Father Henry Carr Crusaders Holding On Strong At #1, Dillon Brooks Racks Up MVP’s
Tournament MVP
1st Team All-Star Team
Tanveer Bhullar (Father HenryCarr)
Justin Jackson (Eastern Commerce)
James Sylvester (EasternCommerce)
Nolan Mackenzie (Holy Trinity)
Michael Provenzano (HB Beal)
2nd Team All Star Team
Robert Harrison (St. Thomas More)
Dillon Millar (Cathedral)
Shavon Gayle (Catholic Central)
Mychal Mulder (Catholic Central)
Trevon McNeil (Holy Trinity)
HAMILTON,ON–The #1 high school team in Canada Father Henry Carr Crusaders continues steamrolling over teams. Last night they beat the #2 Eastern Commerce Saints 74-53, led by tournament MVP Dillon Brooks. Their bench also produced during game changing possessions giving them an energy boost and 10 fast break points. They are now 4-0 against the Saints.
Defense is something that is demanded with championship teams. When you hear Coach Paul Melnik yelling out , “dead, dead, dead,dead,dead,” this means the trap is coming or should be on its way by the fifth time he says “dead.”
FHC guards Ty Stewart-Nelson and Josh Bell did a good job putting opposing guards James Sylvester and Mohamed Camara in pressure situations. A combination of half-court traps and full court man presses forced the offense to make quick decisions without assessing the floor.
The first and second quarter gave the impression that it was going to be a tight game while the teams went basket for basket until they had reached the 25 point mark. It was near halftime when the Crusaders began to make a push after an alley-oop to Brooks, thrown by Christian Hewitt.
Brooks is a real problem for defenders because he can score in so many ways and help the team with rebounding and blocking shots. He is steadily adding to his game from the perimeter. No one is safe in the top 5 of the 2015 class, Brooks is making major improvements and making a case for himself to move up.
A key substitution that gave FHC momentum was getting Lamar Copeland in the line up. He was an aggressive defender that came up with steals and finishes in transition.
Trayvon Ross gave the Saints hope by putting in all 12 of his points in the fourth quarter. But that hope was short lived since he was quickly silenced by the scoring of 2014 7’3 Center Tanveer Bhullar who had 20 points.
The next match up that I’m anticipating is D’Youville and Father Henry Carr and I hope to see them both at the Xavier Rim Rocker.
A special thanks goes out to the staff Mark Walton Invitational staff at Cathedral for hosting such a well organized tournament with high level talent.
