East mauls Marina, wins title

ROCKFORD - East had to wait until the second quarter before pulling away, but the E-Rabs still posted a runaway victory Saturday night, beating Marina of Huntington Beach, California 83-61 in the final game of the fifth annual RPS 205 Tip-Off Classic basketball tournament.

The East E-Rabs became the first District 205 to
win the 205 Tip-Off Classic since Auburn in 2014.

Marina led 13-6 midway through the first quarter before East pulled ahead 21-18 at the break on Chris Burnell's 35-foot buzzer-beater.

East didn't trail again. The Rabs held Marina to 17 points in the middle two quarters and led 59-35 entering the final eight minutes.

East's Sincere Parker set a single-game tournament scoring record with 33 points, giving him a tournament total of 115 points in four games, another record. His average points per game of 28.8 bests the previous record of 21.0 set last year by Yahmir Muhammad of Auburn.

Sha'den Clanton added 22 for East, which hit on 15 3-point attempts.

Jakob Alamudun scored 30 points to lead Marina, which hit 13 3-pointers.

East was a perfect 4-0 in the Classic, becoming the first District 205 team to win the 205 Tip-Off Classic since Auburn in 2014.

BOXSCORE

Marina ..... 18   9    8  26 -- 61
East ......... 21  17  21  24 -- 83

Marina -- Hodgkins 1 0-1 3, Fronek 2 0-0 4, Barnella 4 0-0 11, Aguirre 1 2-3 5, Alamudun 10 2-2 30, Jensen 1 0-0 2, Keeler 3 0-0 6, Totals 22 4-6 61.
East -- Crawford 1 0-0 3, Burnell 4 1-2 10, Thompson 1 0-0 2, Hodge 1 0-0 3, Clanton 9 1-1 22, Parker 13 0-0 33, Luster 2 0-0 6, LeFlore 0 4-4 4, Totals 31 6-7 83.
3pt FG -- Marina 13 (Hodgkins, Barnella 3, Aguirre, Alamudun 8); East 15 (Crawford, Burnell, Hodge, Clanton 3, Parker 7, Luster 2).

FVV 23: Bet On Yourself

Jefferson rallies to top pesky Perspectives

ROCKFORD - Senior Howard Massey scored eight of his team-high 13 points in the fourth quarter to help Jefferson rally to beat Chicago Perspectives, 51-44.

Perspectives trailed by as many as eight in the first half but fought back to take a 32-30 lead at the end of the third quarter before Massey scored on a series of inside plays in the final eight minutes.

Jefferson finished the tournament 3-1 despite shooting an erratic 18 of 37 in free throws in the final game. Perspectives (1-3) was worse, making seven of 17. Elijah Harris led the Wolves with 14 points.

BOXSCORE

Rockford Jefferson 51, Chicago Perspectives 44

Perspectives .....  7  8  17 12 - 44
Jefferson .......... 11 10  9  21 - 51

PERSPECTIVES - Lash 1 0-0 2, Graham 4 1-4 9, Johnson 1 0-0 3, Miller 3 1-2 10, Daniel 0 2-2 2, Gayles 0 0-2 0, Scofield 1 1-4 4, Harris 5 2-3 14. Totals 15 7-17 44.
JEFFERSON - Graham 2 2-9 7, Williams 2 3-5 9, Henigan 1 2-2 4, Dem. Jordan 1 1-2 3, Morris 2 3-6 7, Massey 5 2-4 13, Robinson 0 6-9 6, Bankole 1 0-0 2. Totals 14 19-37 51.

First Student, serving students today, tomorrow, together

East blitzes Hyde Park to go 3-0

Fast-starting East High rolled to a 30-13 lead after one quarter and was never in trouble in routing Hyde Park 83-58 in Saturday's first game at East.

The win gave the E-Rabs a 3-0 record.Hyde Park led only twice, at 2-0 and 4-3 before the rout started. East led 46-28 at halftime and wasn't really threatened thereafter.

