Kyrie Irving, warming up for the second half against Oak Hill on Friday night.

Kyrie Irving’s father, Drederick, with a reminder for his son on Friday night.

Player exclusive Jordans for St. Patrick. I would kill to get my hands on a pair.

 
Lots happening here. Derrick Gordon reacts to missing a free throw that would have tied St. Pat’s with Oak Hill. Kyrie Irving looks on, about to comfort him. And Oak Hill’s Doron Lamb celebrates with Juwan Staten. Best part, IMO, is the crowd studying Gordon as if there was some answer to be found.

He was in better spirits about a half hour later when we talked to him, but Derrick Gordon took the loss hard. Freshman future star Austin Colbert in back of him.

Michael Gilchrist, Kyrie Irving and Roscoe Smith receive their Player of the Game trophies after Oak Hill’s victory. Only one of these three actually wants to be there.

Legendary coach Bob Hurley with a decidedly Krzyzewski-esque pose.

St. Anthony’s Devon Collier, who reminded us of Terrence Roberts – i.e. we liked him. Jay Canty of Oak Ridge is hunched over in front of him.

St. Anthony’s bench following their 63-46 win over Oak Ridge.

St. Patrick’s bench toward the end of their blowout win over Rice. Left to right, Michael Gilchrist, Derrick Gordon and Kyrie Irving.

Myles Davis nurses his split lip on Saturday night.

Doron Lamb on Saturday night against St. Peter’s Prep. Lamb would score 49 points, second most in Primetime Shootout History.

Doron Lamb plays some defense on Saturday night.

St. Peter’s Prep travels well.

Myles Davis overcame pressure and the spotlight as St. Peter’s Prep outlasted Oak Hill in the game of the tournament.

As it turned out, I was in for a real surprise on Saturday – as was Oak Hill, which learned two lessons: Never take anything for granted, and never draw blood from St. Peter’s Prep star guard Myles Davis.

After St. Patrick’s demolition of Rice, we figured we’d stay in Trenton for some of the nightcap between heavy favorite Oak Hill and St. Peter’s Prep of Jersey City. With a long drive back up north ahead of us, and having seen Oak Hill already the previous night, we’d see how long Prep could hang in there, and then hit the road.

But a funny thing happened – St. Peter’s Prep kept hanging in there. And at halftime, they were up a point on the seventh-ranked team in America. Prep was led by Myles Davis, who we had our eye on because of the jazzified name and because he was clearly the best player on the team.

Meanwhile, Oak Hill was propelled by guard Doron Lamb, who impressed us against St. Patrick, but nothing like this. Lamb quietly but effectively stroked a variety of three-pointers and midrange shots en route to a 26-point first half.

Early in the second half, Davis caught an elbow from an Oak Hill player and went down in a heap, emerging with a split lip and blood everywhere but with no whistle.

“How is there no foul there?” a grinning Davis asked us rhetorically after the game, with his still-bloody lip looking like he’d taken a left hook from Manny Pacquiao. “I mean, hello? I’m bleeding!”

Davis told us how frustrated he was to be confined to the bench for a few minutes, while he champed at the bit to get back in as trainers stopped him from bleeding all over the place.

When this sort of thing happens, a player can head down one of two paths – he can go out of control, emotions running wild. Or he can come back with razor-sharp focus.

Davis took the latter path. For the rest of the game, he simply couldn’t miss. Davis finished with 33 points and tied a tournament record with eight three pointers, while the crowd started to pick up that they were watching something special. Even St. Pat’s star point guard Kyrie Irving, who stuck around for the game, was hollering his support for the Prep star.

And make no mistake, an animated Davis was letting Oak Hill hear about it.

“After I hit that three-pointer to end the third quarter,” Davis told us after the game, “I just wanted to talk smack all game.”

After hitting a shot in the fourth quarter, he screamed, “Punch me again!” He was in the zone like my man Billy Hoyle – using his emotions to hone his game, putting on a show.

As good as Davis was, Oak Hill star Lamb’s talent was starting to emerge as he turned the game into an O.K. Corral-style duel. Neither player could be stopped, reminiscent of the excellent showdown I witnessed between Irving and Texas-bound St. Ben’s point guard Myck Kabongo a few weeks ago.

The other eight players on the court were simply bit players in a two-man drama – for example, personal favorite Roscoe Smith was ineffective and finished with just six points. Except for Lamb, the rest of the Oak Hill team was lulled into a classic trap game after their big win over St. Pat’s the night before.

St. Peter’s, led by Davis, took a commanding 79-72 lead with 22 seconds left, but the unstoppable Lamb proceeded to hit a trio of three-pointers in a determined effort to bring Oak Hill back. But Davis iced the game with free throws as St. Peter’s Prep held on for a wild 82-79 victory, though everyone was in agreement that Lamb probably would have tied the game had he had a few more seconds.

Lamb – who is weighing offers from five big-time programs – finished with 49 points, three shy of the Primetime Shootout record held by Mr. LeBron James in 2003. (I was at that game, one of the most memorable sporting events I’ve attended)

But the story of the night was Davis, who leaped up on the scoring table, collected his Player of the Game trophy, did some interviews and celebrated with an exuberant cheering section of his fellow students. After playing a Man’s Game, when we talked to him later on, the high school junior had sort of become a kid again, relishing in the moment.

