NAPA, CA – Prior to the Prolific Prep-Napa game with Arizona Aspire Academy-Scottsdale in the Second Annual Crush in the Valley Grind Session on Friday night at Napa Valley College, they had a ceremony and press conference with the McDonald’s All-American Hometown Heroes program presenting Prolific star Gary Trent Jr. his McDonald’s All-American game jersey.
After the cameras stopped clicking and the ceremony ended all the 6-5 Duke-bound Trent Jr. did was go out on the court and score 33 points (three 3-pointers) with five rebounds and two steals in a 99-39 dismantling of a pretty decent Aspire group. He was 3-of-7 from outside the arc but didn’t really shoot the lights out. Trent Jr. showed a willingness to take contact and still consistently finish or draw fouls, and was 12-of-13 from the free-throw line.
Trent Jr. came out with 10 minutes left and after playing only playing around 23 minutes of the two 18 minute halves, but even after he came out the hosts continued to stretch a 69-23 lead when he exited right to the final buzzer against an Aspire team that’s one of the better teams on Grind Session prep basketball academy circuit.
“Our defense tonight was really good. We proved we can guard and defend against anyone,” said Prolific Prep founder Jeremy Russotti.
Prolific Prep (11-1) only led 6-5 early but they went on 35-6 run to make it 41-11 in the late first half and the game was more than over.
The bottom line was Prolific Prep played a near flawless game on both ends of the court with no shortage of contributors. Their backcourt and front line looked D1 college-level in its performance.
Sekou Toure, who is originally from Guinea, has been dubbed a rising star on the Grind Session circuit and he showed it on Friday. The 6-4 junior guard had 11 points with six steals, five rebounds and two assists.
Abu Kigab only had eight points but he made some extraordinary moves including a reverse underhand layup and a show the ball fake both ala Steph Curry that had the crowd rocking. The 6-7 Oregon-committed senior wing that’s from Ontario, Canada, added eight rebounds and three assists.
Amadou Sow, a 6-9 junior power forward from Mali, only had six points and five rebounds with two blocks, but he has major D1 potential as a banger and was impressive on defense.
Nathan Mensah looked good in his first game back from injury. The 6-10 junior center from Ghana did most of his work in the second half and finished with nine points, five rebounds, three assists and two blocks, and even drained a 3-pointer.
Junior 6-9 junior power forward Brown “Onyi” Eyisi from Nigeria came off the bench to snag 10 rebounds with two assists despite only three points. Sophomore 6-0 point guard Pierre Cockrell Jr. from Seattle played shutdown defense against Aspire and finished with six points and three assists.
Dempsey Roggenbuck from Novato came off the bench late and lit it up for 11 points on two 3-pointers. Oton Jankovich, a 6-8 sophomore forward from Croatia considered a top five European prospect, also came on late and had 11 points including a trey.
Joel Brown, a 6-3 sophomore guard from Canada led Aspire Academy with nine points.
As well as the entire Prolific Prep team played it was still Trent Jr. that stole the spotlight. Although he’s by way of Minnesota and Ohio, where his father and NBA star Gary Trent was born, he was the only boy playing on Northern California soil to be selected to the McDonald’s All-American 12-player West squad.
“It means everything in the world to me,” was the response of Trent Jr. when asked how he felt about being the lone NorCal selection. “It shows I can leave Minnesota and come to California and represent myself, my family, Prolific Prep, Northern California, California, Minnesota, Ohio and everywhere I’ve been – and show what I can do.”
Homecoming for San Francisco native Hollins
The first game of the Crush in the Valley Grind Session featured the McDonald’s All-American teammate of Trent Jr., and 7-1 Arizona-commit DeAndre Ayton from the Bahamas didn’t disappoint after showing some Wilt Chamberlain like moves and muscle in the paint, plus he shoots the 3-pointer.
In an 88-82 victory by his Arizona Hillcrest-Phoenix team over a Nevada Trinity Prep-Las Vegas in a game that was not as close as the score indicates, Ayton finished with a double-double 26 points and 17 rebounds with four blocks. The big fella was also 3-of-6 from beyond the arc.
Ayton drew the most attention but another Hillcrest player had some support in the stands himself, and that was San Francisco native Alfred Hollins, who began his career at Sacred Heart Cathedral before leaving for Arizona. Hollins had a poor first half but came alive to score 13 of his 17 points in the second half. The 6-6 senior guard with multiple D1 offers added four rebounds, two assists and two blocks.
“The first half I was a little sluggish but I feel good that I picked it up in the second half, and that made it a great experience to come back home and play in front of my family and friends,” Hollins said.
Besides Hollins another Hillcrest player that showed a very solid all-around game with some nifty moves was Josh Green from Sydney, Australia. The 6-6 guard and top rated sophomore by many analysts with several D1 offers already in hand had 16 points, six assists, four rebounds and two blocks. A player that came off the bench and had a nice outing was 6-8 sophomore forward Dischon Thomas from North Carolina. He finished with 17 points.
