The second week of December means some of incredible holiday action is at the doorstep. But that doesn't mean there wasn't a lot of good stuff going on the past couple of days.
More and more players are getting involved. We saw one of the top players in the country kick things off after sitting out with an injury while several more prospects with Kentucky Wildcat offers continued to roll out one big showing after another.
There were several really strong resumes to pick from, but the most impressive player among those who have offers should be wildly popular among those in Big Blue Nation.
The Week's Most Valuable Player
Great Crossing entered the week 3-0. Franklin County stood in their way Wednesday night, but they wouldn't be an obstacle for long. They led 38-17 at the half, and won going away 71-34. Malachi Moreno only played 18 minutes, but he got enough playing time to amass 14 points, 18 rebounds, 7 blocked shots, and 5 assists.
HIs squad made to look it a perfect five for five Friday night versus Frederick Douglass in the Billy Hicks Classic. It turned out to be their toughest game since the season opener that went to overtime. Great Crossing trailed entering the fourth quarter, but pulled out a 78-70 win behind a double-double from Moreno. The future Wildcat finished with 27 points, 15 rebounds, 5 assists, and 4 blocked shots.
The Warhawks advanced to Saturday's championship game against Covington Catholic. Just hours before being recognized at the Kentucky/Louisville game, Moreno had another monster game stockpiling 25 points, and 19 rebounds.
Great Crossing made it three games in as many days with s Sunday night affair with St. Xavier out of Louisville in the Derby City Tip-Off by MADE Hoops. It also pitted perhaps the two best teams in the state of Kentucky. Things did not go as hoped for Great Crossing. They lost their first game of the season, but Moreno was still phenomenal. This time he did join the 20-20 club with 24 points and 20 boards.
For the week, Moreno averaged 22.5 points and 18 rebounds for the week. Through seven games, those numbers stand at 23.4 points and 13.4 rebounds.
Now it is off to the City of Palms in Florida beginning on Wednesday for the 6-1 Warhawks.
RWE had back to back games with the Blue Checks on Friday and Saturday in the Overtime Elite League. RWE got out of the gates quickly, and never looked back. They led 54-32 at the half, and won going away 110-92. Taylen Kinney and Jasper Johnson once again put up big numbers.
Kinney led the team with 27 points. He made 8 of 11 two-pointers, and 2 of five three's. He also added 4 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals. Johnson went 9 of 12 including 2 for 3 from deep for 24 points. He assured a double-double with 10 rebounds. Johnson had three steals to boot.
RWE made is a perfect weekend with another win on Saturday. They took a 19-point lead into the fourth quarter, and cruised from there for a 101-87 victory. Johnson had a type of double-double that guards should have, and should sit well with Mark Pope. He finished with 15 points, 11 assists, and was two assists shy of a triple-double. Kinney had 14 points, 7 assists, and 3 rebounds.
For the season, Johnson is averaging 20.5 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 5.6 assists. He is shooting 51.3% from the field, and 40.8% from three-point range. Kinney is going for 21.3 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 3.6 assists. He is shooting a very impressive 69.3% from two-point range, and 44.1% from three.
Holy Innocents won game number six in eight tries Tuesday night against Washington. Caleb Wilson only played 19 minutes because of the healthy 80-34 win. He still put together 16 points on seven of nine shooting. He also stuffed the stat sheet with 7 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 blocked shots, and 2 steals.
Lovett was next up on Friday. Holy Innocents won their sixth game in a row by a 67-41 score. He had similar numbers to Tuesday's game. This time he finished with 14 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists, 4 steals, and 2 blocks.
The Golden Bears had one more game for the week. Tri-Cities was the opponent the following night in the late game of the Battle of the Peach. Wilson took on the role of Mr. Swiss army knife one more time. He put together a double-double and got into the box score in every category. Wilson finished with 13 points, 14 rebounds, 8 assists, and 6 blocks as Holy Innocents moved to 8-2 overall with a 73-43 win.
Wilson averaged 14.3 points, 9.3 rebounds, 6.7 assists, and 4 blocked shots for the week. The Golden Bears now stand at 8-2. Over that 10 game stretch Wilson's numbers stand at 19.9 points, 10.4 rebounds, 4.9 assists, and 3.8 blocked shots.
Tyran Stokes long awaited 2024-25 debut finally took place Friday night at his new high school. He missed the first seven games of the season. So an already undefeated Knights squad became that much more dangerous when Stokes returned Friday night against Fairfax. It was quiet the opening chapter at Notre Dame in Sherman Oaks. Stokes had 20 points on 7 of 12 shooting. Notre Dame moved to 8-0 with an 82-55 win.
He got his second game in quickly. The Knights returned for a Saturday matinee against El Camino Real. Stokes had another 20 point outing to go along with 5 rebounds, and 3 assists. Notre Dame won overwhelmingly 89-35.
Speaking of undefeated, Grayson also took a perfect 7-0 record to Grovetown on Friday night. They made it eight for eight with a 70-53 win. Caleb Holt had a double-double effort of 14 points, and a huge night on the boards from the guard's spot with 18 rebounds. Grayson's next action will take this place this coming week at the City of Palms event in Ft. Myers, Florida.
After a week off, Chatsworth squared off with Crespi Friday night. It was a war. The two teams went back and forth in the fourth quarter before the Chancellors eventually pulled out a 77-72 victory. Alijah Arenas got hot in the fourth quarter which included the go-ahead basket that put Chatsworth up 72-71 with just over a minute left. He finished with 31 points for the night. Chatsworth is now 7-0 on the young season.
AZ Compass Prep participated in perhaps the biggest event of the week. They traveled to Las Vegas to take on Brewster Academy Friday night in the EYBL Scholastic Emirates NBA Cup in a battle of nationally ranked teams. Compass had a two-point lead going into the fourth quarter, and hung on for a narrow, hard-fought 58-54 victory. Miikka Muurinen contributed 14 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 assists. He was 6 of 12 from the field, and 2 of 5 from deep. Gonzaga signee, Davis Fogle, led Compass Prep with 16 points. Just to prove how good this win was, Brewster went on to knock off top-ranked Montverde Academy.
Compass had another huge matchup on Sunday. This time is was against nationally ranked Sunrise Christian Academy out of Kansas. Sunrise used a big 17-3 second quarter to win 66-49. Chidi Nwigwe had a very efficient 26-point game for the winners. Muurinen did not have his best showing. He only took four shots overall, and finished with 6 points, 3 rebounds, and an assist.
Inglewood opened the week up on Friday against Eleanor Roosevelt. This wasn't just any old game. It pitted to very good teams against each other, but there was also a clash of stars between Inglewood's Jason Crowe Jr. who was our National Player of the Week seven days ago, and Brayden Burries of Roosevelt.
What a game is was. There were 203 total points scored by both teams. Roosevelt won 111-92 behind 56 points from Burries. He had 30 at the half, and made 17 of his 18 free throws to go along with 16 rebounds. Crowe made a dozen foul shots, and ended up with 41 after scoring 50 and 43 in back to back games last week which was good for a 44.7 point average. All of that came on only 19 field goal attempts. He made 13. He also had four steals. Inglewood moved to 6-3 on the season with a 95-57 thumping of King/Drew Saturday night.
Western Reserve had a big weekend with games on both Saturday and Sunday. One night before, Anthony Thompson announced on Twitter that he had received an offer from Brigham Young University. He followed that up with 30 points and 7 rebounds against the PDI Knights in a hard fought 89-82 victory.
