crunkdub's hoopers

Blue vs Red

2012-02-02T19:49:00.000-08:00

This is a little projection of what I would like to see in the city's annual all star game. Right now, this is my current fantasy roster of top 5 players at each position. There are alot of honorable mentions, but for now this is just the list of best by position.

Point Guards

1. Jahkari Christopher (Burke)*
2. Greg Bridges (New Mission)
3. Pat Santos (East Boston)-
4. Malik James (Brighton)
5. Ray Edwards (Madison Park)

Shooting Guards

1. Jeduan Langston (Dorchester)*
2. Rony Fernandez (Charlestown)-
3. Paul Maurice (Snowden)
4. Kwame Townsend (English)
5. Daivon Edwards (Brighton)

Small Forwards

1. Tyrese Hoxter (Charlestown)-
2. Nick Simpson (Brighton)*
3. LeRoy Hamilton (New Mission)
4. Marcus Neal (West Roxbury)
5. DeVaughn Riley (Boston Latin Academy)

Power Forwards

1. David Stewart (Madison Park)-
2. Isshiah Coleman (New Mission)*
3. Kenny Ramos (East Boston)
4. Jerard Mayes (Brighton)
5. Joseph Farrell (OBryant)

Centers

1. Jared Butler (OBryant)*
2. Tyrik Jackson (Charlestown)-
3. Dakim Murray (Madison Park)
4. Nathaniel Anderson (New Mission)
5. Frederick Oliviera (West Roxbury)

* means I want them to start for the South all stars
- means I want them to start for the North all stars

I am sure there are different opinions and I am sure I might have overlooked some but here are just a few of the honorable mentions...

F Omar Orriols (Charlestown)
G Sterling Brown (West Roxbury)
F Alexander Brown (South Boston)
G Travon Moore (East Boston)
F Will March (East Boston)
F Dane Lawladonnie (Madison Park)
G Wiley Shipman (English)
F Anselm Engebe (Dorchester)
F Javaughn Kittrell (Snowden)
G Nick Thomas (Boston Latin Academy)
F Euclides Semedo (South Boston)
G Curtis Alger (Fenway)
F Justin Phillips (Fenway)

...there are a couple of captains for the CASH Chargers who I think are good but I don't have their current roster. There are alot of athletes in the city under the radar...looking forward to the playoffs(city and state) and the all star game.

Have a goodnight!

city action update

2012-02-02T19:38:00.001-08:00

What's up folks? Playin a lil bit of catchup here. It's really heating up. A couple of big games just finished in this past week in the Boston North.

Charlestown 73 East Boston 66
East Boston 68 Madison Park 42

For those of you that dont know... all 3 teams are fighting for 2 playoff spots representing the north division of the city playoffs at the end of this month. Right now Eastie has finished the biggest threats this season in the division by finishing 3-1 in the 4 games they have against those 2. So barring any upsets from teams lower than 3rd in the conference they have won the North and will be a city contender.

Brighton and New Mission will be facing off next Wednesday and this time...freshman phenom Greg Bridges will be active. Will it be the same outcome? The bengals could sweep the season series this year which is great for seeding in the playoffs as well as rankings in the state...in addition to the fact that they havent beaten Mission in the last 5 games before that including the tough loss in the state playoffs all the way in neutral turf on the campus of UMass Lowell.

I'm beyond ready for the playoffs. Cities and states..and the all star game.

Upcoming big games

New Mission at Brighton Feb 8
Madison Park at Charlestown Feb 14

See you soon!

2012-01-31T10:31:00.000-08:00

Big matchups as playoffs approach...video preview of a couple matches. Let me know what you think. Testing out the commentator skills.

Brighton vs Dorchester

2012-01-13T18:45:00.000-08:00

81-59...and a break from the stats and story. Got some nice dominant clips.

@:24 Jerard Mayes with a steal and dunk @:50 Theo Oribhabor with a tre-ball

@4:00 Jeduan Langston crosses over Daivon Edwards

@2:50 Daivon Edwards for 3 after another steal

@4:25 Malik James 3 to end the 3rd quarter

@2:40 Malik James to Jerard Mayes alley-oop

Nick Simpson highlights

Interview with Jerard Mayes

BRIGHTON AT NEW MISSION

2012-01-11T18:07:00.000-08:00

Gametime...this is for sole position of Boston South Division. Brighton Bengals and New Mission Titans at the Tobin Gym in Roxbury Crossing (heart of the city, I love it!). Bengals with a record of 7-1 having only lost to Brockton at the Rotary Classic Holiday tourney and New Mission with a record of 6-2 only loss to St. John's Prep and St. Anthony's (NJ) both come into this game undefeated in the city. So to the game we go...the first quarter was interesting as Mission shared the ball like crazy. They were at one point up 16-5. 7 players scored in the 1st. They kept it high pace and the Bengals defense couldn't contain sprints in the full court press they had. Since their 3-2 zone was using an inside focus, they couldn't stop the long ball in the first quarter. But the tempo switched in the 2nd quarter real quick, junior Nick Simpson would lead his squad with 8 of the teams 20 point 2nd qtr points. They walked into the half only trailing by 5 which is better than the 11 they tried to make up after the 1st. New Mission still didn't need much 2nd chance opportunities as their long ball was deadly to run through the half.

