Patterson Downs Hargrave in Heavyweight Battle; Kane to Visit Seton Hall, Marquette

In a battle between two of the elite prep programs in the nation, The Patterson (N.C.) School downed Hargrave (Va.) Military Academy, 79-76, Sunday at the DTLR National High School Hoops Festival in Upper Marlboro, Md.

Hargrave had been No. 1 in the Preseason National Prep Poll, while Patterson was No. 3. The loss snapped a 37-game winning streak for Hargrave.

“I would think we would be No. 1,” said Patterson coach Chris Chaney, whose team is now 16-0.

Providence coach Keno Davis, Pittsburgh coach Jamie Dixon, Indiana coach Tom Crean and Marquette assistant David “Aki” Collins were on hand to watch DeAndre “Big Daddy” Kane (pictured) score 24 and Vincent Council 18 for Patterson.

“We didn’t play well,” Chaney said. “It was an ugly game, but our 1-3-1 zone got us through.

“After the game if you didn’t know what the score was you would have thought we lost by 20. Hargrave didn’t play well, either, but taking that week off for Thanksgiving really hurt us.”

Hargrave guards Freddie Riley and Maurice Creek combined for four of 29 shooting from beyond the three-point line, according to Justin Young of Rivals. The UMass-bound Riley scored 22 points while Indiana-bound Creek scored 11 points.

Council, a New York native, has offers from Providence and Rutgers, and Chaney says Providence leads.

The 6-foot-3 Kane, a PIttsburgh native who starred at Pittsburgh Schenley, has offers from Pitt, Seton Hall, Marquette and UConn.

Pitt associate head coach Tom Herrion originally placed Kane at Patterson, but Kane did not sign an NLI to Pitt. Kane averaged 31 points last year and helped Pittsburgh Schenley win its fourth straight City League title. His high school teammates included DeJuan Blair, D.J. Kennedy and Jamaal Bryant.

Patterson comes to New Jersey Tuesday and Wednesday for a pair of games against Apex Academy, which has four teams, and Chaney said he considered taking the team to Seton Hall’s game Tuesday against California Baptist, but doesn’t think the timing will work out.

Kane will visit Seton Hall Dec. 19 and is also planning a visit to Marquette.

PREP / HIGH SCHOOL ROUNDUP

On the prep circuit, John Carroll’s Northfield Mount Hermon team is 5-0 after beating Hun (67-59) and Blair (85-69) this weekend at Blair. In the title game against Blair, Louisville-bound guard Mike Marra (pictured) had 22 points, hitting 5-of-11 from 3. Brown-bound Andrew McCarthy added 18 points and 8 boards and Penn commit Brian Fitzpatrick tallied 13-6...Notre Dame Prep went 3-0 last week, beating IMG on Friday by 19 and then downing Brewster and Lee Academy to win the MCI Tournament. Syracuse-bound James Southerland averaged 21 points and 8 rebounds, Cincinnati commit Sean Kilpatrick averaged 17 points and Mohammed Lee averaged 12 points.

At the Marshall County HoopFest, Findlay Prep crushed Monteverde, 66-39, behind Avery Bradley’s 18 points. Cory Joseph added 14. Victor Rudd and DJ Richardson added 12 apiece for Findlay.

PREPNATION.POLL

The third PrepNation.com poll is out and three of the top five teams are from the NY/NJ area: No. 1 Mater Dei, No. 2 St. Benedict’s, No. 3 Oak Hill, No. 4 Lincoln and No. 5 St. Patrick.

Northeast=

#1. Newark, N.J., St. Benedict’s, 2-0

#2. Brooklyn, N.Y., Lincoln, 2-0

#3. Elizabeth, N.J., St. Patrick, 0-0

#4. Jersey City, N.J., St. Anthony, 0-0

#5. New York, Rice, 0-0

#6. Philadelphia, Neumann-Goretti, 0-0

#7. Mount Vernon, N.Y., 0-0

#8. Paterson, N.J., Catholic, 0-0

#9. Lansdowne, Pa., Penn Wood, 0-0

#10. Lawrence, Mass., Central Catholic, 0-0

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