. Kordell is one of the most pleasant surprises this season as a freshmen. He has great upside & will see major minutes for RM this season. Kordell is a true floor general.
#5 Djordje Oliver, 6’5″, SF, 2019. Djordje transferred to Richard Montgomery from nearby Good Counsel. Coach Breslaw says,” Djordje is a do everything type of player with very good athleticism. He will start this season & he is a D2 & up college prospect.”
#21 Nitin Bandi, 6’2.5″, CG, 2018. Coach Breslaw adds,”Nitin will be one of the 1st players off the bench & will start some games for us. He is one our best defenders & a capable scorer.”