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Donofrio Classic Report: Tuesday, March 31

04/01/2015, 1:45am EDT

By Jeff Neiburg

Jeff Neiburg (@Jeff_Neiburg)
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Here’s a report from Donofrio Classic action at the Fellowship House (515 Harry St., Conshohocken) on Tuesday, March 31:

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Game one: Team Philly 125, Waterview Danny Rumph 71
The rout was on early in this one as Team Philly jumped out to a big lead early and never looked back. The high-flying attack from Team Philly may have produced close a total dunks number that came close to Waterview’s total made shots from the floor. The lead was 63-37 at halftime and Team Philly almost doubled its output in the second half as well. Seven Team Philly players scored in double figures, with Samir Doughty (2015/MCS) leading the way with 26 points. Mike Watkins (2015/Phelps School) scored 18 while Kobe Thomas (2017/Mastery Charter) andDevon Goodman (2016/Germantown Academy) scored 16 apiece. Dymir Logan (2015/Del-Val) scored 14, Kimar Willams (2015/Constitution) had 13 and Sean Lloyd (2015/Mt. Zion Prep) added 12. For Waterview, Amir Hinton (2015/Abington) led the way with 16 points and was joined in double figures by Dominick Morales (2015/School of the Future), who had 14 points.

Game two: Raw Sports All Stars 89, Roadrunners 62
Raw Sports brought just five guys to the floor Tuesday night, but luckily those five guys were five of its most talented players on the roster, enabling a dominant victory over the Roadrunners, which had just seven guys available. Jahaad Proctor (2015/Harrisburg) and Caesar DeJesus(2015/Steelton-Highspire) each scored 25 points for Raw Sports. Point guard Dejour Williams(2015/Susquehanna) added 18 and Lonnie Walker (2017/Reading) scored 13 points. The Roadrunners were led by Quinton Dixon (2015/Linden High School), who scored 13 points. Taj Price (2015/Newark Eastside) and Jibreel Ahmad (2015/Newark Eastside) tallied 11 points apiece.

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Watkins getting ready for life in Happy Valley
The decision for Mike Watkins to attend The Phelps School for his senior year instead of staying at Math, Civics & Sciences paid off in the form of helping Phelps and coach Brian Shanahan capture the first PAISAA state championship in school history.

And the benefits didn’t just stop on the basketball court.

At the Malvern, Pa. boarding school, Watkins also got a taste of what life was like away from home before he heads up to Penn State next fall to begin his collegiate career.

“It prepared me well,” Watkins said. “It prepared me to manage my time and get my homework done.”

The 6-foot-9 Watkins, who’s been committed to Pat Chambers and PSU since June of 2013, may get slotted in the front court rotation behind upperclassmen likeDonovan Jack and Jordan Dickerson, but the departure of senior Ross Travis provides an opening for available minutes.

And Watkins has a very good chance and staking claim to plenty of minutes in his freshman campaign.

“I’m going to go up there willing to work as hard as I have to,” Watkins said. “If I do start right away, that would be cool. If I don’t, I understand I just have to work through the process.”

If Tuesday night was any indication, Watkins is clearly ready to play at the next level. He was a force on both ends of the floor, finishing off alley-oops in transition, creating his own shot in the post and causing havoc on the defensive end around the rim.

“I can’t wait to get up there,” Watkins said. “People thought I fell off because my season was over, but I was still working out. I’m just getting better for the next level.”

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Dejour Williams talks West Chester commitment
Right after Susquehanna Township High School’s season came to an end the same way it did last year, with a loss to champion Neumann-Goretti in the PIAA Class AAA playoffs, senior point guardDejour Williams had a decision to make regarding where he’d be playing his college basketball.

He said he was waiting around to potentially get a Division I offer, perhaps from NJIT, which Williams said was looking at him but slowed a little during the process.

Not wanting to wait any longer, he made it official last Sunday, committing to West Chester University and coach Damien Blair.

“I thought I should just take a leap and commit to West Chester,” said Williams, who averaged 15.6 ppg this year. “I went down there and visited the school, everything seemed like a great fit.”

A talented 6-foot point guard with a great shooting ability, Williams should have a pretty solid career at the Division II level, even if that’s not where he imagined he’d end up.

“I kind of thought I could [play at a higher level] because I played against the top players in the country and excelled against everybody,” Williams said. “But sometimes you just have to do what you have on the table.”

What’s on the table now is a full spring and summer to prepare for his freshman year of college.

Williams said he’ll use these next few months to primarily focus on getting bigger and stronger on the court.

“I know at the college level, you’re going to have to have a lot of strength so I’m just working on getting bigger,” Williams said. “Coach said he wants me to come in and play right away because I’m a good shooter. I’m ready to make an impact in my first year.”

He certainly made an impact in Tuesday night’s Donofrio action. With just five guys, Williams helped lead a talented Raw Sports group to a victory and advance into the Donofrio Classic’s quarterfinals.

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Quick Hits
–After leaving the Philadelphia area for Mt. Zion Prep in Baltimore for his senior year, Sean Lloydis getting closer and closer to figuring out where he’ll be playing his college basketball. He said the talent level he was able to see all year was a big boost. “It was different playing against different players outside of Philadelphia during the whole year,” Lloyd said. I got to play against good competition like Brewster Academy, IMG, South Kent, teams like that.” Lloyd said he was hearing interest from schools like La Salle, Fairleigh Dickinson, LIU-Brooklyn and UAB and plans on taking visits soon.

–After committing to Florida International over the weekend while on a visit, Constitution senior point guard Kimar Williams was dominant Tuesday night. And fresh off of a weekend in Miami where he figured out where he’d spend his next four years, who could blame him for playing loose and aggressively? “I had a great experience,” Williams said of his visit to FIU. “It was a great environment, I felt very comfortable with it. It was a great choice for me and that’s why I picked it.”