BAE Academy laps Uchenna Maroon.
BAE Academy vastly outperformed Uchenna Maroon to win 100-40. The defence of BAE Academy, especially from Player of the Game Mohamed Djibo Soumana, held Uchenna Maroon to just 13 points in the second half. Soumana also contributed 12 points.
The top scorer of the game was Biruma Vieng with 18. Dwain Cummings was the lone scorer in double digits for Uchenna with 12.
Uniquely, BAE Academy went 16 players deep with their rotation. 11 got on the board in the first quarter alone. Uchenna Maroon conversely ran a seven-man rotation.
Canada Topflight Academy bounces back in big way against Shawi Prep
After losing to CSJV National the night before, CTA found their rhythm against Shawi Prep, taking them down 97-70. Adriel Nyorha, a 6’4” guard in the Class of 2025, was the Player of the Game as the team’s leading scorer with 17 points.
“As a point guard you have to be a leader both on and off the court,” said Nyorha. “Me being the youngest [on the team], it’s hard for me to be the leader, but I feel like I’m growing in leadership guiding my team to dubs.”
Arturo Molina led all scorers with 21 points for Shawi Prep in the loss.
Team Thetford Red hands Kitchener Impact Academy first loss of season in The Platinum Circuit.
Thetford Red defeated the formidable Kitchener Impact 60-54 to win their second game in a row. It was a balanced effort for the French-Canadian team with Danick Gagne’s 11 points a team high. The 6’0” guard was money from behind the arc with three treys, but it was his defence that earned him Player of the Game honours.
“We played hard defence,” said Gagne. “We played hard on defence, and we pushed the pace, so we were able to score more easy buckets and had more open finds.”
Malcolm Vasseaux, the Player of the Game the night before against Uchenna White, was right behind Gagne with 10 points.
Kitchener Impact struggled to involve the entire team on offence, as evidenced by the fact only five players scratched the box score. The vast majority of the offence came from the 6’5” guard Hayden Johns and 6’5” forward Joe Lippert. They had 22 points and 18 points respectively, and three triples each.
London Basketball Academy’s Max Arnott gets consecutive Player of the Game in win over Uchenna White.
LBA won their second game of the session while Uchenna Whitelost for the second time after a close 66-62 contest. Max Arnott led the western Ontario squad once again behind a game-high 21 points. 6’2” PG Jalen Janes had 12 points in the back-and-forth game.
Uchenna White was led in scoring for the second time in a row by the duo of Lucas Brannen and Fabian Pommells. They put up 20 and 18 points respectively, but it was not enough.
Top Notch Prep RJ downs overmatched Uchenna Maroon.
Uchenna Maroon ended Session 4 of The Platinum Circuit with yet another difficult loss, this time to Top Notch RJ. The 110-42 loss saw six of TNP’s players reach double figures. They were led by Luke Fanous and Matthew Delo who had 21 points each.
Uchenna Maroon’s top scorer, James Kelly, had 16.
TNP went to the charity stripe 18 times, making 12. Uchenna Maroon only went eight times and made five.
CODE Academy closes door on Dynastie Prep in fourth quarter.
CODE Academy got into a fourth quarter groove to defeat Dynastie Prep 91-81. Leading just by three after three quarters, CODE’s Kymani Merraro and Willie Jennings IV took over to combine for 29 of the team’s 31 fourth quarter points. CODE Academy also held Dynastie Prep to just 19 points in the final frame.
Dynastie Prep struggled to defend cleanly, sending CODE Academy to the line 32 times. CODE made 25 of them. Conversely, Dynastie just had 13 attempts and made nine.
Leading Dynastie Prep again was 6’11” center Arafan Diane who had 27. PG Alex Charlotin scored 24.
Merraro, a crafty and athletic 5’8” guard out of Ajax, was named Player of the Game with 32 points. Jennings IV had 22. Amare Allen scored a solid 20.
“We played a seven-footer, so I can’t just be doing layups anymore,” said Merraro. “[Before the season], I worked on floaters and in this game it was really working well for me just getting the ball up over the big man.”
Top Notch Ethan stuns Tri-City Prep with fourth quarter buzzer-beating 3-pointer; wins in OT.
