(Non Monarchs) T-Mobile High School Tournament on Versus

[Monty'sBiggestFan]

Sorry for not posting this earlier...but you still have a chance to record/dvr the championship and third place games on Thursday.

T-Mobile is hosting a high school basketball tournament which pits four of the top girls and boys basketball teams in the country. The new cable channel Versus is handling broadcast duties. (Versus...the channel formerly known as OLN/Outdoor Life Network). If your cable/satellite package carries that channel...the championship and consolation games air tomorrow.

I saw St. Elizabeth play tonight, they have a player committed to Rutgers and another who is a sophomore and is being recruited by a few of the national collegiate powers. Good opportunity to take a look at some of the up and coming talent and also support this channel supporting girls/women's athletics. Also, if you need your offseason Krista Blunk fix, she's behind the mic for color commentary...

Here's the list of teams and the schedules. (All times are Eastern)

Dec. 27 First Round of T-Mobile Invitational

Girls:
4:00 p.m. Winter Haven (Winter Haven, Fla.) vs. Collins Hill (Suwanee, Ga.)
7:00 p.m. Issaquah (Issaquah, Wash.) vs. St. Elizabeth (Wilmington, Del.)

Boys:
5:30 p.m. Solon (Solon, Ohio) vs. LeFlore (Mobile, Ala.)
8:30 p.m. O’Dea (Seattle, Wash.) vs. Fairfax (Los Angeles, CA)

Dec. 28 T-Mobile Invitational Finals
4:00 p.m. Girls’ Consolation Game
5:30 p.m. Boys’ Consolation Game
7:00 p.m Girls’ Final Game, Winners from First Round Game
8:45 p.m. Boys’ Final Game, Winners from First Round Game

 

[Monty'sBiggestFan]

Two Players to Watch for 2007-08 College Basketball Season

I saw a good portion of the championship game of this invitational, and wanted to toss out the names of a couple of players who are worth a look when they hit their respective college campuses.

Maya Moore - currently the nation's top girls hsbb player (Like Candace Parker, she won the top award as a junior last year). She LIT UP the first half of this game, scoring 38 of her game high 48 points in the first half with as unconscious a display of shooting and scoring as you could ever want to see from an 17/18 year old. Her final numbers 48 pts, 13rebs, and 7 steals. Looking at her, the first thought that came to mind was Tamika Catchings...her game obviously didn't disappoint. Her build and the way she carries herself on the court is very Catch-like, but she's not as ripped or as able to distribute the ball. This was her team's second invitational tournament, in about as many weeks, playing other nationally ranked teams in the country (her h.s. Collins Hill I belive is the number #1 team in the country) and from what I read she went nuts lifting her scoring average against this high caliber competition in previous games as well. I missed her opening game of the T-Mobile tourney, but I seem to recall hearing that she scored 40 there too. Her team is undefeated right now, and her exploits in the first half of the championship game helped them stay that way, they trailed going into the half, but her 38 pts of the 45 her team scored helped keep them in the game until her other teammates got going and they came back and won the game. Oh...btw...yawn...Moore is headed to UConn to play with another former national h.s. player of the year Tina Charles......yawn...

Khadijah Rushdan is the other player of interest I saw. She's a pg from Delaware who will be playing for Rutgers next season. She had the unfortunate defensive assignment of trying (unsuccessfully) to "guard" the ridiculously unconscious Moore, but she held her own by dropping in 28 pts for her own team and keeping her teammates involved offensively. She had the most incredible display of dribbling I've seen as she tried to keep a loose ball she dove to the floor to get alive so she could pass it or get up off the floor and move with it. If you crossed Helen Darling and Cappie Pondexter, you'd have a mental picture. Rushdan jumped center in this game, to give you an idea of her athleticism and she's listed at 5'10".