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EC Holiday Classic Recap

Published by Gilbert Muako on December 14, 2010

Eastern Commerce hosted its annual Holiday Classic with a field featuring some of the top teams and most talented players in Ontario. The three-day event turned out just how we thought it would.

We witnessed close and exciting games throughout the weekend, saw a surprise team in Sacred Heart make major noise and gain respect from spectators and also took in some great performances.

The Holiday Classic was a major hit. Thanks to the Eastern Commerce staff for putting together a great event.

Standouts

Leon Alexander 6’4 G/F J Clarke Richardson 2011- Alexander is a great athlete, he is at his best when attacking the basket where he is very strong and explosive doing so. He runs the floor hard, enabling him to score in transition. He was very consistent with his play throughout the whole tournament and being one of the better all-around players to take the court. He rebounded with toughness, defended hard, taking pride in locking down the opposing team’s top offensive player, and looked sharp pulling up, and hitting, midrange jumpers – a sign of improvement in that department. He was also able to knock down a couple of three balls with good jump and release on his form but he’s still inconsistent shooting from outside even though he looked a lot more comfortable taking it than in the past. Alexander had a great showing in the Holiday Classic.

Sean Stoqua 5’10 PG Sacred Heart 2011- Stoqua created quite a buzz for himself this past weekend. His name was hot around the gym after an outstanding 32-point performance against Vaughan in the championship semi-finals, almost upsetting arguably the number one team in the province. He is a tough-minded floor general, with good leadership abilities. Stoqua’s small but with a strong build and is capable of scoring at the point guard position while also able to run the offence and set guys up. A good portion of his points comes from his outside shooting where he can knock down the long ball with a quick release, pull up after coming off of screens or get in the lanes for floaters. He also proved he could handle intense ball pressure never panicking whenever teams tried to play trap defences against him.

Rohan Boney 6’5” G/F Loyola 2012 – We’ve said in the past that if Boney continues to work hard to improve all aspects of his game, he could be one of the better prospects by his graduation and it appears he’s doing just that. A talented, smooth wing player who looks better and better every time we see him in action, he scored off the drive finishing tough baskets while absorbing contact, looked a bit better creating off the bounce by making plays for himself and teammates and nailed shots from behind the arc. He had one of the better highlights of the weekend, displaying his athleticism as he drove strong on the baseline, lifted off and dunked over a defender with the fouled called. Boney also scored a strong and-1 bucket in transition to seal a win over Eastern Commerce. Boney was simply superb in this one.

Adam Presutti 6’2 SG Loyola 2011 – It was a huge mistake to give this guy space throughout the course of games. Pressuti is a dangerous shooter and with any crack of daylight he’d pull the trigger and hit on a consistent basis. Pressuti was the best overall shooter we witnessed over the weekend. He has excellent shooting form with a perfect release point and his shot always sails in a high arc hitting nothing but mesh. In addition, he has a solid handle, has the ability run off screens and fire and can shoot just as accurately in transition. Definitely one the best shooters in the province

Mike Lafricain 6’1 PG Loyola 2011 – Deceptively quick lead guard a with nice feel for the game, Lafricain is quick with the ball in his hands where he is good in the open floor creating opportunities to find the open man. He is capable of running a half court set, making sound decisions, is a good passer with solid vision but also has the ability to score the ball when it is needed as evidenced by his 35-point outburst in a big semi-finals match up against J. Clarke Richardson. Always calm and poised, Lafricain’s a high percentage shooter from the three, a plus at his position. His biggest weakness right now is finishing around the basket and must improve his strength to handle contact.

Tyrell Samuels 6’0 PG J Clarke Richardson 2011– Samuels was a nightmare for opposing guards to handle, he had a killer instinct going into every game, always on attack mode. Though small in size he is a tough competitor who never backs down from a challenge. With excellent speed and quickness he was very tough for defenders to stay in front of, and he consistently broke down his man with quick crossovers and great hesitation moves to get the hoop with ease. At times, however, he was trying to do too much with ball which led to bad possessions or turnovers. What was really impressive about Samuels was how he was willing to put the amount of energy he had on offence into his defensive play as well, pressuring full court, creating turnovers and picking off passes. His performance was well deserving of the MVP award.

Aaron Best 6’4 G/F Eastern Commerce 2011 – Another strong showing for Best who brought the same high-level energy and competitiveness that he always brings to the table. Best attacked the basket with force, using his length and leaping abilities to finish over and around defenders. Without the ball he cut hard down the lane for easy hoops as well. He is also showing more belief in his jumper, after using a head fake, he would take one or two strong dribbles inside the three then pull up to hit the midrange jumper. He also has the potential to be lock-down defender, particularly when he dedicates himself to it.

Aaron Redpath 6’4 SG J Clarke Richardson- With his awkward release point it makes it tough for defenders to challenge Redpath’s shot without picking up a foul in the process. He has great range on his shot and doesn’t need much space to let it fly. I like the fact the he never gets down on himself when his shot isn’t falling. He plays his game and wakes up at the right moments. Count on him to show up big late in a game. Although Redpath was great scoring from outside, he did struggle when pressure was applied, exposing his ball-handling abilities.

Other Eye Catchers…

Andrew Wiggins 6’7 F Vaughan 2014 – Wiggins lead Vaughan in scoring in their games played. He racked up a lot his points at the line as he attacked the rim with aggression, making frequent appearance at the free-throw line and consistently completed them. He was able knock down the long-range jumper with his feet set. Wiggins had the highlight dunk of the weekend with an unexpected put-back jam that had the crowd awestruck.

Micqueel Martin 6’2 Combo Guard 2013- Though we saw just one half of basketball from Martin, it was enough to impress us. A terrific athletic combo guard who can score in bunches, is explosive going to the basket and can kick out to the open man. Super talented.

Troy Reid-Night 6’0 G Vaughan 2013- Reid-Night does all the small things that may go unnoticed if not closely followed. He always seems to come up big when he’s needed as we’ve seen him do in the past. He came up big again, nailing clutch three balls down the stretch of game against Sacred Heart to give Vaughan an appearance in the championship final.

Hassan Abdullahi 6’3 G Pope John Paul 2012- After seeing Abdullahi a few weeks back, standing out and winning MVP in a weaker DRCI tournament, we were curious to see if the lengthy guard could compete at higher level and at the Holiday Classic he more than proved he could hang. Abdullahi came out strong in Pope’s three-point loss to a strong Loyola team, scoring in transition, knocking down middle-ranged shots and feeling his touch from behind-the-arc, finishing with 27 points.

Fred Dure 6’4 G Edward Mont-Petit 2013 – It’s evident Dure is the most gifted player on Mont-Petit and it would have been nice to see him look to score the ball a bit more as he showed in later games that he was capable of putting up points. He has great size and length, using it to defend the perimeter very well. Overall, was impressed with our first look at Dure.

Vikas Gill 6’7 F Sacred Heart 2011 – Gill truly caught our eye in the battle against Vaughan with the toughness he brought. Another guy that does brings the little things that enables his team to win, Gill is willing to do the dirty work like running down a loose ball, crashing the boards at both ends, and sacrificing his body by taking charges. He has a very good understanding of the game, understands spacing and movement with the ball. He’ll knock down midrange shots if left open and can even step out and hit threes if there’s enough time for him to get set. Sacred Heart gained a whole lot of respect over this event and Gill played a major role in that.

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