John Marshall High School | Archive | April, 2009

by Stephen M. Lewis
DigitalSports Richmond
slewis@digitalsports.com

Travis McKie‘s recruitment is over. Wake Forest nabbed the John Marshall star’s commitment Wednesday.

The 6-7, 195 pound forward chose Wake over a slew of big-time programs.

“They made me a priority,” McKie said. “They made me feel like I was their guy from day one. They used all of the seven visits allowed to a player, five of them were from the head coach. They’ve always been straight up and honest with me.”

Ironically, Wake put the full-court press on the Richmonder four years after losing out on L.C. Bird’s Tyrese Rice, who went on to star at Boston College and is a sure NBA draft pick in June.

McKie is ranked in or near the top 50 in the class of 2010 by most or all of the recruiting sites.

He garnered offers from Clemson, Virginia, VCU, Virginia Tech, Alabama and Georgia Tech, among others.

He received heavy interest from North Carolina, but no offer from the national champion that will be led by fellow Richmonder Ed Davis next season, a Benedictine product.

“When you want something and you realize where you want to go, you
shouldn’t contemplate on it,” McKie said. “I felt loved and I felt wanted. I can go
there and achieve all my goals.

“I’m not going to say I can go there and take over. I can come in and make an impact. I think I can come in and gel with the guys that’s already there. I can do a lot of special things there.”

Tyree Evans (Kent State), Tyrese Rice, Davis, now McKie. It looks like Henrico’s Trey Davis is next, a rising junior with offers already in hand from Richmond, VCU and Virginia.

“Richmond has become a hot place,” McKie said. “I can’t tell you when it happened, but it happened. It’s just going to continue to go on and on.

“To be honest, I just played basketball. You don’t really think about this stuff when you are a kid. Just a few years ago, I was an eighth grader playing JV, now I’m an ACC commit.”

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by Stephen M. Lewis
DigitalSports Richmond
slewis@digitalsports.com
(804) 240-2191

MATOACA – Darien Brothers of Benedictine poured in 28 points to lead the North to a 113-99 victory in the sixth annual 804 All-Star Game Saturday night at Matoaca High School.

The contest was a seesaw affair throughout.

The North took a 30-29 lead on Josh Brinkley‘s third slam of the game. The Douglas Freeman star had four slams on the contest on his way to 19 points.

The Delaware-bound 6-5 forward was tremendous in the paint.

Petersburg’s Cadarian Raines caught two alley-oops to give the South leads, one from slam dunk champion Evans (67-66) and another from Matoaca’s Brandon Coleman (86-83).

But right after, Freeman’s Jake Eastman buried a 3-pointer as the East trailed by one going into the fourth quarter – which was all North.

Xavier Parham of Highland Springs poured in three of the North’s five treys as it took the fourth period 28-13. Parham had 15 points for the North.

John Marshall’s Randall Ward had 19, Eastman 12 and Deep Run’s Antone Exum 10.

For the South, Evans led the way with 19 points, Rico Ferguson 16, Raines 15 and Hopewell’s Milton Gholson 10.

North 23 37 25 28 – 113
South 29 25 32 13 –  99
North: Josh Brinkley (Douglas Freeman) 19, Herman Kinard (Hermitage) 0, Natwan Young (Highland Springs) 4, Maurice Johnson (John Marshall) 0, Jake Eastman (Douglas Freeman) 12, Jeri Mask (Highland Springs) 4, Darien Brothers (Benedictine) 28, Manny Winston (Hermitage) 0, Antone Exum (Deep Run) 10, Cameron Colquitt (Atlee) 2, Xavier Parham (Highland Springs) 15, Randall Ward (John Marshall) 19. Totals: 42 20-25 113. 3-point goals: Parham 3, Eastman 2, Ward 2, Exum, Brothers.
South: Brandon Coleman (Matoaca) 8, Drejon Scott (Petersburg) 9, Luis Albalat (Manchester) 1, Milton Gholson (Hopewell) 10, David Brown (Huguenot) 2, Rico Ferguson (L.C. Bird) 16, Doug Brewer (Meadowbrook) 8, J’Quan Martin (L.C. Bird) DNP (injured), Chris Evans (Petersburg) 19, Grant Deichman (James River) 5, Jonathan Crawley (Huguenot) 6, Cadarian Raines (Petersburg) 15. Totals: 38 12-25 99. 3-point goals: Scott 2, Coleman 2, Gholson 2, Ferguson 2, Evans 2, Deichman.

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The overwhelming favorite to win the contest did, as Petersburg’s Chris Evans delivered a one-hand 360 off a pass from himself for a 50 from the judges in the final.

But Douglas Freeman’s Josh Brinkley didn’t give it to him easily, coming with enough slams to force a dunk off to set up Evans’ poster.

“Josh just did a tremendous dunk and the judges were a little harsh. The crowd was hard to please,” Evans said. “There ain’t so much you can do that’s hasn’t already been seen.”

John Marshall’s Maurice Johnson finished third putting up a 46 on one of his dunks.

