PREP SCENE will produce weekly rankings for the entire state of Pennsylvania. These rankings will including 5th year prep schools and high schools regardless of governing body affiliations.
Dec. 11th – Dec. 17th, 2017
1. Scotland Campus Sports
Scotland holds steady at number 1, for the second week in a row defeating a couple of college JV teams and ICA Prep (NJ) to remain undefeated, and stand at 11-0. Ari Boya tossed in 26 points and 5 block shots, Sam Chaput chipped in with 21 of his own vs ICA. Games: 12/11 Harcum JV, 12/14 Olympus Academy, 12/15 Rocktop Academy at Silver Oak Academy
2. Kennedy Catholic (Hermitage)
Kennedy Catholic opened the season with a statement victory. An 85-68 drubbing of First Love Christian Academy has them receiving a share of the first place votes. Coach Mancino’s outfit was led by the purely dominant performance of big man 2019 – Oscar Tshiebwe (6-8). His 29 point, 16 rebounds, 3 block performance was a thing of beauty. 2019 – Mattia Acunzo (6-7) added 20 points, and 2020 – Ike Herster added 19 points Games: 12/15 @Maplewood, 12/16 PREP SCENE Honorable Mention Sewickley Academy
3. Westtown (West Chester)
Westtown’s big 3 continued to carry the lion’s share of the load for Seth Berger’s club at the National Hoops Festival. On Saturday, 6-9 Duke-bound Cameron Reddish poured in 34, Jake Forrester had 22 points and 10 rebounds and Jalen Gaffney pitched in 17 in a 2 point loss to very good Georgetown Prep (MD) team that will challenge to dethrone Bullis (MD) as Interstate Athletic Conference top dog. Reddish came back day two with a 50-piece, 53 to be exact in victory over reigning Georgia state champion Holy Spirit. Games: 12/12 George 12/15 Episcopal at Bullis Tourney, 12/16 TBA at Bullis Tourney.
4. Imhotep Charter (Philadelphia)
Imhotep Charter held true to form with a strong showing in their last scrimmage of the pre-season vs PREP SCENE #18 Nuemann-Goretti. Tep was inactive opening weekend Games: 12/11 Frankford, 12/14 Prep Scene HM Martin Luther King
5. Archbishop Wood (Warminster)
Led by Tyree Pickron‘s (6-3, 2018) 21 and Andrew Funk’s (6-4 2018) 19, Wood took care of business in the Scholastic Play by Play beating Brooklyn NY’s South Shore 76-65. Then losing Sunday in DC to powerhouse Dematha (MD) in the National High School Festival at Dematha 80-70, once again Pickron and Funk led the way with 25 each. Games: 12/15 PREP SCENE HM Overbrook, 12/16 PREP SCENE #16 Shipley in Coaches vs Cancer
6. Abington
Coach Grasty prepared for Suburban One action with a win over Valley Forge Military Academy 65-38 at home and will face PREP SCENE #10 Bethlehem Catholic on 12/16 before league play begins. Eric Dixon will look to led the Ghosts on a deep run through the PIAA 6-A Bracket. Games: TBA
7. Plymouth-Whitemarsh (Plymouth Meeting)
Naheem Mcloud (7-1, 2019) has his way with Sankofa Freedom, amassing 25 points 15 rebounds and 6 blocks. The Colonials forced 20+ turnovers, Ahmin Williams added 18 of his own in the 82-56 win. Games: 12/11 Bishop Shanahan, 12/16 PREP SCENE #21 Archbishop Care roll
8. Reading
Reading opened the season blasting Franklin Learning Center 100-41, and then captured the York High Tip-Off Tournament Championship by beating the host York High 75-59. Wesley Butler, Tourney MVP had games of 27 & 26 respectively. Games: 12/12 @ PREP SCENE #25 Coatesville
9. Hill School (Pottstown)
The Hill School handled Episcopal Academy convincingly 71-55. Then the Blues posted a 74-69 win over perennial NEPSAC AAA power New Hampton at the Scholar Roundball Classic. Nick Alikakos led with 23 points and Chase Audige (6-5, 2018) clinched the game with two free throws…Before losing to Choate Rosemary Hall (CT) 45-43 in a nail-biter Games: 12/15-16 Mercer Tourney – vs PREP SCENE Honorable Mention Kiski Prep & TBA’s