Sincere Parker led East with 29 points. She'dan Clanton added 19. Braijon Johnson had 18 points and Zach Miller 14 for Hyde Park, which finished the tournament 1-1.

BOXSCORE

East ............30 16 16 21 -- 83
Hyde Park ..13 15 12 18 -- 58

East -- Crawford 1 0-0 3, Burnell 2 0-1 4, Thompson 3 0-0 6, Clanton 7 5-8 19, Dickens 1 0-0 3, Parker 10 2-2 29, Brannon-Davis 1 0-0 2, Luster 4 0-0 11, LeFlore 3 0-2 6, Totals 32 7-13 83.
Hyde Park -- Houston 5 1-1 13, RHarris 0 1-2 1, Reed 1 0-0 2, JHarris 1 0-2 2, Boykin 2 1-2 6, Clay 0 2-2 2, Johnson 8 2-2 18, Miller 5 1-2 14, Totals 22 8-13 58.
3pt FG -- East 12 (Crawford, Dickens, Parker 7, Luster 3); Hyde Park 6 (Houston 2, Boykin, Miller 3).

Serving the Rockford area with six locations

Jefferson outguns Larkin

ROCKFORD - Sophomore Latrell Graham exploded for 31 points to lead the Jefferson J-Hawks over Elgin Larkin, 68-54, in the final 205 Tip-Off Classic game at Jefferson.

Graham scored 13 in the first quarter to help the J-Hawks jump out to a 25-18 lead. Jefferson pushed the advantage to 38-25 in the second quarter and the closest the Royals could come after that was 46-40 in the third quarter.

Larkin, which is rebuilding after last year's team finished fourth in the IHSA Class 4A tournament, finished the Classic at 1-3. The Royals were led by Vic Perez with 14 points. Freshman Damari Wheeler-Thomas finished a strong tournament with 12 points.

Graham's 31 points is tied for second most in 205 Tip-Off Classic history. Demarian Jordan came off the bench to score 10 points. Jefferson (2-1) has one game remaining at East tonight.

BOXSCORE

Rockford Jefferson 68, Elgin Larkin 54

Larkin ...... 18 12 13 11 - 54
Jefferson .. 25 13 12 18 - 68

LARKIN - Black 3 0-0 9, Perez 4 4-4 14, Wheeler-Thomas 5 1-2 12, Boley 1 0-0 2, Green 4 2-5 11, Johnson-Neels 1 2-3 4, Jones 1 0-0 2. Totals 19 9-14 54.
JEFFERSON - Graham 11 5-8 31, Williams 2 0-1 5, Henigan 2 0-1 4, Dem. Jordan 4 2-2 10, Morris 1 0-0 2, Robinson 3 0-0 7, Bankole 3 0-0 7. Totals 27 7-12 68.
3-pt FG: Larkin 7 (Black 3, Perez, Boley, Green), Jefferson 7 (Graham 4, Williams, Robinson, Bankole).

1955, 1956 State Champion West Warriors

Perspectives gets in win column against Freeport

ROCKFORD - Chicago Perspectives picked up its first win of the 205 Tip-Off Classic by comfortably leading Freeport throughout in a 52-45 win Saturday morning at Jefferson High School. 

The Wolves (1-2) led by seven after the first quarter, 10 at halftime and by 13 after three.

Caleb Miller led Perspectives with 11 points and Justin Gayles and Jarvin Graham added eight points each.

Kijuan Burns had a strong game for Freeport with 15 points. The Pretzels finished the Classic 0-4 and need to find more scoring. Freeport scored just 212 points in the four games.