But onto the 3rd qtr we go...Brighton's hustle picked up and this time, it involved more players. Junior captain Daivon Edwards stepped up dropping 9 of his 12. Simpson added another 7. He finished with a team high 23. (It helps when the opponent you are playing has the coach you play AAU for.) Therefore, even if your team doesn't come up, no one will stop you from dominating. The slow climb in 2nd become a 3rd quarter ending 1 point deficit. It's on now!

This quarter was all about crucial turnovers in which New Mission would show weakness. The shots stop dropping and the inside focus from the height Brighton brought earlier in their zone started working. And then quick stops from the half court press that walked into a zone would bring the Titans to their knees. They couldn't hardly breathe except for the clutch 4 straight free throws at the 1:30 mark by Dashawn Fennel (only points of the game) and a couple baskets from Isshiah Coleman. With him playin post and being double and triple teamed most of the game through the ugly zone Brighton's bigs gave him he only dropped 10. After trailing the whole game, Malik James got the go ahead bucket at 1:33. He put up 10. With the rotation of James, Edwards and Theo Oribhabor who added another crucial go ahead basket around the minute mark. It was all over.

With this 60-58 win, Brighton did a few things. They move to a mark of 8-1. They end the 2 year home winning streak of New Mission and they take sole posession of first place atop the Boston City South Division. I spoke with Daivon Edwards, Malik James and Head Coach Hugh Coleman of the now leading Bengals. They had this to say after the game.

Brighton Bengals (8-1)- N. Simpson 23, D. Edwards 12, M. James 10, J. Mayes 9, T. Oribhabor 4, T. Dowman 2

New Mission Titans (6-3)- L. Hamilton 11, P. Gomez 11, I. Coleman 10, S. Murray 8, T. Watson 6, J. Deane 4, D. Fennel 4, F. Rivers 4

Ready to see what happens Feb. 8 for the rematch...SEE YOU THERE!

HAPPY NEW YEAR UPDATE

2012-01-09T09:28:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year folks, My blog has been running a little bit slow to finish the year. I have gotten interviews after most of these games, but no story to really break down how it happened. Stay tuned for the interviews, my computer was having technical difficulties getting the videos uploaded. I will be back in full swing in the next couple of weeks. As the 2nd half of this season gets started, the divisions will pick up the intensity and I might have a little surprise for you this coming weekend. The only way to find out is to stay tuned. Thank you for your support in advance and I hope you all had a Happy New Year in addition to a Merry Christmas. For now, here are some of the scores from games I did catch in the past few weeks.

New Mission 60, St. John's Prep 69- BABC Class A 1st Round Match
West Roxbury 48, New Bedford 55-BABC Invitational Holiday Bracket
Madison Park 59, East Boston 61-Boston North Current 1st Place Game
Dorchester 58, New Mission 72

Brighton 89, Burke 47
Interview with Nick Simpson and Coach Kurtis Grant

Snowden 76, South Boston 71

Interview with Coach Megan Waterbury and Paul Maurice

New Mission 64, Cambridge Rindge and Latin 53- BABC Holiday Classic Class A 3rd Place

Interview with Coach Cory McCarthy and Leroy Hamilton

Madison Park 85, O'Bryant 62-School Rivalry

Interview with Coach Dennis Wilson and David Stewart

CHARLESTOWN AT EAST BOSTON

2011-12-20T18:43:00.000-08:00

Uh-oh...the long awaited Boston North division battle part 1 is upon us. Charlestown, the reigning Boston City champions walked into East Boston relaxed, calm, cool and collected. Knowing that they beat this same team twice last season, one of which was for the city title combined with the reputation that they gave the D1 state champions their only loss is alot to be proud of. Unfortunately, this time you don't have all star CJ Dowdell and city MVP Akosa Maduegbunam to play with. You also don't have the 6'10 junior forward Jon Grullon(season ending surgery) you just recruited. So being relaxed wasn't an option. With the loss of all star Jeff Amazan and other talent such as Stan Winn, the Jets have a serious chip on their shoulder. So like I said...uh-oh! It's gametime and....he we go.