Davis is ranked in the mid-30’s of the junior class – not too shabby, but not off the charts. He’s about 6-foot-1, which is not ideal size for a shooting guard. That said, he has offers from a good half-dozen schools, including Pittsburgh and Louisville.

On this day, he exemplified what I love about this tournament, and big-time high school ball in general. These kids are set to move on, hopefully to bigger and better things, but whatever he does in college and beyond, Myles Davis will always remember the day he beat Oak Hill. And he’ll remember getting to celebrate with his friends and teammates at the game, and the proud look on his parents’ faces.

As we continue to get older, facing new challenges and winning new battles every day, all of us have a select collection of memories from our high school years that are still nice to come back to once in a while, like we’re turning pages in a scrapbook.

And I think my favorite part of this year’s Shootout was watching Myles Davis create one of those moments for himself right before our eyes.

I felt terrible for Gordon, bound for Western Kentucky, who was put in a very difficult situation. Nationally televised Primetime Shootout game, down 1 to the preeminent high school program in the country, all eyes on you. It’s a very tough spot for a high school kid, and his nerves showed as he short-armed the first free throw and then had no chance on the second, disappointing a capacity crowd eager for overtime and leaving him crestfallen.

His teammates wouldn’t let Gordon feel he completely let them down, as they were quick to console him. But it probably wasn’t that easy for him to get to sleep tonight. Luckily, tomorrow is another day – and another game, against No. 29 Rice in Trenton.

Before the inauspicious finish, the fans at Kean University were treated to wonderful theater, as the play on the court matched the college atmosphere and setting.

This was the fourth time I’ve seen brilliant St. Patrick’s lead guard Kyrie Irving live, and he was easily the most explosive I’ve seen him. Irving has been compared to Jay Williams, and I really saw that tonight with his ability to score inside and out. His creativity on the break means he can get to the rim whenever he wants, and when he’s able to fully square up from long distance he won’t even graze the rim, as evidenced by two huge threes down the stretch. His vision allowed him to feed the post effectively and set up teammates on the break.

If I have one criticism of Irving’s game on Friday, it’s that he was actually too unselfish, dishing it to Gordon, who was fatefully fouled, with plenty of time left on the final play. Even Kyrie’s father told me he would have been better off taking it himself, but it’s difficult to find fault in the way Irving played. And he did, after all, set up a teammate with the chance to shoot for the victory.

St. Pat’s forward Michael Gilchrist – No. 1 ESPNU Junior – didn’t have a very impressive first half, and though he was scoring inside on nice feeds from Irving in the second half, we didn’t realize just how impressive he was until we looked at the scoreboard and he had 24 points. He matched Irving with 28, and it became apparent that he simply makes the game look effortless enough that you don’t realize the impact he’s having.

Gilchrist got brilliant position all night and finished well after contact, even dunking over 7-foot-1 Latvian mountain-with-feet Martins Abele. Gilchrist’s jumper also was effective; though there was a slight hitch to it, it goes in. It was pointed out to me by St. Pat’s aficionado Ryan Biddulph that Gilchrist is forced to play inside to suit St. Patrick’s needs, but he has impressive slashing ability that he routinely shows in summer leagues.

Forward Chase Plummer has caught my eye in a few games, but this was easily the best he’s played, as he rose to the occasion with 15 points. Biddulph’s father, Keith, tells us that Plummer wanted to play at Princeton, where his brother is a student, but he didn’t quite have the grades, so he’ll play at Maryland-Baltimore County next year. They’re getting a solid player who seems to turn it up when the heat is on.

As for Oak Hill, which is always a treat to see live, we were most impressed by the outstanding play of forward Roscoe Smith (ESPNU No. 29 senior), who demonstrated a solid outside shot, outstanding athleticism, shot blocking ability and plenty of passion for the game. SportsAngle architect Terry Rains of TruthBegins thought he’d be a perfect player for UConn, and he’s right, but with Duke still in need of both a small forward and more athleticism next season, I can’t help but wish as an alum (in hindsight) that they hadn’t been so invested in Harrison Barnes so they could have pursued Smith more closely.

Undecided guard Doron Lamb was also solid, though unspectacular to us, and I rather liked Maryland-bound guard Pe’Shon Howard. His jump shot was decent, he’s solidly built and had great passion to win. That said, Irving made him look like he was moving in slow motion.

Back to St. Pat’s: I’ve seen Irving after games look despondent – even after wins – as he’s particularly hard on himself when he doesn’t live up to his own lofty expectations. But he was relaxed after the game, joking with friends and fans in the hallway outside. St. Patrick’s played the most decorated program in the country to a standstill; just because the final result wasn’t positive doesn’t mean it wasn’t a positive experience. And though Boyle is reportedly furious his team won’t get to play in the states, they obviously have bigger fish to fry nationally.

As for the self-maligned Gordon, we ran into him on the way to our car, complimented his overall game and told him to keep his head up, and the smile he offered in return told us he’d surely be able to do just that.