On the road with Texas Hoops: Day 1 Hoopfest
Duncanville - Day one of the Thanksgiving Hoopfest saw TexasHoops.com No.37 ranked player in the class of 2018 Keonte Kennedy of Austin Westlake rip the nets from behind the three-point line. Also, fans who stuck around for the final game of the night were treated to a dominant performance by Cibolo Steele's Gerald Liddell and many others made an impression.
TexasHoops.com recruiting analyst Blue Zertuche has the recap from day one.
It came down to the final few minutes of the game when Dallas Lincoln and South Garland squared off to tip off the evening session of Glenn Smith’s Thanksgiving Hoopfest.
The reigning UIL 4A state champs Dallas Lincoln came out on top, winning 69-66 over South Garland.
Junior point guard Kennedy Milton hit a 12-foot floater with 11 seconds left in the game and hit one-of-two free-throws with one tick to go to give the Tigers the win.
South Garland inbounded the ball, but there was no attempt at a full-court shot. Milton’s game high of 21 points was due to him breaking down the Colonels’ defense and hitting jumpers and floaters. Unsigned senior, Kortrijk Miles finished off the night with 15, and the other Tiger in double figures was senior Jeremiah Whitaker, who totaled 13.
It wasn't until the 2:38 mark of the second quarter that South Garland sophomore Tyrese Maxey finally had a shot fall. It was a three-pointer from the right angle that hit nothing but net, and he soon followed that triple with a smooth lay-in. Maxey finished with a hard fought 16 points.
The leading scorer for the Colonels was junior post, 6-foot-5 forward Robert McFadden who scored 14 of his 18 points in the second half. Sophomore Chris Harris had a solid night with 16 and Kenyon Craddock hit three three-pointers for 12 points.
More game notes...
The first thing that you see when sophomore Chris Harris steps on the court is his physical presence. Strong arms and lower body make him a hard player to stop when he decides to go to the rim, but it's his shooting ability that makes him the prospect that he is.
Kennedy Milton is smooth as the ball handler for Dallas Lincoln and a change of pace point guard. Milton has an explosive first step to the rim and is comfortable pulling up for a jumper or floater after breaking down a defender from outside the arc.
Kennedy wows the crowd with his shooting performance
It was a game that everyone expected Findlay Prep to win, and they did-- in overtime, 88-81. -But the Findlay Prep victory over Austin Westlake will not overshadow the shooting performance of Westlake’s junior shooting guard Keonte Kennedy. The wiry 6-foot-3 Kennedy hit 9-of-11 threes as he finished with 31 points.
Kennedy started the first quarter with four triples, and when you thought that Findlay figured it out and held him scoreless in the second quarter, Kennedy came back to nail three more in the third. He added two more in the fourth along with a backdoor layup and two free-throws.
Shooting seemed to be the theme of the night as Westlake’s junior guard Luke Pluyman hit four of his own from behind the arc, and none bigger than the three he banged in as time ran out in regulation to tie the game at 72.
Brock Cunningham had a solid showing holding his own inside and out against Kentucky signee PJ Washington. Cunningham was tough and rugged, fighting for the ball on the glass and the floor. Listed at 6-foot-6, Cunningham bounced off bodies inside the paint hitting a few jumpers, and grabbing putbacks, and owning plenty of rebounds to his name
Liddell has a complete game
Cibolo Steele took a two-point lead into half 28-26 over an uptempo Waxahachie team. The third and fourth quarter would see two separate runs, one from each team. First, Steele took off on a 19-3 run behind Gerald Liddell’s 12 points in the third quarter to take a sizeable lead Into the fourth 54-37. -But the Indians of Waxahachie made a run to make things interesting until the horn sounded. The Indians needed a few more seconds, as their 29-17 rally fell one-point short, and the Knights held on for a 67-66 win.
Liddell had a great overall game that included more than scoring. He was dangerous in many other ways to conclude Friday night at the Hoopfest. The slender Liddell showed off his court vision making soft touch passes to cutting teammates and playing unselfish basketball the entire game. Liddell took what came to him, whether it was an easy lay-in or a putback, he simply made the right play, not forcing something that wasn't there.
The 6-foot-8 forward tallied 27 points and cruised to a double-double as he was on the glass every time the ball was shot. His game high in points included three three-pointers.
The only player in double-digit scoring besides Liddell for Cibolo was Vincent Tezeno and his 12 points.
Waxahachie’s Montre Gipson ignited the fourth quarter run by lighting up the nets for 15 points in those final eight minutes. His offensive eruption gave Gipson 19 total points for the game. Junior guard Larry Wise contributed 13 points and Xavier Thompson chipped in with 11.
Dallas Kimball falls short
Senior wing Ibrahim Muhammad for Dallas Kimball had a 17 point first half against out of town opponent Putnam City West (OK), but he was held to only two free-throws in the second half. Putnam down five after one, 17-12, took a two-point half-time lead, 40-38. In the second half, Putnam had their chances to pull away but Kimball continued to fight. Odessey Keeling scored 14 points and connected on two three-pointers, but Putnam hung in to win 75-68 behind senior guard Gerren Jackson and his game-high of 25 points.