Very aggressive into the 1st come the Jets led by point guard Pat Santos and big man Will March. March would show very dominant in the blocks drawing a lot of fouls and putbacks. And Santos led a charge that attacked every position every possession. This only caused a slim lead to end the 1st. 14-11 was the score due to the fact that CTown couldn't hit from anywhere until halfway through that quarter. So now begins the bleeding...ZACH GATTEREAU...who was supposed to start but found an attitude adjustment that forced him to play 6th man lit a match under his behind that sparked a 22 point pickup between himself and Santos early in the 2nd quarter. Not only had Eastie found a stroke on the fast break but Ctown couldn't control the paint and so they found themselves in the bonus early that same quarter. Finally a little bit later in the 2nd, CTown found a bandage in the form of low post openings when they decided to force them into half court sets. The heavy rotation of the ball left men under the basket wide open a few times. This, of course did not stop the obvious rushing of the ball upcourt which caused plenty of turnovers. The only 2 playing the game it seemed were Tyrese Hoxter and Omar Orriols for CTown who finally got a rhythm to start driving to the hole. Since the rest of the team couldn't pick up the slack though...the Townies found themselves down 39-23 at the half. In the 3rd, Hoxter took over dropping 10 of his 25 points. He was literally the only consistent scorer for CTown. Orriols couldn't follow up once he got his 4th foul in the 3rd. So the bleeding continued to end the 3rd with Eastie up 50-35. More of the same followed in the 4th, Omar who was known for his outside offense couldn't produce and lacked the inside out game he had for defense. The man he defended, Gattereau, jacked 2 hard 3s and he would foul out 3rd with 46.7 left in the game. He finished with 9. The 1st to go was Iser Barnes who finished with only 2. He left at the 4:41 mark of the 4th. He couldn't stop the floor general in Pat Santos who finished the game with 14. Zach Gattereau would continue the damage by hitting 8pts in the 4th. 5 of those were from the strip. And when Hoxter who lead CTown's rhythm the whole game fouled out at the 1:14 mark of the 4th, it was all over. So Eastie prevailed in somewhat of a revenge match at home 68-58. Both teams move to a mark of 3-1...Charlestown heads into a long vacation with no holiday tournament and alot to think about. Eastie is excited as they prepare for the Kroc Center Classic where they play Bishop Loughlin(NY) and another out of state team. The other city team there will be New Mission who meets St. Anthony's (NJ). Oh what a treat. This is the Beantown representa...CrunkDub aka ChillWill. I leave you with this that Coach Smith had this to say after the game. Have a goodnight!

East Boston- Z. Gattereau- 24, P. Santos- 14, K. Fox- 7, K. Bush- 5, K. Ramos- 4, T. Moore- 4, W. March- 3, E. Jean- 3, A. Senior- 2, I. Jones- 2 (68)

Charlestown- T. Hoxter- 25, T. Jackson- 10, O. Orriols- 9, T. Wilson- 5, R. Fernandes- 4, I. Barnes- 2, J. Abdullah- 2, R. Gunter- 1

Dorchester vs Cambridge Rindge+Latin

2011-12-19T20:10:00.000-08:00

Welcome back to another season...tonight's matchup features a power squad in the Falcons of Cambridge Rindge&Latin who finished 19-2 last year and played deep into the states. They came to Dorchester Academy in search of another win as they are already 2-0. The Bears weren't quite ready to hear that this year. Even with their 1-1 record so far...Dorchester was ready for battle. So here we go. The Bears took off quickyl led by senior guard Jeduan Langston who dropped 10 of his team's 14 first quarter points. Showing his range early often they pulled out with a statement. But the Falcons using their inside height would show confident in their game as they pulled alot of boards and putbacks...first it was Kevin Lovanay of CRL to draw plenty of fouls in the 2nd quarter. He scored all 13 of his points in the first half. Even though the score looked even...CRL walked into the half with a 33-30 lead. The reason it stayed so close was becasue of the half court play by the Bears who had a lot of fun setting up plays for their forwards. Most shots went down and therefore, it wasn't evident that second chance opportunities were needed. But onto the 3rd where Langston would drop 4 of the 6-0 to start the half. they kept the lead going into the 4th as CRL was unable to finish plays and hit free throws in the middle half the last 2 quarters. But it was time for Marcus Faison to step up. Leading the Falcons in the 4th quarter he would drop 6 of his 12 and aggressively handle the boards especially seeing as 8 of his 12 were made at the foul line. They came back hard and steady to bring it within 2 at the 21.2 mark of the 4th. Fouling into the bonus at 19.8 they gave away a free throw that would setr up the chance to tie. And the hero would come from their bench. Edinson Correra would step into a 3 from the right wing and hit a buzzer-beating tiebreaker to send the game into OVERTIME!

It turns out that even with the rotation of big men that Dorchester showed (because they definitely had more intimidating height then last year) they couldn't keep the lead. So in overtime, Langston would attempt to keep them afloat with 4 quick points, but an even spread from 3 of the 5 starters at CRL and a couple fouls gave the game to the Falcons as a perfectly set 3 pointer did not go for Darius Bass who finished with 8. Another heartbreaker for the Bears at home puts them 1-2 as they head into Christmas break. Coach Williams of the Bears didn't seem as disappointed and seems more confident in his team's ability to go far this year into the playoffs. I spoke with the coach and Langston after the game who had this to say.

Point Totals

Cambridge Rindge&Latin- K. Lovanay 13, M. Faison 12, D. Bailey- 10, G. Edwards-9, F. Deneus-6, M. Hill-6, C. Graham III- 5, E. Correra-4, M. Bradley-3 (68)

Dorchester- J. Langston-27, A. Enselm-8, D. Bass-8, B. Andrews-6, K. Newson-6, D. Cora-Perez-4, J. Kallon-2, R. Jackson-2, C. Agnew-Carter-2 (65)

History in the making!

2011-03-15T18:21:00.000-07:00

New Mission is ready to make history. In the state of Massachusetts, never before has a team jumped from Division 4 to Division 2 or higher in one year and made that state final the same year. The Titans just did. After having won the division 4 state title last year, they are now one win away from the division 2 state title. A hard fought battle was finished in excellent style tonight as Hopkinton (South regional champs) fell to New Mission 67-57 at the TD Garden. The Titans made easy work of the North region beating Reading, Lynn Classical, Woburn and city-rival Brighton as they went to the Garden. They await the winner of the Central and West regions. They will take them on in Worcester at the DCU Center this Saturday at 4. I hope to see you there.

