St. Benedicts and Scott County Take Final of Baden Sponsored Piggly Wiggly Roundball Classic in Charleston SC
[Dec-31-2005]
Philip M. Bowman
Piggly Wiggly Roundball Classic
Charleston SC - It was the Rotary bracket championship of the Piggly Wiggly Roundball Classic, but it might as well have been the New Jersey state championship.
St. Benedict`s of Newark needed overtime to beat Bloomfield Tech 68-56 in an all-Garden State final Friday night in front of 3,400 at The Citadel`s McAlister Field House. St. Benedict`s outscored the Spartans 14-2 in overtime. Eugene Harvey was the hero with the first seven of the Gray Bees` overtime points.
St. Benedict`s pushed its record to 11-0 and gained its 80th victory in its last 83 games as two of New Jersey`s best teams battled in the Holy City.
"They have good players and we have good players, so everyone wants to know who is the best," said Harvey, who lists Pitt, Rutgers, Florida, Southern Cal, Kentucky and Connecticut as his top six schools. "I like having the ball in my hands when the game is on the line. The coaches want someone to step up when it matters."
The Gray Bees led by a dozen in the second half, but the Spartans kept chipping away. Rashon Dwight hit a three-point play with 1:54 left in regulation to cut the lead to 52-48 and then scored off a steal to make it a two-point game. The teams traded baskets, and Bloomfield`s Wesley Jenkins scored on a jumper with 41 seconds left to force overtime.
But Harvey proved to be prime time with free throws and clutch field goals.
The game was intense. Bloomfield coach Nick Mariniello was ejected from the game while three Spartans fouled out.
Harvey finished with 27 points, hitting 8 of 10 from the line. David Cubillan, who will play for Marquette, added 15 points, and Chris Smith nine.
Dwight led the Spartans with 16 points, hitting 7 of 11. Desean Butler added 13 and Wesley Jenkins 12.
Scott County, Ky., captured its first Roundball Classic title with an 84-57 victory over Dunwoody in the Red Cross bracket.
"Never in a million years," Scott County coach Billy Hicks responded when asked if he expected such a lopsided victory against Georgia`s defending Class AAA state champion. "Like I told their coach, we probably could play 50 times and it would never be like that again. Things fell our way. We made some shots early and we played good defense."
It marked the Cardinals` first
title in Charleston in four attempts. Scott County`s bids for titles were ended by North Charleston the last two times the Cardinals traveled south. This year, North Charleston was one of their victims.
Rodney Haddix, the No. 4 junior in the Bluegrass State, led the win with 25 points, hitting 12 of 13 from the foul line. He also added eight rebounds, two steals and two assists. Cam Hundley, one of the top sophomores in the state, came off the bench to score 18, hitting
7 of 8 from the field.
Matt Walls, the No. 4 junior in Kentucky, chipped in with 12 points and five rebounds.
Consolation
Goose Creek 72, Whitefield Academy 67
Whitefield Academy (67): Kevin Anderson 14, Dean 2, Hartley 3, Kevin McConnell 19, Goff 4, Hosch 5,Martin 9, Reed 3, Baskerville 4, Miller 2, Reddick 2.
Goose Creek (72): Kendrick Robinson 13, Brandon Wright 26, David Brown 10, J. Brown 6, Lee 6, Turner 8, Ward 3.
Halftime: Whitefield Academy, 30-28.
Aiken 67, Bethune-Bowman 28
Bethune-Bowman (28): Utsey 3, Brown 7, Valentine 4, Mack 5, Davis 2, Brown 2, Hampton 3, Summers 2.
