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Donofrio Classic Report: Mon., April 3

04/03/2017, 11:45pm EDT
By Josh Verlin & Tyler Sandora

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin) &
Tyler Sandora (@Tyler_Sandora3)
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Here’s a report from tonight’s Donofrio Classic second-round action:

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Game One: A high-powered matchup between Just Clean It and Keystone Blazers Red looked like it would be a hard-fought one, as the two teams found themselves neck-and-neck for the opening 15 minutes. But Just Clean It finished the first half strong to open up a 16-point advantage at the midpoint and raced away once action resumed, cruising to a 112-88 victory. East Stroudsburg commit Marc Rodriguez (2017/Father Judge) led Just Clean It’s 3-point heavy attack with 25 points, hitting seven of his team’s 20 triples on the evening. Fellow ESU commit Mike Milsip (2017/Neumann-Goretti) also had 17, Villanova commits Collin Gillespie (2017/Archbishop Wood) and Dhamir Cosby-Roundtree (2017/Neumann-Goretti) added 17 and 15, and Matt Cerruti (2017/Archbishop Wood) added 12 for Just Clean It. The Blazers were paced by Ahmad Williams (2018/Plymouth-Whitemarsh), who poured in 35 points; Nisheem McNeal-Wright (2017/Audenried) had 18 points and South Carolina commit David Beatty (2017/Imhotep Charter) chipped in 15.

Game Two: Despite having a rotation of mostly sophomores, Waterview Triple Threat fought off a late eight-point deficit, going up by a point in the final minute of play against Positive Image I. But they couldn’t close the door, and a layup by Positive Image’s Craig Logan (2018/Girard College) with 20 seconds left ended up being the difference-maker in a 64-63 win. Triple Threat had a look a two foul shots with 3.9 seconds left but missed both; a foul on the rebound gave them two more opportunities, but only the first connected. Davonte Canty (2018/Imhotep Charter) led Positive Image I with 17 points, and Bryce Spriggs (2019/Friends’ Central )added 13 points, as well as the game-winning assist. Paul VI (N.J.) 2019 G El Khana Hidalgo led Triple Threat with 14 points.

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Beatty excited by South Carolina run
David Beatty knows what it takes to be successful.

The Imhotep Charter senior guard is coming off of the most historic season in the short history of the school, helping lead the No. 3 team in the country (according to USA Today) to a Public League, District 12 and PIAA Class 4A state championship.

Beatty will attend the University of South Carolina in the fall, choosing the Gamecocks over Georgetown and Indiana after sorting that group from over 30 Division I offers. Winning has been a recent occurrence in Columbia -- the Gamecocks made the Final Four for the first time ever this year, falling to Gonzaga in Saturday’s national semifinals.

“When I was on my visit, I got to see what kind of guy [head coach] Frank Martin was and how he was building the program,” Beatty said. “The way the teammates treated each other I knew they were going to go far in the season.”

In addition to the men's program making a deep run in the tournament, the women’s team, coached by North Philly native Dawn Staley, defeated Mississippi State in the national championship on Sunday evening.

It’s a winning tradition that Beatty hopes to continue after a high school career that saw him impress for three different high-level programs.

The North Philadelphia native spent his junior year at St. Benedict’s (N.J.) after attending Archbishop Carroll (Pa.) for his first two high school seasons.

In addition to his versatile offensive skillset, Beatty enjoys playing on the defensive end, where his Philadelphia toughness starts to show.

“Whoever is hot at the time, that’s me. I’m going to stay on him and try to get up on him and he won’t be able to score,” Beatty said. “When I’m focused there is no getting by me. Defense is a great aspect of my game.”

South Carolina will lose senior leader Sindarius Thornwell and his team-high 21.4 ppg, but sophomore guard P.J. Dozier (13.9 ppg, 4.8 rpg) and many other contributors are slated to return next season barring unexpected departures.

A top-150 recruit nationally, Beatty hopes to continue to winning tradition when he arrives at campus in the fall. He will be joined by four-star recruit Ibrahim Doumbia, a 6-foot-8 Mali native, along with Felipe Haase and Jason Cudd, a duo of centers.

He hopes a successful high school career will translate into some wins once he gets to the next level.

“I want to win SEC Freshman of the year, make it to the Final Four, and become a better all around basketball player,” Beatty said. “It’s nice to know the I have lots of success behind me. I have a winning mindset so i’m going to keep that with me next year.”

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Nisheem McNeal-Wright (above) led Audenried to 19 wins and a PIAA 4A quarterfinal appearance. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

McNeal-Wright pondering recruitment attention
As good a senior year as Nisheem McNeal-Wright was having at University Audenried Charter — and it was quite a good one — the South Philly native hadn’t quite had a chance to show just how much he’d improved.

That was, until the Rockets took on Imhotep Charter and the Panthers’ pair of Division I-bound guards in the Public League playoffs. And though ‘Tep ended up with the overtime win, McNeal-Wright showed that he belonged. It was a notion he reinforced a month later, when Audenried once again played Imhotep in the PIAA Class 4A quarterfinals.

Before fouling out in the fourth quarter of his final high school game, McNeal-Wright kept his Rockets in it against a team ranked in the top six of the MaxPreps national rankings, finishing with 19 points.

“I want to go hard against anybody that gets in front of me,” he said. “I don’t care who you are, who people say you are — I’m me, and I’m going to do my best.”

McNeal-Wright went from largely unknown to a wanted quantity in between Donofrio appearances, helped out quite a bit by those games against Imhotep. The 6-foot-2, 190-pound scoring guard led Audenried to a 19-5 season and two wins in the state tournament, certainly a breakthrough year for a team coming out of the Public League’s ‘B’ Division.

Now, he’s hearing not just from colleges but potential scholarship opportunities are emerging; several Division II and low-major Division I schools have reached out, most recently West Chester and Lincoln.

“I’m very excited, just trying to go as hard as I can to get what I’m striving for,” he said.

McNeal-Wright showed off his versatile scoring ability for Keystone Blazers Red in the loss, dropping 18 points, hitting a pair of 3-pointers but otherwise getting to the rim in an up-and-down game.

He’s hitting the AAU circuit in April with PYO, playing alongside many of his Blazers Red teammates in hopes of picking up a few scholarships before he has to make his college decision.

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Quick Hits
--  Plymouth-Whitemarsh 2018 G Ahmad Williams displayed his scoring ability, scoring 35 of his team's 88 points. Williams, a 6-foot-2 guard, scored a majority of his points on tough pull-up jumpers inside the arc, while also hitting a few 3’s. He also showed his ability to play in transition, pushing the ball ahead and hitting a few floaters before the majority of the defense could get back down the floor. The junior guard played an instrumental role for P-W’s run to the District 1 6A semifinals and PIAA quarterfinals; his twin brother Ahmin Williams remains sidelined with a food injury suffered in February.

-- With all the talent Imhotep was able to throw on the court this year, there were even a few pieces that head coach Andre Noble didn’t have room for on the floor this year. Junior wing forward Davante Canty showed that with his 17-point effort in the second game, as the 6-5 athlete made things happen with his slashing ability and was a defensive problem as well. Even if he can’t crack the Panthers’ rotation as a senior, he’s still intriguing enough for some Division III schools to take a look.


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