With under two seconds left in regulation, Miguel Braun of Top Notch Ethan (Coach Ethan Meltz) hit a clutch right-corner three to tie the game at 87 and send it to OT. TNP held Tri-City to just three points (all free throws) in the extra period to win 96-90.
Braun, a 6’2” guard in the Class of 2024, scored 26 points in total — four in OT. Kendall Connor went off for 22. Liam McGuire hit two important triples in the fourth to help complete the comeback.
Tri-City Prep built their early lead behind the speedy 6’1” PG Matthew Anglo’s 27 points.
London Basketball Academy squeaks by Team Thetford Red for perfect Session 4.
LBA’s final game of Session 4 was the toughest yet, barely getting by Thetford Red 69-66. LBA had the more balanced attack with four players reaching double figures in scoring. Max Arnott once again led his team for the third time in a row with 14 points.
London guard Jacob Blaha was awarded Player of the Game for his hustle plays and maintaining high effort in the team’s third game in less than 24 hours. He made two threes and scored 12 in all. Teammate Justyce Grant and Aaron Aboonabi had four and three triples respectively. LBA made 11 threes as a team while Thetford only made five.
Thetford Red’s Malcolm Vasseaux led his team in scoring for a second time in the session with a game-high 22 points.
LBA finished the session 3-0 and improved to 4-2 on the season. Thetford Red finished their first 2022-23 session of The Platinum Circuit 2-1.
CODE Academy continues display of dominance with win against Shawi Prep.
CODE Academy won their second game of the day, handling Shawi 74-57. Willie Jennings IV, a 6’2” guard from Maryland, started the game red hot from beyond the arc, sinking five 3-pointers in the first quarter alone. He finished the match with six and scored 22 points in total.
Code Academy’s Kersi Burkasa and Kymani Merraro contributed 15 each, with the latter providing the bulk of the team’s playmaking.
Shawi Prep’s Ibrahim Basima was on a mission in the fourth quarter, outscoring CODE himself 13-10. The impressive 6’7” SF had 26 at the final buzzer.
Collège St-Jean Vianney (CSJV) National dominates Uchenna White.
CSJV National cruised to their second win of Session 4, besting Uchenna 108-68. The Player of the Game was Pablo Carvajal who scored 12 points. Chris Malonda poured in 19 points as well for the winners.
Lucas Brannen led Uchenna in scoring for a third time with 23 points.
This marked the conclusion of Uchenna White’s session. They finished 0-3 on the weekend and fell to 4-8 overall on the season.
Lennoxville nearly fumble large early lead to Tri-City Prep but wins 86-83.
Lennoxville narrowly managed to shut the door on a hungry Tri-City Prep team who lost in OT earlier in the day. The Player of the Game went to Ismael Hernández, a 6’7” import from Spain, who scored 16 points. His combination of length and athleticism was especially disruptive on the defensive end.
Fellow Spanish national David Acosta scored 17 and Luca del Bosco led all Lennoxville scorers with 19.
Tri-City Prep was once again led by Matthew Anglo. His physical play earned him two and-1 opportunities and 21 points in total. Tri-City big Maban Jabriel added 15 points in the loss.
Dynastie Prep salvages session with a win over Canada Topflight Academy.
Dynastie Prep got their first win of the weekend after besting a shorthanded CTA squad 69-58 in the last game of the session for both teams. After ending two straight quarters in a tie, Dynastie Prep built a one-possession advantage heading into the fourth. They held the usually offensively potent CTA team to just five points in the final frame while scoring 12 themselves.
Dynastie Prep’s Freud Felix was awarded Player of the Game with 15 points. This also represented the best game of the session for PG Anthony Maxwell who tallied 13 points and consistently set the table for his teammates.
CTA was led by 6’6” guard Felly Njilayi who tallied 14 points. Their usual top offensive talents, 6’4” guard Adriel Nyorha and 6’7” forward Binael Basil, had 11 each in the loss.
Both teams concluded Session 4 with a 1-2 record. Dynastie Prep improved to 6-3 on the season while CTA fell to 5-2.
Check out Player of the Game recipients, photos and video on The Platinum Circuit Instagram page.
The Platinum Circuit standings click HERE.