10. Bethlehem Catholic
Bethlehem Catholic put it on Philadelphia Public League powerhouse and PREP SCENE #16 Martin Luther King 65-51 at Archbishop Carroll in the Scholastic Play by Play event on Saturday. 2019 Justin Paz (6-0) led BeCaHi’s with 21 points, Ryan Young had a double-double landing 10 rebounds and 10 points. Also of note, 5-10 2018 PG DeAndre Gardner finished with 19. Games: 12/12 @Parkland, 12/16 @Abington Friends
11. First Love Christian Academy (Washington)
First Love beat Athlete Institure 83-75 before dropping two games in a row to fall out of the top 10 for the first time this season. Both loses were by 15+, 76-51 vs Aspire Academy and 85-68 to PREP SCENE #2 Kennedy Catholic Games: TBA
12. Pine-Richland (Gibsonia)
Phil Jukovic has claimed “STATE GOLD”, the Notre Dame Football recruit will now look to duplicate that success and get back to Hershey come March. Without the Football team, the hoopers managed to win their Tip-Off Tourney with wins over Summit Academy 81-26 and Highlands 63-39. There may be some early season mishaps until their basketball legs are back under them, but when the dust clears you can expect Pine-Richland to be a difficult out come bracket play. Games: 12/12 @Upper St. Clair, 12/15 Mt Lebanon.
13. State College
The Little Lions are the 2017-2018 Skip Coleman Tip-Off Tournament Champions defeating Economics & Finance (NY) 78-36, knocking down 12 3-pointers and then taking out St James (MD) 58-41, led by 6-9 Pitt recruit Bryce Golden. Drew Friberg, Ryan McNulty and Brandon Clark made the All-Tourney teams and Keaton Ellis was also impressive both nights. Games: 12/12 @ Central Dauphin East and a Friday night home game vs preseason #22 and current Honorable Mention Harrisburg.
14. St. Joe’s Prep (Philadelphia)
Kyle Thompson’s 28 points, eight rebounds, and five assists lifted St. Joseph’s Prep to a 74-61 triumph over Penn Charter, to win the Enable Sports & Fitness Invitational championship. PREP SCENE 2020 Trevor Wall added 17 points for the Hawks and Darius Kinnel distributed five assists. Ed Croswell had 12 points and 8 rebounds Games: 12/13 Germantown Academy @Philadelphia Univeristy 12/15 Berks Catholic @ Albright College.
15. Roman Catholic (Philadelphia)
Roman went 2-1 in the Gonzaga DC Classic, defeating Riverside Baptist (MD) 76-60 and Cardinal Hayes (NY) 78-60 before losing in the Championship to the host Gonzaga (DC) 71-53. Seth Lundy led the way averaging 17.3 followed by Greer 16.0, Betrand 13, and Hakim Hart with 12.0 over the 3 game weekend. Games: 12/15 Cheltenhem in the ALL-CITY @Bishop McDevitt.
16. Shipley (Bryn Mawr)
Coach Phil D’Ambrosio has a thoroughbred he can ride to a hoops triple crown in Sam Sessoms. With wins over Springside Chestnut Hill Academy 62-53, PREP SCENE Honorable Mention Academy New Church 65-50, and PREP SCENE #18 Neumann-Goretti 69-64 in the Scholastic Play by Play this week, Shipley jumped into the top 20. Sessoms 37 vs Goretti was spectacular to watch and the type of performance legends are made of. Games: 12/12 William Penn Charter, 12/15 PREP SCENE #21 Archbiship Carroll in the ALL-CITY @Bishop McDevitt, 12/16 PREP SCENE #5 @Archbishop Wood in Coaches vs Cancer.
17. Penn Hills
Games: Won the Midland Tip-Off Tournament with 64-56 win over Lincoln Park and 62-53 win over Hickory in the Championship. Davion Stephens was named to the All-Tournament team scoring 29 points during the weekend. Games: 12/11 vs Propel, 12/13 Burrell, 12/15 @Plum.