Tonights game featured a big turnup from the 2 all american nominees. Samir McDaniels and Kachi Nzerem both had big turnouts. McDaniels finished with a double-double as he posted 15pts and 17rebs with 4asts. His partner Kachi dropped 21 including 3 tre-balls. Charles Gunter and Leroy Hamilton added to the party with 13 pts a piece. It didnt seem like this win was evident in the early going though. At halftime the score was tied at 33. One major part in this second half turnup was the fact that no one had more than 2 fouls. They let them shot. I like to mention that the refs in this game showed excellent judgment with each call. It was the fairest calling of a matchup I have ever seen in the city. Hopkinton did have threats though. Big man Jake Doucette showed skill from beyond the arc hitting 2 3 balls. He is 6'7 and in Boston you just dont see that. His teammate Barrett Hanlon was the only other man who seemed to help the cause. They both scored 13. After Darius and Kachi finally started hitting long range, Isshiah Coleman ended the game with the only dunk of the game. New mission is going to the 'ship.

STATES IN FULL EFFECT!

2011-03-03T20:37:00.000-08:00

UH OH! Beantown stand up...if you aint already heard, the champions of the city are Charlestown. They defeated East Boston who was the only team who beat them in the regular season. Right now though, its time to stand up. Going into this first weekend of the state playoffs, we see 4 teams making noise. This weekend in Division 2, New Mission as a #2 seed in the north region will play host to Lynn Classical. This should be an easy victory but i wouldn't jump out my seat quite yet. This bracket has already seen upsets including Lynn Classical as an 11 seed beating 6th seeded Chelsea. Lets not forget that East Boston beat New Mission in the city semifinals a week ago. That brings me to my other Division 2 spotlight game. Brighton is hosting. There is something wrong with that right? yes, Brighton didnt make the city playoffs so how could they host someone in the second round. How bout there opponent is 16th seeded Winchester who upset number 1 seed Wilmington. Yea, have fun with that one! Lets see if either of these Division 2 squads can keep it together this weekend. Into division one we go...Madison Park. Thats a story in itself. Last year, they lost at the Garden to Central Catholic who started a 6'11 center. Mp's tallest man was 6'6 off the bench. Guess what, he's gone and now Central Catholic has to go pay Charlestown a visit this weekend. Good luck! Townies and City MVP Akosa M. need to represent on their home floor which they are undefeated on this season. Meanwhile, lets see if Mansfield who lost last year in the Division 1 south regional semifinals can beat the team they lost to in a rematch this Saturday. That team, MP Machine. Beantown better represent this weekend.

I plan to be in attendance for a sweet doubleheader this Sunday afternoon.

Division 1 North region
Central Catholic at Charlestown-3pm

Division 2 North region
Lynn Classical vs New Mission at Reggie Lewis Center-5pm

Be there or be square and for any of you wanting to follow the updates...all brackets, scores, locations and times can be found at the MIAA website. www.miaa.net

CRUNKDUB FROM THE HEART OF THE CITY...EARLY!

City Title Preview

2011-02-23T09:28:00.000-08:00

Uh oh, its time for the Boston City Championships. On ThursdayFebruary 24th, I encourage you to come out to a doubleheader of epic proportions featuring the 4 toughest teams in the city. Representing the South division are the West Roxbury Raiders and the New Mission Titans. And representing the North is the East Boston Jets and the Charlestown Townies. The way the bracket is set up is the top seed faces the 2nd seed of the opposite division. That will be your semifinal setup. And then the championship is the second matchup of the city title doubleheader the following day. So on Thursday the games will be at 4:00 and 5:30 pm. And the boys Boston City basketball championship is at 6:30 on Friday. (Sidenote: Unfortunately for me, I have a shift to work on Thursday from 2-8 that doesn't allow me to show up for the semifinals. I will be there on Friday for the championship.) This is why I want to toss out my prediction and give you just a little depth on what to expect for this tournament.

CHARLESTOWN VS WEST ROXBURY

The Raiders return 3 all stars this year in Givaughn Jones, Roger Paul and Jason Hall. Expect their somewhat deep lineup to spread out for mid range shots. The style of Westie usually shows 2 bigs including Jason Hall to attack the boards at all times and they rely on 2 shooters including Roger Paul to hit the outside shots. If he gets started, don't expect to shut him down. They have maybe one key ball handler and one key mid range threat off the bench. This matchup is going to be scary for them. They come into the tourney having lost a plethra of games but sweeping the 3rd ranked team in the conference. So because the only team in the division they couldnt beat was Mission twice, they are the South #2 seed and earned the spot to play the Townies. Charlestown is going to run it hard tomorrow. They come into this game having lost once in the city, they are too strong and they only lost by 4. Keep in mind it was on the road and in the tougher division. And it was the second of two tough games in two days. Which only occured because of snow day makeup games. Charlestown is too deep. The return one all star in Akosa Maduegbunam. He is apart of a duo who likes to play around with every team they face. Both him and Rony Fernandez average over 10 pts a piece. They both are deadly from the outside. Rony is an insult to anyone playing zone defense because his shot is better the farther you force him out of the paint and please understand that if you let him inside the paint hes going to score or be fouled. You have to foul him. There is no other option. Then you have Tyrik Jackson who at 6'5 is an excellent shot blocker and his hook shot which he uses for putbacks is consistent most of the time. Also they have 2 point guards in Iser Barnes and Tyerese Hoxter who if you sleep on them will drop an easy 20 on you in addition to the sixth man who is Omar Orriols. If you leave him open he will drop a 3 from the corner on demand. They average about 8o+ points a game. They beat St Johns Prep by 12 or more and they were the late season 1 seed in the state.

