Author Archives: Clark Francis
Bishop O’Connell, DeMatha, Paul VI, Oak, Hill, & Montverde Academy All Post Big Wins on the Final Day of Action at the Spalding Hoop Hall Classic
If you let bad teams hang around long enough, they can gain confidence, get some momentum, and come back and beat you. Well, Arlington (Bishop O’Connell) VA is not a bad team (they are just very young) and that is exactly what happened when they were matched up against Santa Ana (Mater Dei) CA in the first game of the day on the final day of action at the Spalding Hoop Hall Classic, which has been held the last five days at Blake Arena at Springfield College in Springfield, MA.
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Sunrise Christian Wins Big, Prolific Prep Knocks off La Lumiere Academy, & Montverde Academy Beats IMG Academy Again To Highlight Things Earlier Today in the Spalding Hoop Hall Classic
Great guards more often than not are the key to success at the high school level and this was especially the case for Chatham Hargrave Military Academy) VA, which totally dominated Orangeville (Prep) ON after our arrival for the third game of action earlier today at the Spalding Hoop Hall Classic, which is being held over the Martin Luther King Day weekend at Blake Arena on the campus of Springfield College in Springfield, MA.
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Evan Mobley Disappoints, D.J. Wagner Surprises, Jonathan Kuminga Was Missing in Action, & IMG Academy and Sierra Canyon Roll to Big Wins in Saturday’s Action at the Spalding Hoop Hall Classic
We pick things up with the third game on the third day of action at this year’s Spalding Hoop Hall Classic, which is being held over the Martin Luther King Day weekend at Blake Arena on the campus of Springfield College in Springfield, MA. And there were several important momentum shifts in this game, as is evident by the fact that Hyattsville (DeMatha) MD jumped out to a 12-point lead early, later trailed by as many as five points early in the 4th Quarter, and finally went on a 16-3 down the stretch to emerge with a 57-49 victory against Chicago (Simeon) IL.
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Briarcrest Stuns IMG, Montvede Rolls, Hamilton Heights Survives, & Moussa Cisse Makes the Case for a #1-Ranking at the ARS Rescue Rooter National Hoopfest
We attended the ARS Rescue Rooter National Hoopfest, which was held over the weekend at Briarcrest Christian High School in Memphis, TN, and it doesn’t get any better than the last four games in this event on Saturday. We begin with the game between Memphis (Lausanne) TN and St Louis (Vashon) MO and the big story here was the total dominance in the paint by 7’0 Jr Moussa Cisse, who led the former to a 68-50 win over the latter and, in the process, finished with 31 points, 16 rebounds, seven blocked shots, 11-17 field goals, 2-2 3-pointers, and 7-11 free throws.
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Dorman Beats St. John’s in Championship Game of the Beach Ball Classic
We pick things up with the Consolation Bracket Championship Game on the final day of action in this year’s Beach Ball Classic, which is being held at the Convention Center in Myrtle Beach, SC. And the big story here was the lights out 3-point shooting in the first half by 6’6 Brase Dottin and 6’3 Soph Cameron Thrower, who were 6-8 from behind the arc and were primarily responsible for the 40-19 advantage that North Hollywood (Harvard-Westlake) CA held over Brockwell (Izard County) AR at the intermission.
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Kaden Metheny, Adam Miller, D.J. Steward, & Jaden Hardy Come Up Big Earlier in the Day,; Dorman and St. John’s Advance Into the Finals of this Year’s Beach Ball Classic
We pick things up with the second game of the day on the fourth day of action at this year’s Beach Ball Classic, which is being held at the Convention Center in Myrtle Beach, SC, and this was a game of runs and momentum shifts.
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Jaden Hardy, Dwon Odom, Andre Curbelo, & D.J. Steward Put Up Impressive Numbers; Dorman, St. Francis, St, John’s, & Long Island Lutheran Advance Into Final Four of this Year’s Beach Ball Classic
I arrived in Myrtle Beach, SC just in time earlier today to see the four quarterfinals games in the winner’s bracket of this year’s Beach Ball Classic, which is being held at the Convention Center. And we pick things up with just over a minute to play in the first quarterfinals game when 6’3 Tyler Beard from Chicago (Whitney Young) IL knocked down a big 3-point basket to cut the lead to three against Roebuck (Dorman) SC.
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Montverde Academy Highlights the Day With a 87-43 win, a 69.4% Field Goal Shooting Percentage, & a 26-to-4 Assist-To-Turnover Ratio on Second Day of Action in the 2019 John Wall Holiday Invitational
There were two important takeaways in the first game of the day, which also was the Third Place Game in the Kyran Bowman Bracket, on the second day of action in the 2019 John Wall Holiday Invitational at Broughton High School in Raleigh, NC. The first takeaway was the 28-point performance, which also included seven rebounds, four assists, two steals, 10-19 field goals, 4-7 3-pointers, and 4-4 free throws, by 6’6 Jr Lucas Taylor from Wake Forest (Heritage) FL.
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Montverde Academy Holds Off IMG Academy in Championship Game: Scottie Barnes Takes Home MVP In City of Palms Classic
The big story in the first game, which was the final Challenge Round Game of the tournament, on the final day of action in this year’s Culligan City of Palms Classic, which has been held for the last six days at the Suncoast Credit Union Arena on the campus of Florida Southwestern State College in Fort Myers, FL., this the fact that 5’10 Jr Zion Harmonfrom Benton (Marshall County) KY did not play, but his team still was able to emerge with a 56-50 victory over Sarasota (Riverview) FL.
