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Fireworks and drama at entertaining Donofrio Classic semifinals

04/18/2023, 12:00am EDT
By Josh Verlin + Owen McCue

Owen McCue (@Owen_McCue) &
Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)

CONSHOHOCKEN — Not once, but twice Amyr Walker made the play of the game Monday night.

Not once, but twice the result of those plays was a Milan ‘Mir’ Dean bucket.

Walker (West Catholic) hit Dean (Archbishop Wood) for a go-ahead corner three, then came up with the winning steal that led to a Dean for a slam to finish off M-Sport’s 85-82 Donofrio Classic semifinal win over reigning champion Raw Sports at the Fellowship House in Conshohocken.


Milan 'Mir' Dean (above) hit the game-winning 3-pointer and dunk to get M-Sport into the 2023 Donofrio Classic championship. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

“I pride myself on defense,” Walker said. “I like playing defense. I enjoy it. I like nitty and gritty, all that.”

After dethroning the reigning champs, M-Sport will face last year’s runner-up Love Basketball in the championship game Tuesday back in Conshy. (More on their win below)

M-Sport got up by as many as 18 points in the first half only to see its lead trimmed to 43-39 at halftime. Raw Sports was back in front by the 11-minute mark in the second half.

Malvern Prep junior Ryan Williams led his team with 33 points. He was strong in the early going and found new life when Raw Sports, which was led by 18 points from Perkiomen School fifth-year Preist Ryan, started to pull away to spur M-Sport back in the game.

“I was exhausted because I kind of played the whole first half,” Williams said. “We just had to dig deep because we didn’t want to lose. They went on their run and it’s basically just basketball. We went up 13, they came back, got up like six I think, and then none of us wanted to lose, so we just sucked it up.”

The teams traded buckets down the stretch. West Catholic senior Adam ‘Budd’ Clark put M-Sport back ahead 80-78 with under two minutes left. Cardinal O’Hara senior Izaiah Pasha answered with a pair of free throws at the other end.

M-Sport wound the clock down before Walker drove toward the hoop and wrapped a pass around 6-9 Florida commit Thomas Haugh, who looked ready to block his shot. Dean calmly sank the open look to put his team ahead 83-80 with about 30 seconds left.

“I got past the first defender because they were denying the point guards Ryan and Budd, so I’m like, ‘I gotta make a play,’” Walker said. “I saw Mir’s man help and I just wrapped it around.”

“It’s really fun, it’s a booster to your game, confidence,” Dean said of his big shot.

Pasha, who finished with 14, added another pair of free throws to pull Raw Sports within one with about 20 seconds to go. Raw Sports had several fouls to give before sending M-Sport to the line, but the free throws never came as an offensive foul gave Raw Sports the ball back under the basket in the offensive end with just seconds to play.

Clutching to a one-point lead, M-Sport needed a stop and got it from Walker. He poked the ball away, secured it and as he fell down got it to Clark who sent it ahead to Dean for a monster slam as time expired.

“Great defense, that’s all it is,” Dean of Walker’s play. “He wanted it, and he said, ‘I’m gonna go get it.’”

Walker enjoyed watching Dean’s acrobatics on the other end of the floor as well.

“I already knew what he was going to do when he caught it,” Walker said. “Get the crowd hype a little bit and take off.”

Ryan, who said he is taking a visit to Eastern Kentucky this weekend, and Haugh (14 points) gave M-Sport some trouble inside with their size, while Reading senior guard Myles Grey added another 16. Perkiomen Valley junior Julian Sadler added 16 for M-Sport.

Love Sport will have some size as well Tuesday with Division I big Al Amadou (Marquette) and Christian Kirkland (Youngstown State). Williams said M-Sport will be ready.

“It’s probably the same thing,” Williams said. “I think they have a big man too, so it’s getting stops and getting shoots and spacing the floor. We’re basically guard heavy, so that’s gonna help us.”

M-Sport: Ryan Williams 33, Milan Dean 18, Julian Sadler 16, Adam Clark 11, Amyr Walker 7.

