BMOREHOOPS

Friday afternoon, Jimmy Hamilton watched his future college team, Morgan State, fall to West Virginia in the NCAA Tournament. The Milford Mill High senior forward was able to end his day on a high note, earning most valuable player honors for the Baltimore County senior All-Stars, who defeated their city counterparts, 100-93, at Woodlawn.

Milford Mill guard Devin Goode, who’s verbally committed to Bowie State, and Pikesville’s Devohn Gilmore each had 15 points to lead Baltimore County while Hamilton added 14 and seven rebounds. Dunbar guard Derrell Edwards earned MVP honors for the city team with a game-high 19 points, and Davon Usher from Digital Harbor had 13 points.

The county outscored the city, 35-24, over the final 10 minutes with Hamilton scoring 10. Last weekend, Hamilton tallied 26 points and 20 rebounds in two games, helping Milford Mill to the state Class 3A championship at the University of Maryland.

“We just stayed with each other, kept passing the ball around,” said Hamilton, who helped the county overcome a 13-point deficit. “We did what we had to do to win.

“I love playing for Milford Mill because it’s like a family. We care so much about each other and we got it done.”

The county trailed 82-76 in the fourth before an 8-0 run, capped by a drive and dunk by Hamilton gave it the lead at 84-82. The city gained the advantage back at 85-84, but four free throws by Goode put the county ahead to stay at 88-85 with 2 minutes, 45 seconds remaining.

Hamilton, Goode, Perry Hall’s Colby Giacubeno, Malcolm Thomas from Owings Mills and Pikesville’s Devohn Gilmore gained the starting assignment for the county with the city countering with Dunbar’s Roderick Camphor    , Edmondson’s Stanton Kidd and Sean Thomas, Jordan Latham from City College and Usher.

The city led 15-9 early after a dunk by Usher, who’s headed to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, before Mark Trafton (Reginald Lewis), Douglass’ Trevon Curbeam, Digital Harbor’s Justin Jackson, Patterson’s Brian Lewis and Jerry Lovelocke from city champ Edmondson relieved the starters. Lovelocke, who will play football for Prarie View A&M this fall, extended the city’s lead to 19-9 with a layup.

The margin grew to 30-17 after a dunk by Poly’s Montrey Clemons, capping a run of seven straight to open the second quarter. Led by Gilmore (9 points in quarter) and league player of the year Giacubeno (6 points), the county gained its first lead, 39-37, with 1:18 remaining in the second.

Edwards, who helped Dunbar to its 12th state crown last weekend at Comcast Center, closed the third quarter for the city with a 3-point play and a 3-pointer right in front of the city bench before the horn for a 69-65 advantage. An uncontested dunk by Kidd (6 points, 8 rebounds and 2 steals) gave city its largest lead of the half at 82-76 with under six minutes to play.

“I just wanted to have fun and go out a good note,” said Edwards, who tied a state Final Four with seven 3-pointers in the Poets’ semifinal win over Allegany. “I wanted to win but we fell short. It’s all good.”

CITY/COUNTY ALL-STAR GAME
At Woodlawn

County 100, City 93

City: Latham (City College) 4 2-4 10; Usher (Digital Harbor) 5 2-5 13, Camphor (Dunbar) 1 0-0 2; Thomas (Edmondson) 1 0-0 3; Kidd (Edmondson) 3 0-0 6; Trafton (Reginald Lewis) 4 0-1 9; Lovelocke (Edmondson) 5 0-0 10; Jackson (Digital Harbor) 2 0-0 4; Clemons (Poly) 3 1-2 7; Edwards (Dunbar) 6 3-7 19; Spence (Dunbar) 2 3-4 7; Nwakwo (City College) 0 1-2 1; Johnson (Northwestern) 1 0-0 2. Totals 37 12-25 93.

County: Hamilton (Milford Mill) 7 0-7 14; Thomas (Owings Mills) 1 0-0 2; Gilmore (Pikesville) 3 9-10 15; Arrington (Lansdowne) 4 2-2 11; Ortiz (Owings Mills) 4 0-2 8; Fields (Owings Mills) 1 0-2 2; Mendelzon (Franklin) 2 0-0 4; Mosca (Towson) 1 1-2 5; Brown (Overlea) 1 0-0 2; Goode (Milford Mill) 5 5-5 15; Giacubeno (Perry Hall) 4 0-0 10; Cox (Pikesville) 3 1-2 7; Walker 1 0-0 3; Fisher (Hereford) 1 0-0 2. Totals 38 18-32 100.