First Round (Two Dunks)
Chris Evans, Petersburg (45–50) 95
Maurice Johnson, J. Marshall (43–46) 89
Josh Brinkley, D. Freeman (43–43) 86
Jeri Mask, Highland Springs (0-36) 36
Brandon Coleman, Matoaca (0-33) 33
J’Quan Martin, L.C. Bird (33, injured on first attempt) 33
Second Round (Two Dunks)
Evans (48–48) 96
Brinkley (50–46) 96
Johnson (43–41) 84
Final (Three Dunks)
Evans (43-45–50) 138
Brinkley (43–45–44) 132

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Huguenot’s David Brown took the 804 All-Star Game 3-point Shootout.

The Falcons point guard stroked eight in the final round to beat Petersburg’s Drejon Scott who had six.

“My heart dropped,” Brown said afterward, referring to Scott’ money ball that just missed and would have forced another round.

Scott had the highest round in the contest with 11 in the second round.

First Round
Drejon Scott, Petersburg – 10
Dave Brown, Huguenot – 9
Darien Brothers, Benedictine – 8
Jake Eastman, D. Freeman – 3
Randall Ward, J. Marshall – 2 (had five points, but foot was on the line on three of them)
Doug Brewer, Meadowbrook – 2
Second Round
Scott – 11
Brown – 10
Brothers – 8
Eastman – 6
Final
Brown – 8
Scott – 6

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A worthy cause has been added to the 804 All-Star Basketball Game on Saturday, April 4.

A Hopewell student, Kionna Jones, who has been paralyzed for two years after being shot in the neck by a male trying to take her sunglasses.

Petersburg native and 804’s Organizer Antywone Wilson found out about her tough situation and the Kionna Jones Fund is started.

“After taking a week to think of how I can help, I eventually went back to Hopewell to tell Ms. [Natalie] White [Wilson’s former teacher, now assistant principal at Hopewell] how it would be a great opportunity to raise money for Kionna at the 804 all-star game,” Wilson wrote in an email. “An event where we could ask a lot of people to donate a small amount to the Kionna Jones Fund.

“My goal is to get every person at the all-star game to donate $1. Every single dollar raised will go towards purchasing some of the things she needs and wants that her struggling family can not afford.”

A letter written by Jones’ mother can be read by scrolling to the bottom of this article.

Several local companies and well-known figures, like Terry Sisiski, have stepped forward to make a difference already.

There will also be an auction of tickets to events and other
memoribilia, proceeds of which will all go to the Kionna Jones Fund.

As for the game, the festivities will begin at 7 p.m. at Matoaca High School at 17700 Longhouse Lane, Chesterfield, VA 23838.

A 3-point contest will be first, followed by a dunk contest and ending with the game.

Dunk participants are: Chris Evans of Petersburg, Maurice Johnson of John Marshall, Douglas Freeman’s Josh Brinkley, Bird’s J’Quan Martin and Brandon Coleman of Matoaca.

3-point contest participants are: Doug Brewer of Meadowbrook, Drejon Scott of Petersburg and Huguenot’s David Brown, Douglas Freeman’s Jake Eastman, John Marshall’s Randall Ward and Benedictine’s Darien Brothers.

Tickets are $10 in advance at Richmond-area DTLR locations. Tickets at the door will be $12.

If you have any questions about the event, email Wilson at 804allstargame@gmail.com or visit www.804allstargame.com.

Check out six of the players on iPower 92 FM tonight around 9 p.m. to talk about the game.

2009 ROSTERS
North
Randall Ward, 5-10, G, John Marshall
Xavier Parham, 5-10, G, Highland Springs
Cameron Colquitt, 5-11, G, Atlee
Antone Exum, 6-0, G, Deep Run (V. Tech football signee)
Manny Winston, 6-1, G, Hermitage
Darien Brothers, 6-3, G, Benedictine (signed with Richmond)
Jeri Mask, 6-3, G/F, Highland Springs
Jake Eastman, 6-4, G/F, Douglas Freeman
Maurice Johnson, 6-4, F, John Marshall
Natwan Young, 6-5, F, Highland Springs
Herman Kinard, 6-6, F/C, Hermitage
Josh Brinkley, 6-6, C, Douglas Freeman (signed with Delaware)
Coaches: Troy Manns, Hanover; George Lancaster, Highland Springs

South
Brandon Coleman, 5-10, G, Matoaca
Drejon Scott, 5-10, G, Petersburg
Luis Albalat, 5-10, G, Manchester
Milton Gholson, 6-0, G, Hopewell
David Brown, 6-0, G, Huguenot
Rico Ferguson, 6-3, G, L.C. Bird
Doug Brewer, 6-3, G/F, Meadowbrook
J’Quan Martin, 6-4, F, L.C. Bird
Chris Evans, 6-5, F, Petersburg
Grant Deichman, 6-7, F, James River
Jonathan Crawley, 6-8, C, Huguenot
Cadarian Raines, 6-9, C, Petersburg (signed with Virginia Tech)
Coaches: Ksaan Brown, Meadowbrook; Bo Jones Sr., Huguenot

2008 Coverage
North Wins, Starke MVP
Jessee 3-Point Champ
Rhodes Best Dunker

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