I haven’t had time to get to the Schenley-Chester HS basketball game. Normally, I don’t bother but there are commits for 2007 and 2008 on both teams.
Schenley won the game with the help of DeJuan Blair.
Blair and Kennedy had big games yesterday as Schenley knocked off perennial eastern Pennsylvania power Chester, 85-74, in the Play by Play Classic in Springfield, Pa., near Philadelphia.
Blair, a 6-foot-7 Pitt recruit, had 23 points, 16 rebounds and 6 blocked shots in front of a packed house at Cardinal O’Hara High School. Kennedy, a 6-5 senior guard, had 26 points, including 22 in the second half.
“It was definitely a statement game because we’ve never beaten any teams down this way,” Blair said.
Schenley (15-2) has demolished 10 City League opponents this season by an average of 39 points a game and is ranked No. 1 in the state in Class AAAA. But some wondered how it would fare against No. 3 Chester (14-3), a team that can play sticky man-to-man defense and also likes to run.
The game was tough, and Chester’s coach was a little bitter towards the official.
Blair, who would finish with 23, turned on his game in the third quarter, ignoring his fear of fouling and dominating down low.
“As they were trying to get around me, I was thinking maybe I better get out of the way or something,” Blair said. “A lot of guards like to throw themselves into me and I’ll get the foul. But I was trying to be smart about it.”
Although Blair had seemed to make a rather brilliant adjustment, Chester coach Fred Pickett saw things a little differently.
“I think fouls crippled us from being aggressive,” Pickett said. “Early in the game, their big fella shoves and they blow the whistle. He drops down an elbow and they blow the whistle. He pulls somebody, they blew the whistle. Second half, they didn’t call those calls. But my big men, they’re all on the bench. All of them sitting.”
Even Burton. But he wasn’t on the bench.
Twice, he took off with the ball and thudded into Blair’s torso. Amazing how one electric point guard can bounce back so far. But maybe Burton was trying to set an example.
The teams left the court without shaking hands. On the Chester side, Nasir Robinson who has verballed for 2008 had 13 points and 8 rebounds.
Oh, and there was a high school basketball tournament in Pittsburgh over the weekend. I know both Oak Hill Academy (Virginia) and Mount Vernon (New York) — the latter being where Keith Benjamin played — attended the Pitt-St. John’s game. I like to think it left a good impression. Especially when you think about some of the players that have come out of Oak Hill.