Projection: Charlestown in a blowout...94-71

NEW MISSION VS EAST BOSTON

The Titans and Jets did the same thing last year, playing once in the season and facing off in the semifinals. The Jets are all shooters. They return one all star in Jeff Amazan and his tandem with Stan Greene and Stan Winn will score like crazy. If you let any of them start they will not stop. Jeff Amazan and Stan Winn can easily drop 20 a game. They have alot of scorers off the bench too. But they rely way too much on the 3 ball and so if for any reason it doesnt drop consistently they will lose. A tough coach in Malcolm Smith is not going to help this one in the books. They just finished losing to the Titans the other day. Now they gotta face them again. Here is whats funny. They played zone against the Jets and barely beat them. If they play straight up, they are going to toast them. There is simply too much height and strength in the Titans. They start all 6 footers and all of the starters are returning all stars except for the center and hes just a sophomore. Two of them are McDonalds All American nominees for the state. That means their caliber is not to be messed with. They play way too hard inside and will dominate the boards. Their full court and half court trap will scare you into plenty of turnovers. So again I believe the Jets will lose.

Projection: New Mission in a sizeable one...75-63

I won't even begin to preview what will take place in the city title. If it turns out the way I saw it, Charlestown and New Mission in the city final will be the best game all year and rightfully so seeing as the championship should include the best teams. I don't know about you but I am ready and since I can't come tomorrow, I fully expect to see what I want in a beautiful game. Boston City are you ready...see you at the Madison Park Community Center in the heart of the city. It's gametime.

Charlestown High School

2011-01-11T17:32:00.000-08:00

I had the privilege of going to 2 games in a row for this live bunch of athletes. So I decided to do a combined story. Highlights and interviews will be posted in my next blog. The Charlestown Townies are 7-1 right now. They are officially the team to beat in the Boston North Division. Having not lost, they are the top rank in my book in the city. Led by Akosa Maduegbunam, and Rony Fernandez, this team of mostly juniors is putting teams to shame. They already play in the tougher of the 2 Boston divisions, then to add insult to injury, they haven't lost in the city yet. Their only loss came from Franklin High in a Christmas tournament this past school break. In the past 2 games, they had 4 scorers who averaged double digit points. The funny thing about it is, their leading scorer, an all star from last year as a sophomore, who hasn't started in the past 2 games because of disciplinary issues comes in at or about the 2nd quarter and doesn't turn up until halftime or after on the score sheet. You know what that means? They have a habit of beating teams without a need for him to play. They could actually win by double digits against most of the teams in the city without their double digit scorers. But that is just my opinion. They have a lot of height. I have between 3 and 6 picks for the all star game from thier team alone this year. One being, Akosa M. and his backcourt partner, Rony Fernandez. At any time, they don't even have to run the ball down, you have Tyerese Hoxter to do that and he is the tallest ball handler in Boston right now. He is listed at 6'4 and he is only in the 10th grade. Then you have drifters in CJ Dowdell, Iser Barnes, Mike Keough and Omar Orriols who all can be found at any given point for an easy basket. Big man Tyrik Jackson easily averages 12 points a game which could be more except for the fact that the Townies have a plethra of outside shooters and slashers. Maybe I am blowing them up too much, they have yet to play East Boston, Madison Park or South Boston. Not to mention, their toughest challenge which no doubt will be St. John's Prep at the end of this month. South Boston has been rumored to have a good squad. And I look forward to that matchup a couple days from now. Madison Park and East Boston both have less than perfect records having about 3 losses including at least one city loss so far. So I predict that CTown will have challenges but run through the division with no losses. We will find out soon enough. All I am saying is, look out for Charlestown to be a contender for a top spot in the city playoffs and definitely to make a run in Division 1 states. No doubt in my mind, they will have 2 all stars, maybe 3 if the Blue and Red Foundation does another all star game. Yessir, the Townies are on their way and off to a great start.

Last 2 games

Charlestown 75 at Boston Latin Academy 52 Akosa M. and CJ Dowdell 15/points a piece-leading scorers

Hope(RI) 44 at Charlestown 91 Akosa M. 18- leading scorer

NEXT STOP: IF THE WEATHER PERMITS, NEW MISSION AT BRIGHTON 1/12
SOUTH BOSTON AT CHARLESTOWN 1/13

Dorchester at New Mission

2011-01-07T17:17:00.001-08:00

Ahhh, it's time to go down the street and see my squad hoop. New Mission is the defending Division 4 state champions and they moved up to Division 2. They lost their starting point guard and center to graduation but not to worry because they only got taller in their lineup. So here we go! From jump street, they came out firing. It was an 18-4 lead at the end of the 1st quarter. But they could've done alot better, they made sloppy turnovers. Their press keep Dorchester at bay. But 4 of the 5 starters accounted for all the points. On to the 2nd, and more of the same only this time, 5 players combined for 19 which of course more than the last quarter total. The only one who seemed to respond was Ronnie Jackson of the Bears who dropped 10 in that quarter alone. This time the same players dropped another 16 on them. New Mission led by at least 10 after each quarter. By the 4th quarter, it was smooth sailing for the Titans and they matched Dorchester point for point as both dropped 20 so New Mission after having a tough time against out of town opponents win another easy Boston South matchup against Dorchester 73-54. Not much of a story huh? They blew them out with ease. Hopefully next week brings a better tougher opponent in Brighton. looking forward to it. I had interviews with Samir McDaniels and Coach McCarthy after the game who had this to say.