Raw Sports: Preist Ryan 18, Myles Grey 16, Thomas Haugh 14, Izaiah Pasha 14, Ruben Rodriguez 10, Xzayvier Brown 10

~~~

Game One: Love Basketball vs. Keystone Blazers

Winning at the Fellowship House is all about toughness. 

The final games of the Donofrio Classic are always physical contests, the court at the Fel getting more and more claustrophobic as fans, bleachers and benches nearly ring the baseline and sidelines, the talented field even more concentrated in future high-level ballplayers by the time the teams get whittled down to four.


Nayeem Johnson (above) picked up his first scholarship offer on Monday night. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

“Playing in this classic, you’ve just got to be tough, you’ve got to have the toughness,” Nayeem Johnson said. “The refs let you play, playing through hard fouls, and just everybody’s coming out to see you from different areas. You’ve just got to be mentally strong.”

Johnson knows what he’s talking about: the Math, Civics & Sciences senior’s gone through the gauntlet that is the Philadelphia Public League, whose games make sure every trip to the line is one that’s fully earned. That education paid off on Monday night, as his 17 points were a big reason that he and Love Basketball will once again play for a Donofrio title after a 108-97 win over Jalil Bethea and the Keystone Blazers.

Last year, the team that was known as Love Basketball/Team Hardnett made it to the Donofrio title game but fell short, losing to Raw Sports 114-76 in the championship. They won’t get a chance for the rematch they so hoped for, but the opportunity for a strong group of seniors to end their high school careers with a win would be a great memory to go out on.

Leading the way for Love Basketball was Academy New Church senior Deywilk Tavarez, who scored 35 points as he came out on fire from beyond the arc and didn’t stop hitting shots all game. Love Basketball took the lead early, led by 13 at the half and didn’t look back after the break, leading by double digits the rest of the way.

Marquette-bound Alassane Amadou had a triple-double with points (10), rebounds and 10 blocks, the 6-9 post everywhere on both ends of the court. Tavarez, who played with Amadou on the Philly Pride’s 16s two years ago and brought him to the team coached by ANC assistant Shannon Givens, was really enjoying what Amadou brought defensively.

““We actually have this discussion a lot back at school — I think he’s a pro,” Tavarez said. “The one thing about him is that he’s always been somebody who just go out there and plays hard, and defensively I think he’s probably the best in the state. It’s hard to get past him, hard to get a shot up on him, and offensively he’s just always there, always there for a put-back, you can throw it up anywhere on the backboard, he’ll go up and get it and put it down.”

Archbishop Wood’s Jalil Bethea (30 points) and Mike Green (25 points) both had terrific nights for the Blazers, who missed the defensive presence of Archbishop Ryan junior Thomas Sorber, on a visit at Georgetown.


Deywilk Tavarez (above) had 35 points to lead Love Basketball. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

Tavarez and Johnson are two of several Love Basketball team members who came into April yet to choose a college but who’ve played well for several games in a row at Donofrio; fellow ANC senior Jarell Keel (12 points) and MCS senior Rashan Locke-Hicks (19 points) are also uncommitted, while Amadou (Marquette) and Christian Kirkland (Youngstown State) are Division I-bound.

“I think, definitely, we definitely have some underdogs in which we feel like we’re part of the best of the best, and we deserve the recognition,” Tavarez said. “Me, Nayeem, Jarell [Keel], (Rashan Locke-Hicks) even, we all try to try to come out here and prove ourselves every day, but try to win as well, because that’s the most important part.”

A 6-3, 180-pound wing, Johnson has impressed with his playmaking in the open court, ability to get to the rim and make shots, which he’s done all spring. 

That earned him a post-game conversation with the whole Millersville staff, Casey Stitzel bringing two assistants with him to see Johnson, who’d visited campus over the weekend. He emerged a few minutes later with his first college scholarship; he’s also been talking to fellow PSAC schools West Chester and East Stroudsburg and D-IIIs Neumann and Delaware Valley.

Even though he didn’t know yet who he was going to be playing Tuesday night when he spoke post-game, Johnson knows for sure exactly what he and his teammates are going to be in for when they return to the Fellowship House for one more round.

“I know that they’re tough and they’re going to play to the end of the game,” he said. “I’m not expecting it to be sweet, I’m expecting it to be a dogfight.”

Keystone Blazers: Jalil Bethea 30, Mike Green 25, Carsen Howard 15, Jeremiah Lee 8, Robbie Sukaly 6, Tahir Howell 5, Kirby Mooney 4, Ryan Mulroy 3

Love Basketball: Deywilk Tavarez 35, Rashan Locke-Hicks 19, Nayeem Johnson 17, Jarell Keel 12, Christian Kirkland 11, Alassane Amadou 10, Cedric Zellars 4


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