City 23 21 25 24-93
County 17 24 24 35-100

Three-pointers
City: 7-Edwards 4, Trafton, Mosca, Thomas)
County: 6-Giacubeno 2, Arrington, Gilmore, Mosca, Walker

Rebounds
City: 45-Kidd 8, Nwakwo 6, Clemons 5, Lovelocke 5, Trafton 4, Usher 3, Spence 3, Camphor 3, Jackson 3, Latham 2, Thomas, Edwards, Lewis)
County: 57-Hamilton 7, Arrington 7, Ortiz 7, Walker 6, Goode 5, Fields 4, Giacubeno 3, Cox 3, Gilmore 2, Mendelzon 2, Mosca 2, Brown 2, Thomas, Wilson, Fisher)

Assists
City: 17-Spence 3, Jackson 3, Curbeam 2, Camphor 2, Kidd 2, Lovelocke, Lewis, Latham, Usher, Edwards
County: 16-Fisher 4, Goode 3, Giacubeno 3, Walker, Gilmore, Arrington, Fields, Wilson, Hamilton

Steals
City: 11-Camphor 2, Spence 2, Thomas, Kidd, Lovelocke, Jackson, Edwards, Curbeam, Usher
County: 8-Goode 2, Giacubeno, Walker, Hamilton, Thomas, Fields, Mendelzon

Blocked shots
City: 5-Lewis, Usher, Camphor, Trafton, Nwakwo
County: 2-Gilmore, Hamilton

Rod Camphor-Dunbar
Montray Clemons-Poly
Trevon Curbean-Douglass
Derrell Edwards-Dunbar
Mark Grafton-Reginald Lewis
Desmond Johnson-Northwestern
Stanton Kidd-Edmondson
Justin Jackson-Digital Harbor
Jordan Latham-City College
Brian Lewis-Patterson
Jerry Lovelocke-Edmondson
Aron Nwankwo-City College
Corey Spence-Dunbar
Sean Thomas-Edmondson
Davon Usher-Digital Harbor

Coach: Darnell Dantzler, Edmondson

The second annual National High School Basketball Invitational will be held April 1-3 at Coppin State College’s new arena. It’s exciting news for hardcore Baltimore hoop followers who want to see some of the nation’s top teams.

Unfortunately, no Baltimore team is in the field. The only Baltimore connection to the event will be the return of Roscoe Smith, who’ll be playing for Oak Hill (Va.) Academy. Smith, who’s headed to UCONN, blew up onto the national scene while at Walbrook.

Oak Hill, ranked No. 6 in USA Today’s Super 25 and 10th in ESPNRise’s Fab 50, will be joined by defending champ Findlay Prep of Las Vegas (No. 3 USA Today/No. 7 ESPNRise), Florida’s Montverde Academy (No. 6 ESPNRise/No. 10 USA Today/) and Winter Park (No. 13 USA Today/No. 16 ESPNRise), North Carolina’s Christ School (No. 11 ESPNRise/No. 16 USA Today), Mountain State Academy of Beckley, W.Va.; and Charlotte (N.C.) Christian.

There’s also a four-team girls’ tourney that will featured New Jersey’s Peddie School (No. 34 ESPNRise), Florida’s Dillard (No. 39 ESPNRise) and Lake Mary (No. 40 ESPNRise) and Oak Hill (Va.). Peddie School played at the Breezy Bishop Showcase at Western back in December.

Last year’s inaugural event was held at Georgetown Prep in Montgomery County. According to reports, Prep didn’t want to host this year’s tournament on Easter weekend. St. Frances Academy boys and girls, and Seton Keough girls (won title) participated last year.

I realized it’s a national tournament, but it would’ve been nice to see Calvert Hall College rewarded with a spot in the boys’ field after winning the Baltimore Catholic League Tournament crown and missed an invite to the Alhambra Catholic Invitational in Cumberland. St. Frances’ girls were again the No. 1 team in Baltimore and reclaimed the IAAM A Conference title.
Baltimore loves its high school basketball, and a local team would’ve brought more fans to Coppin. Just a thought.

