TTBC is back again, since district champions have been crowned and state playoffs are set to begin this week.
Akosa Maduegbunam - Winchendon School - Winchendon, MA
Akosa's season with Winchendon ended last week in the NEPSAC AAA playoffs. They were the 8th seed and lost in the quarterfinals to the #1 Brewster Academy, 92-71. They finished their season at 9-23.
Next up for Maduegbunam is signing his letter of intent. He's originally from Charlestown, MA in Boston but was at Winchendon during the Fall signing period. Akosa wanted to have a proper signing ceremony with his family present, so he pushed back his LOI signing. The Spring signing period runs from April 11th - May 16th.
Brandon Taylor - Trenton Catholic Academy - Trenton, NJ
Since the last update, Taylor and TCA have been on a tear. Individually, Brandon scored 41 points in TCA's first round blowout victory over Koinonia, then scored his 1,000th point in a win over Roselle Catholic. His team is now in the finals of their 'South B' bracket against a talented Gill St. Bernard's team that features PSU target Jaren Sina. That game tips off today at 4 PM.
The road from here on out to a state championship is much harder for TCA. To win the Non-Public championship, they will have to beat GSB in the semis and then likely face St. Anthony's (arguably the best team in the country) in the state championship. If they happen to win those two games, they will then qualify for NJ's Tournament of Champions.
Geno Thorpe - Shaler High School - Pittsburgh, PA
Shaler's bid for a WPIAL championship was derailed by Pittsburgh Central Catholic in the semi-finals. Thorpe apparently struggled in the loss against PCC's Lincoln Davis, according to twitter reports, but Chambers was there to offer support and guidance the next day. Although Shaler was upset, they still qualified for states as District 7's 4th seed. They have to play a preliminary game against District 10's Strong Vincent tomorrow night.
The AAAA bracket is very intriguing. Shaler got a great draw, and I think they have the best chance to make the State semis. There are plenty of great potential 2nd round matchups such as Central Dauphin-St. Joe's Prep, Harrisburg-Williamsport, and Lower Merion-Roman Catholic. At the end of the day, the road to a AAAA state championship will go through Chester.
Brandon Austin - Imhotep Charter High School - Philadelphia, PA
Imhotep won their state-qualifying game against Delaware Valley Charter last week. They received District 12's 4th seed in the AA tournament. Austin's team should also do major damage in the tournament, despite being stunned in the Philly Public League tournament a few weeks ago. Their first round game is against District 3 champ Delone Catholic on Saturday.
Other Prospects
Sheldon Jeter's Beaver Falls team rolled to a WPIAL AA championship over the weekend. Ideally, we will be treated to a Beaver Falls vs. Imhotep Charter state championship at the Bryce Jordan Center in a few weeks, but many games need to be won first. Also, keep an eye on 2014 G Isaiah Washington and Williamsport. Washington visited PSU again this past weekend, and it's possible Chambers will try to evaluate the 6'3" prospect in the near future.
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