So here is your box score and player totals.

1st 2nd 3rd 4th Final

New Mission 18 19 16 20 73

Dorchester 4 18 12 20 54

New Mission- S. McDaniels-15 D. Davis-15 K. Nzerem-13 L. Hamilton-12 N. Anderson-8

C. Gunter-5 N. Joseph-3 J. Morgan-Thames-2

Dorchester- K. Nelson- 14 R. Jackson-14 D. Bass-13 D. Mathurian-8 D. Cora-Perez- 3

NEXT STOP: HOPE HIGH(RI) AT CHARLESTOWN

Madison Park at East Boston

2011-01-07T10:30:00.001-08:00

Welcome to the Boston's biggest high school rivalry, it's not as big as North-Hopewell but it'll do. Last year, they split a season series losing their home games. Hopefully, it would be better. And it would be. From the start, it would be high scoring, the Cards would take a 6 point early run lead by point guard Ray Edwards and their big men who would dominate inside early. But Coach Smith wasn't going for that, so before the 4 minute mark of that quarter, he would upgrade his lineup, so that the Jets players were guarding someone their height or smaller. Then they started pulling 3s and making them. I must emphasize that, they made 3s. Usually teams always drive to the hole or play big, and with the interview I caught with Coach Smith after, he brought out an excellent point. If you are going to play college ball, you better be able to shoot. So if you come to East Boston, one thing you are guaranteed to do is be able to shoot. And with this upgrade and aggressive shooting, the Jets took a 8 pt run late and a 4 pt lead to end the 1st quarter. In the 2nd, Coach Wilson didn't care, he used his starting 3 big men to account for all 18 pts it took to tie up and lead by 1 into the half. The Cardinals put backs and drawn fouls in the paint slowed down the Jets. In the 3rd, it became 2 on 1 as Roderick Tyler would hustle and highlight for MP and Stan Winn and Jeff Amazan would highlight for Eastie, who took back the lead for the Jets and combined for 17 of the 18 that give them a 4pt pt lead into the final quarter. The battle raged on as Dakim Murray and Khayree Hudson would continue to dominate int the paint. But in the end it was clutch shooting from Amazan who would drop 26 including 4 3s, to squeeze out a home win against their Boston North rival. The Jets post an even 3-3 record and look forward to the rematch in Roxbury later this season. Here is your box score and player totals.

1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH FINAL
EAST BOSTON 17 13 18 17 65
MADISON PARK 13 18 14 17 62

EAST BOSTON- J. Amazan-26 S. Winn-12 A. Senior-10 A. Jean-5 K. Bush-4 P. Santos-4
I. Jones-2 K. Ramos-2

MADISON PARK- K. Hudson-16 D. Murray-15 R. Tyler-14 R. Matthews-11 G. Turner-2
J. Soares-2

NEXT STOP: DORCHESTER AT NEW MISSION

Somerville at Burke

2011-01-07T09:47:00.000-08:00

Gametime in Grove Hall! To the Burke we go as the Bulldogs host the Highlanders of Somerville High School. Intimidating from the start, you would think Somerville was going to win seeing as Burke only had one big man and a 7 man roster. But never underestimate, David beat Goliath right? Jakhari Christopher went off to the races with stunt after stunt. He dropped 10 points in the first quarter alone combined with another 10 points from 2 other starters which gave them a 25-13 first quarter lead. The guards took over with not only assists and multiple steals on the wing but blocks as well. Then to add insult to injury their only big man got in foul trouble and sat most of that quarter and next. Their opponent staggered out of the gate showing weak hustle and defense not to mention a tall stature that did almost no rebounding. But at the start of the next quarter that mess ceased real fast as Coach Antonelli fussed his players all the way out, the 2nd quarter the 3 pt misses changed into 15 and 18 foot field goals that dropped like crazy. This is when Somerville guards Skerby Odivin and Billy Bonnet took off, they couldn't be stopped. They would post 11 of 16 pts to crawl within 6 of the Bulldogs at the half. Even though Burke's big man was back in they couldn't finish at the basket and didn't knock down free throws. So in the 3rd quarter, you can understand how Somerville's guards played with more intensity. Odivin and Bonnet would combine for 13 of another 16 this time taking the first lead of the game and keeping it for good. In the fourth quarter, Burke gave a good effort even though, 2 of the 7 guys on the Bulldogs walked out of the gym literally after getting one technical foul a piece. That left one bench player to fill in as only 5 players with no bench finished almost the entire quarter. Odivin would seal it for them, going to the line 3 times in which he would score 6 points which included the techs which were all shot at once. His guard play was nearly unstoppable and he finished with 23. His backcourt buddy, Bonnet finished with 20. This game was given away by a lack of effort by Burke and an intense push by the Highlanders backcourt. Somerville beat Burke in their house 64-59. Here is your box score and player totals.

