The Platinum Circuit – Session 3, Day 2 Recap
Fernando De Los Santos’s 25 leads Excel Hoops Prep over Top Notch RJ
Kicking off the action Sunday was Excel Hoops Prep’s 87-76 win over Top Notch Prep RJ. Excel Hoops had won each of the first three quarters, building a substantial 18-point lead heading into the fourth. Top Notch scored 28 points after finding some offensive rhythm in the final frame but were unable to get enough stops to meaningfully close the gap. Excel Hoops was led by Player of the Game Fernando De Los Santos who scored 25 points which was capped off by a ferocious alley-oop dunk in the fourth quarter.
“I just put in the work in the weight room and kind of doing whatever I can,” said De Los Santos of his athletic play. “My teammates help me out too. They push me.”
Top Notch RJ was led early by Kendall Connor who scored 13 of his 20 points in the first half. However, he made just two of his 12 free throws in the game, leaving several points on the table. Top Notch made 10-of-24 free throws (41.7 percent) as a team while Excel made 17-of-28 (60.7 percent). Chukwu Anigozie took over in the second half with a 15-point outburst and finished the game with 19. Kalique Ambris made two from deep for Top Notch RJ. Excel Hoops made six threes with six different players making one each.
This game marked the conclusion to Session 3 for both teams, with Excel Hoops finishing 2-1 and Top Notch RJ at 0-3 on the weekend. Excel currently sits with a 5-4 record on the season.
Kitchener Impact Academy’s Hayden Johns 10 point third quarter proved decisive
What followed was a tighter contest with Kitchener Impact Academy triumphing over PEDSDMD Regional 82-75. The game blew open in the second quarter with Kitchener dominating PEDSDMD Regional 24 to 14. Down 19 at halftime, PEDSDMD Regional punched back in the second half to outscore Kitchener 45 to 33, but it was too little too late.
Kitchener’s Joe Lippert, named Player of the Game, was instrumental in the win, crashing the boards on both ends, making second chance plays for his teammates, and scoring 13 points himself. Leading Kitchener in scoring was Hayden Johns who had 21 points and a triple.
PEDSDMD’s top scorer was Spencer Palacol who entered the fourth quarter with just one basket and two free throws made. He exploded in the fourth with two threes and 16 points to finish the game with 20.
Kitchener Impact Academy concluded Session 3 — their first session in TPC — a perfect 3-0, making them the fourth undefeated team in the circuit. PEDSDMD Regional returned home without a win, going 0-3 on the weekend.
Burloak Prep edges New Horizon Regional riding Isaiah Brady-Clarke’s 24 points
Meanwhile, New Horizon Regional was playing their first competitive game of the session after losing tough games to Tri-City Prep and Oakville Prep the day before, but ended up falling to Burloak Prep 87-83. Burloak Prep got off to a blistering start, scoring 35 points in the opening quarter. New Horizon won two of the final three quarters, but the early deficit proved to be too deep of a hole to dig out of.
Isaiah Brady-Clarke led all Burloak scorers with 24 points and a triple. He was helped by Shyeme Williams-Cahns who had 13 points and three treys before getting ejected with two technicals. New Horizon was led by Zuriel Mhlongo who made seven of his eleven attempts at the charity stripe and made eight buckets for 24 points.
Scarborough Prep’s Keyonte Adams 23 points led Scarborough Prep in win over Oakville Prep
Scarborough Prep began the afternoon with a 68-58 victory over Oakville Prep, putting on a defensive clinic for their opponents from the opposite end of the GTA. They held four of five of Oakville’s starters under five points and prevented two from scoring at all. Deandray Hamilton was their top scorer with 13 points.
Keyonte Adams did most of his damage before halftime, generating 13 of his game-leading 23 points in the second quarter alone.
“We had to come in, we were undermanned, and we knew we just had to take care of the job and do it,” said Adams of Scarborough Prep’s eight-man rotation for the weekend. “Playing in The Platinum Circuit gives me an opportunity to play basketball outside of the OSBA and just makes my game better for the OSBA.”
