City of Basketball Love

By Owen McCue (@Owen_McCue)
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SPRING GARDEN — The 18th annual Danny Rumph Classic continued on Sunday at the Community College of Philadelphia with a women's pro showcase (more on that later this week on CoBL) followed by two semifinals to set up Monday's championship contest.

The event is held annually as part of the Daniel E. Rumph II Foundation's effort to bring awareness to sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) and to provide screening for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, the leading cause for SCA. 

CoBL was there for the action that saw both undefeated squads go down and a few dazzling individual performances. Here are stories from both games:

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More coverage from the 2023 Danny Rumph Classic: Day 1 Roundup | Day 2 Roundup | Matt Penecale | Khalif Meares | Da'Kquan Davis

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8EYE's Jordan Walker scored 40 points in a semifinal win over Basketball Finders at the Rumph Classic on Sunday. (Photo: Mark Jordan/CoBL)

Game 1: 8EYE 100, Basketball Finders 94

A shorthanded 8EYE squad made a call to New York on Sunday as it tried to secure a spot in Monday’s championship game. With the likes of Paul Reed and Isaiah Todd absent, Jordan “Jelly” Walker rose to the occasion in his first appearance at the Rumph.

The 5-10 guard, who starred at The Patrick School (N.J.) and UAB and recently signed with the Dallas Mavericks, traded won over the Philly hoops crowd with big shot after big shot on Sunday afternoon.

He dropped in 32 of his 40 points in the second half to guide 8EYE to a comeback win and a spot in the title game.

“It’s fun, a great atmosphere. I like it,” said Walker, who brought the crowd to its feet in the second half. “I’m from New York. It’s sort of like that, so I appreciate the fans for sure for coming out and having that type of atmosphere here.”

“I just do what I do,” he added. “I just play the same way everywhere I’m at. It doesn’t matter where I’m at. I try to just dominate. I try to be a killer at all times, and if the shots falling, it’s really hard to stop me.”

Basketball Finders guard Justin Jaworski, a former standout at Perk Valley and Lafayette who is headed to Italy to play next season, popped off for 31 points for Basketball Finders, including 22 in the second half a year after he finished with 33 in a game at the Rumph. Darrun Hilliard, the former Villanova star who most recently played for Maccabi Tel Aviv B.C. in Israel, added 21 points and 10 boards, also doing most of his damage in the second half with 16 points.

The duo looked to have Basketball Finders positioned for its third win of the weekend and a spot in the title game midway through the second half before Walker turned the tide. A three by Vinny Simpson (15 points) around the five-minute mark gave 8EYE a 79-71 lead. Basketball Finders responded to make for an exciting final stretch of the game.

A Hilliard three cut the deficit to 90-89 with a minute left; Walker came down 15 seconds later and answered right back. Taylor Funk (18 points, 12 rebounds) hit a triple, then down came Walker again from a few feet from beyond the arc for arguably the shot of the weekend. He added two more free throws in the final seconds to finish things off.

“It’s regular for me,” Walker said of the clutch shot. “I work on that shot a lot. It looked crazy, but I work on that shot a lot. Even at UAB, if you watch my highlights, I’ve done that a lot too. … Shout out to the Rumph and shout out to everybody for letting me come here.”

“He got hot. He got going,” Simpson said. “He put on a helluva a performance, and I appreciate it, coming in and putting a show on.”

The win clinched Simpson, who won the championship with FOE last summer, what he believes is his sixth Rumph Classic title game appearance — despite the fact that he wasn’t even supposed to play this year with FOE not putting together a roster.

The veteran Simpson, a former standout at Cardinal Dougherty and then Hampton who now coaches the FCS girls team, joined the 8EYE group on Friday night. He showed he still has it on Friday, Saturday and once again on Sunday (with several of his FCS players in attendance) despite no longer playing high-level hoops regularly.

“I was just gonna chill this year and wait for next year when FOE has a team, but 8EYE (Jaime Moyer) was like, ‘Hey, I might need a point guard somebody to lead the team. I might need some help,’” said Simpson, who has been dubbed ‘Monday Night Vinny’ for his Rumph championship pedigree.

“I didn’t expect to play a lot since I haven’t played since last year, but hey I played well the first time back out there. When I get out there, it’s like riding a bike. I enjoy it, and I always enjoy it. It’s like my annual come out every year. Good thing I did play because everybody gets excited for me. I’m a Philadelphia guy and they like to see the Philadelphia people be successful.”

Lincoln and Harcum product Khalif Meares added 14 points and five assists, continuing a stellar tournament. Former Bonner-Prendergast standout Ajiri Ogemuno-Johnson, who just completed his career at Rider, added 11 points and seven rebounds, including a highlight two-handed slam behind his head.

Simpson said Reed will be back with 8EYE for Monday’s championship and hinted at some more possible NBA reinforcements as well. Last year, Philadelphia 76ers Tyrese Maxey and Isaiah Joe showed up to help FOE take the title.

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LOE's Tony Carr, right, drives on CheckRock's Jamie Calloway during Sunday's semifinal at CCP. (Photo: Mark Jordan/CoBL)

Game 2: LOE 105, CheckRock 85

At least one first-year squad was guaranteed in Monday’s championship when LOE and CheckRock matched up in the second game of Sunday.

A terrific back-and-forth contest turned into a rout during a five-minute stretch in the second half when LOE’s Tony Carr and Ahamd Gilbert decided to take over. Carr, the former Roman Catholic and Penn State star, finished with 28 points, and Gilbert, who played his hoops at Constitution and Rider, poured in 27 points.

“It’s fun,” Carr said. “Philly basketball is different, especially in the summer time, so to be able to come and play in front of my family and do my thing it means the world to me.”

CheckRock had the day off on Saturday after Los Angeles Clippers guard Nah’Shon “Bones” Hyland lit up the gym for 56 points on Friday night to improve the team to 2-0. Hyland and Eric Ayala, the hero of Thursday night’s game, were both absent on Sunday, but it looked like the group would still be able to hang tough.

Izaiah Brockington was quiet through CheckRock’s first two games of the tournament but the Archbishop Ryan product exploded for 24 of his 34 points in the first half on Sunday. New addition Jamie Callaway, who played at Wyoming Valley West, had his moments as well with 15 of his 20 points in the first half to help CheckRock to a 52-50 lead.

The locally-infused LOE squad proved too much, however, with Josh Sharkey (13 points), Lamar Stevens (12 points) and Mike Watkins (12 points, 13 rebounds) all adding double-digit efforts along with Carr and Gilbert’s big nights.

“It’s like reliving old memories,” Stevens said of playing with a number of his former high school and college teammates. “We’re just having fun, going out and winning, competing for a great cause.”

Carr, Stevens and the rest of the LOE group filled up plenty of gyms with and against each other during their high school careers in the city. Monday’s sure-to-be raucous Rumph crowd should be nothing new.

“We’ve been playing in big-time atmospheres our whole lives, so I’m looking forward to Philly coming out and just getting it done,” Carr said.