1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH FINAL
SOMERVILLE 13 16 16 19 64
BURKE 25 10 9 15 59

SOMERVILLE- S. Odivin-23 B. Bonnet-20 K. Silva-7 G. DeMoura-5 J. Thomas-5 S. Julce-2
M.Laurent-2

BURKE- J. Christopher-18 D. James-14 Chris Nelson-11 James Nelson-8 B. Lim-8

NEXT STOP: MADISON PARK AT EAST BOSTON

East Longmeadow at Madison Park

2011-01-04T18:21:00.000-08:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR! And welcome back to CrunkDub Hoops. Reporting live from the heart of the city, I bring the action back to Roxbury where the defending Boston City champions were in action against East Longmeadow. This is the second time the Cardinals have hosted an out of town team that came a long distance. First it was Mt Pleasant and now East Longmeadow. But again, this was an easy test to pass for the Cardinals, potential all star Kharee Hudson went to work from jump street. He dropped 9 of his 22 in the first quarter. He also finished with 18 rebs on the night. No answer for the man as he had 3 dunks in the game, one in each of the last 3 quarters. The only person who could compete with him from the Spartans was Lou Rodriguez who dropped 8 of his 10 in the first quarter. He would be injured early in the second quarter and sit the rest of the game. Seeing as he was their only threat so far the Cardinals would continue the bashing by evenly distributing the ball between 7 players in the second quarter. By halftime Gregory Turner would have his 11 points. 7 of which he dropped trying to trade shot for shot with Kharee in the first. By halftime it was 41-19 Cardinals. So you would think by now they would quit. But no, onward went the Spartans led by other guard Brandon Bosworth who would drop 2 3s in the 3rd. he would finish with 11 , all of his points were scored in the 2nd half. That effort was apart of 7 3s put in by East Longmeadow in the 2nd half. MP kept pounding away, this time Dakim Murray would step up with 13 of 15 being dropped in the 2nd half. The Spartans had way too much on their plate in this one. Even with 3 players dropping double digits for the game, MP had 4. They were outscored in every quarter, the worst of it coming by way of a 19-5 2nd quarter tally by MP. The defending champs keep on rolling and post a record of 5-2. They win the game 79-53 at home and look forward to a rivalry matchup at East Boston this coming Thursday. Last year, they blew them out by 24 in their house, but lost at home in overtime. Here is your box score and player points for the game.

1st 2nd 3rd 4th F
MP 22 19 18 20 79
EL 14 5 15 19 53

Madison Park- K. Hudson 22 D. Murray 15 G. Turner 11 D. Stewart 10 R. Matthews 9 K. Still 5
J. Baez 4 D. Lawladonnie 2

E. Longmeadow- B. Bosworth 11 D. McFoill 11 L. Rodriguez 10 B. McAllister 8 S. Blake 6
R. Hollaway 5 T. Mauer 2

NEXT STOP: SOMERVILLE AT BURKE

Clips and Footage Madison Park vs E. Longmeadow

2011-01-04T18:03:00.000-08:00

BLA Dorchester footage

2010-12-23T19:29:00.000-08:00

Dorchester at Boston Latin Academy

2010-12-23T19:00:00.000-08:00

Gametime once again...Dorchester High School paid a visit to the Dragon Dome as I call it now. Warming up to that Wiz Khalifa-Black and yellow. That is exactly what it was. Black and yellow all over the court. It was a low scoring first quarter. Out blazing in the 2nd came the Dragons led by Jonathan Deane, they had no answer for him. And when it wasn't him it was CJ Burke. Matt Glora would hit a couple long range shots to get them going even more. He would finish with 7. Deane was almost perfect from the strip in that quarter hitting 3 of 4 from the line. They couldn't stop trying to foul him from the start of the 2nd. BLA outrebounded Dorchester thru the entire game but here come the Bears. Dexter Mathurian, and Ronnie Jackson would combine for 10 pts in the paint. The trooper for them was guard Darius Bass who put up 15 off the bench. The strike back looked interesting but did not stagger the Dragons at all who only put more of a dent into the lead by halftime. So here we go into the 3rd with a 25-13 BLA lead, with the same from Burke who showed alot of inside dominance drawing fouls. Dorchester made an awkward move subbing in a smaller but more powerful set which still had no answer for the inside height of BLA. In the 4th, Kwamaine Lane would step up for Latin and continue to bring the fire dropping 8 of his 10 in the last quarter. Burke again would give more of the same and at this point all the Bears could do was trade shot for shot. In the end they would not stand the test as BLA finished the 2nd semester of school with a record of 2-2. Even though they are one of the few teams that will not make a presence in a Christmas tournament this year they take an even record to Burke High School next week. Images from the game including live game film and a post game interview will be put up in the next post. Here are your box score and game stats.