BOXSCORE

Chicago Perspectives 52, Freeport 45

Perspectives .... 19 14 9 10 - 52
Freeport ........ 12 11 6 16 - 45

PERSPECTIVES - Lash 2 0-0 4, Graham 3 2-2 8, L. Johnson 0 1-2 1, Miller 5 0-0 11, Daniel 3 0-0 6, Gayles 4 0-1 8, Thomas 0 0-1 0, Scofield 2 1-1 5, Harris 3 0-0 7, Pruitt 1 0-0 2. Totals 23 4-7 52.
FREEPORT - Lacey 0 2-2, Burns 5 3-3 15, Wade 1 0-0 2, O'Bryant 1 1-2 3, Stewart 2 0-0 4, Hail 1 1-1 3, Katzenberger 0 3-4 3, Collier 1 0-0 2, Edgeston 1 4-4 6, Flemming 2 0-0 5. Totals 14 14-16 45.
3-pt FG: Perspectives 2 (Miller, Harris), Freeport 3 (Burns 2, Flemming).

First Student, Caring for Students Today, Tomorrow, Together

East runs away from Larkin

ROCKFORD - East jumped out to a big lead in the first quarter and rolled past Larkin 76-49 in the second game at East Friday night.

Sincere Parker had nine points and Sha'den Clanton six as the Rabs took a 27-10 lead aftyer one period. Larkin closed the gap slightly, to 37-27 at halftime, but the second half was all East.
Parker led a quartet of E-Rabs in double figures with 22 points. Chris Burnell had 15 points and Clanton and Andres Thompson scored 13 each.

East (2-0) wraps up tourney play with home games today against Hyde Park at 4 p.m. and Marina of Huntington Beach, California at 7.m.

Larkin was led by Marcus Green and Pierre Black with 13 and 11 points, respectively. The 1-2 Royals play at Jefferson at 11:30 a.m. Saturday.

BOXSCORE

Rockford East 76, Elgin Larkin 49

Larkin .... 10  17  13   9 -- 49
East .......  27  11  24  14 -- 76

Larkin -- Black 4 0-0 11, Perez 3 1-2 9, Wheeler Thomas 1 4-4 6, Ramirez 1 0-0 3, Berrios 1 0-0 2, Green 5 1-1 13, Johnson-Neels 3 0-1 6, Totals 18 6-8 49.
East -- Burnell 6 0-0 15, Thompson 5 3-4 13, Clanton 6 0-2 13, Dickens 1 0-0 3, Parker 9 3-4 22, Luster 1 0-0 3, Bell 1 2-2 4, LeFlore 1 1-3 3, Totals 30 9-15 76.
3pt FG -- Larkin 7 (Black 3, Perez 2, Ramirez Green); East 7 (Burnell 3, Clanton, Dickens, Parker Luster).

Midwest Wildcats AAU Basketball

Hyde Park blasts Perspectives in Tip-Off opener

ROCKFORD - Brailon Johnson and Jalen Houston combined for 47 points as Chicago Hyde Park blew out Chicago Perspectives in the first game Friday night at East.

The Thunderbirds (1-0) led by four after the first quarter, 15 at the half and 22 on their way to a 71-36 win.

Lafayette Johnson led Perspectives (0-2) with nine points.

BOXSCORE

Chicago Hyde Park 71, Chicago Perspectives 36

Perspectives ......  8   7  16   5  -  36
Hyde Park ......... 12 18 23 18  -  71

PERSPECTIVES - Graham 1 0-5 2, L. Johnson 4 0-0 9, Miller 2 0-1 6, Daniel 1 0-0 3, Gayles 3 0-0 6, Scofield 2 0-2 4, Harris 0 7-10 7. Totals 13 7-18 36.
HYDE PARK - Houston 9 5-7 23, R. Harris 3 2-2 8, Reed 1 2-2 4, J. Harris 0 2-2 2, Boykin 1 0-0 2, McKinney 2 0-0 4, Johnson 9 6-10 24, Ford 1 2-2 4. Totals 26 19-25 71.
3-pt FG: Perspectives 4 (Miller 2, L. Johnson, Daniel), Hyde Park 0.

First Student, Caring for Students Today, Tomorrow, Together