By JASON MORROW
Special to ZAGSBLOG
FORT MYERS, Fla. – The fans at the 2013 City of Palms Classic have seen many great players over the course of the week at Bishop Verot High School, and one at the top of the list is Lincoln’s Isaiah Whitehead.
The Seton Hall signee put up a tournament-high 37 points for his opening act, helping his Lincoln Railsplitters to an 80-67 win over Decatur (Ga.) Greenforest Christian.
In his second game, the 6-foot-4 Whitehead went for 23 points, 7 assists and 3 steals in a 74-70 OT loss to Kevin Boyle’s Montverde (FL) Academy club.
And on Saturday, Whitehead went for 22 points, 13 assists and 6 rebounds in a 60-55 over Miami commit Ja’Quan Newton and Neumann-Goretti.
Whitehead said the keys to his team’s success have been fairly simple.
“Just push the ball, push the ball, push the ball,” Whitehead said. “Kind of just like getting after it on defense, and just creating offense.”
The future Seton Hall Pirate says that although he does not have any specific goals for his freshman year of college, he is ready to join an incoming class that includes fellow New York guard Khadeen Carrington, New Jersey win Ismael Sanogo and power forward Angel Delgado, who is transferring from Huntington (W.V.) Prep.
“I’m just trying to look forward to going in, working hard, and playing Seton Hall basketball,” the Brooklyn native said.
Although he has just one semester remaining until he heads to South Orange to join the Pirates, Whitehead says his focus is still on Lincoln.
“This season I’m just trying to make my program Lincoln as known as possible,” Whitehead said when asked about his goals. “And then probably a state championship.”
If he plays like he has so far in Fort Myers, a state championship is certainly within reason. Whitehead and his Lincoln team gave nationally-ranked Montverde Academy a scare, pushing them to overtime behind the guard’s 23 points and seven assists.
“It was very great for our team…but we fell short,” Whitehead said. “I’m proud of my guys in the game because [Montverde] were No. 1 or No. 2 in the nation and we just came out and fought.”
Photo: City of Palms