1st 2nd 3rd 4th Final

BLA 8 17 11 18 54

DOR 2 11 10 14 37

BLA C.Burke-17 J. Deane-12 K. Lane-10 M. Glora-7 E. Williamson-6 D. Riley-2

DOR D. Bass-15 D.Mathurian-5 R. Jackson-5 D. Boyd-4 J. Langston-3 D. Dixon-3

A. Engebe-2

Brighton at Burke

2010-12-22T17:14:00.000-08:00

Another day of snow outside! Another day of basketball inside. It's gametime. Tonight it was the Bulldogs of Burke High hosting the Brighton Bengals. The undefeated Bengals came in real confident even though their coach knew the challenge ahead of them. Coach Hugh Coleman of Brighton said, "Burke will be our first real challenge because they actually have a little talent." He wasn't joking, in the first half the struggle didn't seem evident as the Bengals took a 5 point lead to end the first half. Alot of turnovers for them would halt their run in the 3rd quarter. Between traveling calls and fouls, the turnover ratio looked rough. It showed to be perfct timing as Burke hit 4 3s in the 3rd. But as the 4th started, so did the Bengals who would pull away led by senior guard Kevon Young who was the game's leading scorer with 26 points. Fellow guard and BLA transfer Theo Orihbahor would add to the insult with 11 of his own points. Both Edward Toney and Jerard Mayes would dominate down low also posting 12 and 18 respectively. The only way to stay in it for the Burke was their forward, James Nelson who put up 12 points in the 4th, he had an interesting inside out game. He wasone of the only two to post double digit points for the Bulldogs. They could have had a 3rd if their point guard threat, Jahkari Christopher hadn't fouled out early that same quarter. He would finish with 9. When the clock expired, Brighton had finished off another foe as they beat Burke 78-67. Kevon Young had this to say after the game. "It was a tough win and we have to work on some stuff." Edward Toney and his teammate Young are both seniors and definitely looking forward to state this year. Here is your box score and point totals for the night live from Grove Hall Community Center.

1st 2nd 3rd 4th F
Brighton 15 15 20 28 78
Burke 8 17 24 16 67

Brighton K. Young-26 J. Mayes-18 E. Toney-12 T. Orihbahor-11 M. James-6 D. Edwards-3
R. Mack-2

Burke J. Nelson-20 C. Nelson-12 J. Christopher-9 D. James-6 P. Ricketts-6 J. Tran-5
N. Jaime-5 B. Lim-4

NEXT STOP- DORCHESTER AT BOSTON LATIN ACADEMY 12/23

START IT UP!!!

2010-12-21T18:52:00.000-08:00

Hey, its ya boy CrunkDub back in the building. It's been a little bit since I have been on here. But I had to come back and get it poppin'. What better way then to see a doubleheader in one day! Nice and slow is going to be my speed for the next few weeks since your boy is in a cast. That's what you get when you go up for a 2 handed layup and come down on someone's foot. This gives me an opportunity to check out some games. I am excited about this season. Looking for some all stars all around the city. I have some favorites and some friends I can't wait to see in action. There's Akosa M. over in C-Town, there is Samir M. over at New Mission, and upcoming all star hopeful Kharee H. who is basically repping MP up there by himself as tall as he is. Then we have returnrs like Charlie N. who was at Brighton but has rumored to have transferred to the D4 state champs who recently turned D2. They should be ok seeing as they are even taller then last year. But let's move straight into the action. Doubleheader for tonight was interesting. Slaughters in both games. First I went to Boston Latin Academy, home of the Dragons, and watched as they hosted the Panthers of Fenway High. Same story it seems as last year. BLA put a beating on them and rose victorious 57-29. The only 2 seeming to show promise for the Panthers were the 2 sophomore starters. Phillip Justyn and Ricky Smith assisted by senior Curtis Adger had decent games in the scoring and assist categories once the second half came. But it wasn't enough. The Dragons led by junior guard Jonathan Deane and junior forward CJ Burke took over. here is a breakdown of the score first by team totals in quarters. The the box score.

1st 2nd 3rd 4th F
BLA 8 22 16 15 57
Fenway 5 0 8 16 29

BLA Burke-9 Riley-8 Deane-7 Williams-7 Lane-6 White-5 Champagnie-5 Miller-4
Saunders-4 Emmanuel-2

Fenway Adger-11 Justyn-10 Smith-4 Tyrhe-2 Jones-2

Then I finished up the night at the defending city champions. Usually when you hear a team coming out of town you say oh....those dudes probably big and go dumb hard. You start thinking the inner city squads will lose. That was not the case tonight. Roxbury represented tonight. Madison Park (defending Boston City Champions and MASS D1 North Sectional Champions) played host to out-of-state Mt. Pleasant (RI). MP vs MP if you will. Massachusetts won that battle. Big bad senior Kharee Hudson led them with 22 points as the Cardinals defeated the Kilties 66-40. They are off to a 2-1 start as they head into a Christmas tourney.

1st 2nd 3rd 4th F
MP(MA) 18 15 14 19 66
MP(RI) 13 13 8 6 40

Madison Park Hudson-22 Tyler-11 Turner-9 Matthews-9 Murray-7 Baez-5 Lawladonnie-2
Still-1

Mt.Pleasant (RI) Laurent-12 Williams-8 Akinsulure-7 Dale-4 Beckford-3 Monteiro-2
Stewart-2 Morierra-2

That concludes the first night of my return to the sports blog known as CrunkDub Hoops. For high school boys basketball, I am ready to see some new and exciting games this season when time allows. I loved that warmup song they played today at BLA. This is CrunkDub signing off, get ready to START IT UP!!!