Brent Arrington, Lansdowne
Jamal Brown, Overlea
Brandon Fields, Owings Mills
Cole Fisher, Hereford
Colby Giacubeno, Perry Hall
Devohn Gilmore, Parkville
Anthony Goode, Milford Mill
Jimmy Hamilton, Milford Mill
Max Mendelzon, Franklin
Lucas Mosca, Towson
Keylin Ortiz, Owings Mills
Chaz Sharp, Randallstown (unable to play due to injury)
Malik Smalls, Randallstown
Malcolm Thomas, Owings Mills
Denzel Walker, Parkville
Max Wilson, Loch Raven

Coach: Albert Holley, Milford Mill

ALL-COUNTY

Player of the Year: Colby Giacubeno, Perry Hall

First team
Brent Arrington, Lansdowne, 6-3, Senior
Colby Giacubeno, Perry Hall, 6-1, Senior
Devohn Gilmore, Pikesville, 6-1, Senior
Chaz Sharp, Randallstown, 6-3, Senior
Corey Thomas, Woodlawn, 6-0, Junior

Second team
Anthony Goode, Milford Mill, 6-0, Senior
Jimmy Hamilton, Milford Mill, 6-5, Senior
Nick LaGuerre, Lansdowne, 6-3, Junior
Keylin Ortiz, Owings Mills, 6-3, Senior
Denzel Walker, Parkville, 6-0, Senior

Third team
Tevin Hanner, Milford Mill, 6-4, Junior
Isaiah McCray, Milford Mill, 6-0, Junior
Malik Smalls, Randallstown, 6-5, Senior
Malcolm Thomas, Owings Mills, 6-4, Senior
Max Wilson, Loch Raven, 5-9, Senior

ALL-DIVISION
1A-2A
First team: Arrington, Lansdowne; Gilmore, Pikesville; LaGuerre, Lansdowne; Ortiz, Owings Mills; Sharp, Randallstown
Second team: Jamal Brown, Overlea, Sr.; Brandon Fields, Owings Mills, Sr.; Smalls, Randallstown; Thomas, Owings Mills; Wilson, Loch Raven
Third team: Julian Allen, Loch Raven, Sr.; Jarrel Cox, Pikesville, Sr.; Nick Doolin, Randallstown, Jr.; McCoy Jones, New Town, Sr.; Rickie Mitchell, Randallstown, Sr.

3A-4A
First team: Giacubeno, Perry Hall; Goode, Milford Mill; Hamilton, Milford Mill; Thomas, Woodlawn; Walker, Parkville
Second team: Cole Fisher, Hereford, Sr.; Tevin Hanner, Milford Mill, Jr.; Max Mendelzon, Franklin, Sr.; Lucas Mosca, Towson, Sr.; McCray, Milford Mill
Third team: Kevin Bonner, Dulaney, Sr.; Lakeem Duncan, Parkville, Sr.; Davonta Farrell, Perry Hall, Sr.; Linwood Gaines, Rowlan Hailey, Patapsco, So.; James Milton, Parkville, Jr.

The second annual National High School Basketball Invitational will be held April 1-3 at Coppin State College’s new arena. It’s exciting news for hardcore Baltimore hoop followers who want to see some of the nation’s top teams.

Unfortunately, no Baltimore team is in the field. The only Baltimore connection to the event will be the return of Roscoe Smith, who’ll be Oak Hill (Va.) Academy. Smith, who’s headed to UCONN, blew up onto the national scene while at Walbrook.

Oak Hill, ranked No. 6 in USA Today’s Super 25 and 10th in ESPNRise’s Fab 50, will be joined by defending champ Findlay Prep of Las Vegas (No. 3 USA Today/No. 7 ESPNRise), Florida’s Montverde Academy (No. 6 ESPNRise/No. 10 USA Today/) and Winter Park (No. 13 USA Today/No. 16 ESPNRise), North Carolina’s Christ School (No. 11 ESPNRise/No. 16 USA Today), Mountain State Academy of Beckley, W.Va.; and Charlotte (N.C.) Christian.

There’s also a four-team girls’ tourney that will featured New Jersey’s Peddie School (No. 34 ESPNRise), Florida’s Dillard (No. 39 ESPNRise) and Lake Mary (No. 40 ESPNRise) and Oak Hill (Va.). Peddie School played at the Breezy Bishop Showcase at Western in December.

Last year’s inaugural event was held at Georgetown Prep in Montgomery County. According to reports, Prep didn’t want to host this year on Easter weekend. St. Frances Academy boys and girls, and Seton Keough girls (won title) participated.

I realized it’s a national tournament, but it seems a little unbalanced that a Baltimore team couldn’t get in. Baltimore loves its high school basketball and surely a local team would’ve brought more fans to Coppin.

It would’ve been nice to see Calvert Hall College rewarded with a spot in the boys’ field after winning the Baltimore Catholic League Tournament crown and missing out on the Alhambra Catholic Invitational in Cumberland (Mount St. Joseph and St. Frances received invites). St. Frances’ girls were again the No. 1 team in Baltimore and reclaimed the IAAM A Conference title.

Maybe the NHSI organizers sent an invite and it was declined. If not, shame on them.