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Brandon Dwyer & Malachi Wideman win 3-Point Shooting Contest & Slam Dunk Contest & Hamilton Heights upsets Sunrise Christian in Signature Series Championship at the Culligan City of Palms Classic
Baltimore (St. Francis) MD redeemed itself after a mediocre performance two days ago in the semi-finals of the Signature Series with a game winning lay-up by 6’4 Jahmal Banks to beat Orlando (West Oaks) FL, 67-56, and take home Third Place in this tournament within the tournament at this year’s Culligan City of Palms Classic, which has been held this past week and will conclude on Monday with the Championship Game at the Suncoast Credit Union Arena on the campus of Florida Southwestern State College in Fort Myers, FL.
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THE FINAL ON MONDAY IN THIS YEAR”S CULLIGAN CITY OF PALMS CLASSIC IS SET BETWEEN MONTVERDE ACADEMY & IMG Academy
We are kind of glad that we decided to sleep in this morning, because it looks like Philadelphia (Roman Catholic) PA sleepwalked through the first Consolation Bracket Semi-Finals Game, which tipped off at 8:30 AM and was the first game on the fourth day of action in this year’s Culligan City of Palms Classic, which has been held this last four days and will conclude on Monday with the Championship Game at the Suncoast Credit Union Arena on the campus of Florida Southwestern State College in Ft.
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Sharife Cooper Does it Again; McEachern. IMG, Montverde, & Gonzaga Advance into the Final Four of this Year’s City of Palms Classic
We pick things up with the third game of the day, which also was the first quarterfinals game of the tournament, on the third day of action in this year’s Culligan City of Palms Classic, which is being held this week and early next week at the Suncoast Credit Union Arena on the campus of Florida Southwestern State College in Ft.
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Montverde, Whitney Young, Scotlandville, McEachern, IMG, Archbishop Stepinac, & O’Dea Advance into Quarterfinals, along with Gonzaga, of this Year’s Culligan City of Palms Classic
The first game on the second day of action in this year’s Culligan City of Palms Classic, which is being held this week and early next week at the Suncoast Credit Union Arena on the campus of Florida Southwestern State College in Ft. Myers, FL, was pretty much a rerun from yesterday, as St.
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Sharife Cooper Steals the Show On the First Day of Action at Culligan City of Palms Classic
Things started out with a bang when the #20 and #33-ranked teams in Ronnie Flores’ most recent Fab 50 National High School Team Poll Powered by Ballislife.com went head-to-head in the first game on the first day of action in this year’s Culligan City of Palms Classic, The tournament will be held for the next six days at Suncoast Credit Union Arena on the campus of Florida Southwestern State College in Ft.
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IMG ACADEMY REDEEMS ITSELF, PAUL VI DOES IT AGAIN, & DEMATHA GETS KNOCKED OFF BY SUNRISE CHRISTIAN ON FINAL DAY OF ACTION IN THE NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL HOOPS FESTIVAL
We pick things up with the second game on the final day of action in this year’s National High School Hoops Festival, which is being held at DeMatha High School in Hyattsville, MD, and the big story here was the clutch outside shooting by 6’5 Jr Jakal Robinson from Ft.
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PAUL VI BLOWS OUT #1-RANKED IMG ACADEMY IN THE NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL HOOPS FESTIVAL
The first game of the day on the first day of action in this year’s National High School Hoops Festival, which is being held at DeMatha High School in Hyattsville, MD, did not feature any memorable performances and was never really in doubt, as Upper Marlboro (Riverdale Baptist) MD coasted to a 67-50 win over Washington (Coolidge) DC.
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BRADLEY & HOOD-SCHIFINO TOP THE LIST OF TAKEWAYS AT THE 2019 PHENOM HOOPS NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL SHOWCASE
We attended the 2019 Phenom Hoops National High School Showcase, which was held over the weekend at Ravencroft High School in Raleigh, NC, and there were six major takeaways from this event. The first takeaway is that 6'2 Soph Jaden Bradley from Concord (Cannon School) NC and 6'5 Soph Jalen Hood-Schifino from Lincolnton (Combine Academy) NC, who are currently two of the top three sophomores in the state, are big time prospects and they have future McDonald's All-American written all over them.
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2019-20 HS SEASON: CULLIGAN CITY OF PALMS CLASSIC & SPALDING HOOP HALL CLASSIC TWO PLACES TO BE
If you are looking to get the most bang for your buck this winter watching the top high school players and teams in the country, then the Culligan City of Palms Classic, which will be held December 18th-23 in the Suncoast Credit Union Arena at Florida Southwestern State College in Ft.
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Omaha Biliew Totally Dominates Pangos All-Midwest Frosh/Soph Camp
After watching 6'7 Frosh Omaha Biliew from West Des Moines (Dowling Catholic) IA totally dominate in both camp games and in the top all-star game at this year's Pangos All-Midwest Frosh/Soph Camp, which was held this past weekend at The Park District in LaGrange, IL, it was pretty much a no-brainer that he deserved to be both the MVP of the Camp and in the Top 30 Cream of the Crop All-Star Game.
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2019 Post Summer HOOP SCOOP All-American Teams
One of the things that separates the HOOP SCOOP from everybody else in our business is the fact that we have a long history of looking at things in a variety of ways and, now that the dust has cleared and we've had some time to put everything we've seen from this past spring and summer into perspective, we think this is the perfect time to publish our 2019 Post Summer HOOP SCOOP All-American Teams, which features our ranking of the top 100 high school players nationally regardless of class and position and includes 69 seniors, 26 juniors, four sophomores, and one freshman.
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