Scarborough Prep finished a perfect 3-0 in Session 3 and Oakville Prep, missing their leader and Cleveland native Clayton Cunningham, finished 1-2. Oakville Prep has 22 points in the TPC standings with a 6-4 win-loss record for the season.
CALI Prep outlasted a challenge from Orangeville Prep Provincial as DJ Burke drops 30 points
Court 2 saw CALI Prep take down Orangeville Prep Provincial 81-67, featuring a couple of the most dominant individual performances in the TPC’s third session. CALI’s DJ Burke, named Player of the Game, went off for 30 points with 13 field goals and a three while making three of four free throws. He was overall one of the most complete two-way players present in Session 3 as an athletic dunker, shooter, secondary playmaker, rebounder, and defensive stopper.
“In practice, coach Vidal (Massiah) definitely makes us crash the boards very often,” said Burke. “He lets us know it’s a priority for sure and that getting a second chance rebound is an important part of the possession. I definitely think crashing is one of our key strengths.”
Not to be outdone, Griffin Collinson of Orangeville Provincial exploded for 32 points with two triples made back-to-back to end the fourth quarter. Unfortunately, his teammates were unable to offer much help offensively with no one else scoring in double digits.
C.A.L.I. was the third and final team of Session 3 to end the weekend with a perfect 3-0 record. Orangeville Provincial finished 1-2, falling below .500 on the season in the TPC.
“It’s a high-level circuit,” said Burke of TPC. “Very good competition every game. We’re showing up knowing we’re going to have to compete day in and day out. It works well with our team competing every night and I definitely feel we’re getting something out of this with the competition that we’re facing.”
Legacy Prep recorded their first win on the back of Kaeden Wright’s game-high 29 points
The second-to-last game was between the struggling Legacy Prep and New Horizon Regional who both entered this game without any wins in The Platinum Circuit. Legacy easily pulled through 86-63 with New Horizon forfeiting the game early in the fourth quarter.
Kaeden Wright was the Player of the Game for the second time of Session 3, scoring a whopping 29 points on 11 buckets and five made free throws in the incomplete game. His speed and overall activity proved to be too much for the fatigued and injury stricken New Horizon club who was playing their fourth game of the weekend. Legacy Prep’s Nickele Harris contributed 16 points and went a perfect six-of-six from the charity stripe.
New Horizon Regional was once again led by Zuriel Mhlongo who impressively scored 17 points. Like their game against Burloak Prep earlier in the day, the team got off to a poor defensive start, allowing Legacy to score 31 points in the first quarter.
New Horizon Regional played a session-high four games and unfortunately lost all four. Legacy Prep finished their weekend 1-2.
Bill Crothers Prep finishes out TPC session 3 with win aided by Josiah McKnight’s 16 points
In the final game of Session 3, Bill Crothers Prep defeated Burloak Prep 72-61. Bill Crothers was once again led by two of their hottest players of the weekend: Timothy Eze and Josiah McKnight. They had 18 and 16 points respectively and both were on fire in the clutch. Eze scored 8 points in the fourth quarter while McKnight went off for 12.
Burloak Prep started the game scalding from three, making nine triples in the first three quarters. They then ran out of gas in the fourth and were held to six points in the frame. Carter Gordon finished the game with 13 while their top perimeter shooter of the weekend, Shyeme Williams-Cahns, scored 14 with three treys.
Bill Crothers put their disappointing 0-3 performance from Session one in the rear-view with a bounce back 2-1 weekend in Session 3. They are now 2-4 overall in TPC. Burloak Prep also finished Session 3 with a 2-1 record and are now 3-6 overall in the circuit standings.
UP NEXT:
Session 4 takes place Friday January 13th to Sunday January 15th, 2023 in Montreal at the
Boisbriand Sport Complex. 16 teams are slated to take part.
Address: 4747 Rue Ambroise-Lafortune Boisbriand, QC JH7-0A4
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Website: theplatinumcircuit.com
IG& Twitter: @theplatinumcircuit