18. Neuman-Goretti (Philadelphia)
Goretti dropped a tough one at the Play by Play Showcase to PREP SCENE #16 Shipley. The Saints were led by Dymir Montague’s 21, as Marcus Little 14 and Chris Ings 10 also hit double figures. Games: 12/16 PREP SCENE Honorable Mention Cheltenham in Coaches vs Cancer @Archbishop Wood, 12/17 Our Savior (NY) @South Philly HS in ALL CITY.
19. Bonner Prendergast (Drexel Hill)
Bonner-Prendergast has their own version of the Big 3 in Tariq Ingraham, Ajiri Johnson, and Isaiah Wong. The trio combined for 61 points in their win at West Chester University vs PREP SCENE #23 Malvern Prep 83-65. Wong led the Friars in scoring with 27, and Ajiri Johnson (6-8) is pure excitement with constant rim rattling dunks. Games: 12/13 Math, Civics, & Science, @ the Kreul Classic in Fort Lauderdale, FL 12/16 & 17 vs Westminster Academy (FL) & The Patrick School (NJ)
20. Emmaus
Saturday’s game with Cardinal O’Hara was cancelled, Emmaus was inactive. Games: 12/12 @Pocono Mountain West, 12/15 @Northampton, 12/16 Scranton Prep @Northampton Community College.
21. Mars
Games: Mars beats Avonworth by a whopping 51 points, 91-40. Robbie Carmody, Notre Dame recruit scores, 29 in limited action on opening night. The next night he comes back and drops 43 going 15-15 from the free-throw line on South Park in a 90-46 victory to move the Fightin’ Planets to 2-0. Games: 12/12 @McKeesport, 12/15 @Knock.
22. Northeastern (Manchester)
The Bobcat Tip Off Champions defeated Delone Catholic 80-40, with much of the production coming from the backcourt duo of Albany-bound Antonio Rizzuto (22 pts) and the human highlight reel, Fred Mulbah. The returned the next night to for a 60-52 win over Northern York. PREP SCENE 2020 Nate Wilson tossed in 17. Games: 12/13 Red Lion, 12/15 @Dallastown, 12/17 York Suburban.
23. Archbishop Carroll (Radnor)
Carroll sufferned an opening night home lose to PREP SCENE Honorable Mention Malvern Prep 68-59. AJ Hoggard’s 23 points and 11 assists were not enough to stop the late game comeback by Prep. Sunday the Friars beat PREP SCENE #25 Coatesville @ West Chester led by AJ Hoggards 19, and Keyon Butler’s 16. Games: 12/13 PREP SCENE Honorable Mention Cheltenham, 12/15 @ PREP SCENE #16 Shipley, 12/16 @Plymouth Whitemarsh
24. Martin Luther King (Philadelphia)
The Panthers dropped their opener at the Scholastic Play by Play to #12 Bethlehem Catholic @ Archbishop Carroll High School 65-51. Games: 12/11 Sankofa Freedom, 12/14 @PREP SCENE #4 Imhotep Charter, 12/17 The Haverford School.
25. Coatesville
Coatesville lost at West Chester University to PREP SCENE #23, Archbishop Carroll. PREP SCENE 2020 Jhamir Brickus led with 22 points but only scored two in the final quarter when Carroll put the game away. Eastern Kentucky recruit, Tyrel Bladen finished with 12. Games: 12/12 PREP SCENE #8 Reading, 12/14 @Avon Grove
HONORABLE MENTION: Abington Heights, Academy of New Church, Alderdice, Allentown Central Catholic, Archbishop Carroll, Berks Catholic, Chambersburg, Cheltenham, Chester, Church Farm, Constitution, Erie, Girard College, Harrisburg, Hazleton, Kiski Prep, Lincoln Park, Lower Merion, Malvern Prep, McDowell, Overbrook, Phelps, Pocono Mt. West, Quaker Valley, Sewickley Academy, Whitehall, Woodland Hills,
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