Harrisburg vs Philly (You had to be there!!!!)

Coaches Caruso and Kater giving instruction

Back in February on a Sunday morning while most kids were going on their third dream, 8 middle schoolers from Harrisburg are were on the highway headed to The City of Brotherly Love to get some morning wreck against two of the top middle school teams in Philly at the MLK Classics at Imhotep Charter HS....  One thing I can tell you for sure, NO ONE LEFT DISAPPOINTED!!!!!!!

Ahmad Winbush and Elyjah Camp game MVP's

The first game featured Centralpabball vs Universal....  Universal jumped out to an early lead on CPABBALL....   They hit everything they put up while CPABBALL was sloppy with the ball and missed a few chippies....  Once they got themselves together, they were able to get back into the ball game...  Behind the stellar defense of EBCA's Tyrece Little putting incredible pressure on Universal's 5'9 super playmaker Antwan Butler, Susquehanna's Tra'el Seagers and Harrisburg's Elyjah Camp were all in the passing lanes while Susquehanna's Darien Perez blocked or changed up shops using his length to his advantage....  Little and Camp did a really good job making the guards on Universal work hard getting the ball up court....  Seagers is really aggressive and doesn't care who steps in his path.....  Sam Allen had the job of guarding 6'6 athletic big man Emil Moody who is a monster inside....  Those two guys battled all game....

Once the defense got going, Camp really began to pick up his offensive game as he sliced and diced through the defense....  He either finished himself or hit Little and Seagers for the assist....   Universal ended up winning the game....   Camp received MVP for CPABBALL...  He led the way with 17pts, 4assist and 4 steals, Seagers ended up with 12pts, 8 rebs, 5 steals, Little chipped in 9pts, 6 rebs and 5 steals while Perez finished with 5 pts, 2 blks and 13 rebounds...  Susquehanna's Same Allen also 4pts and 9 rebs in the loss....

David Beatty and Casey Caruso game MVP's

In game #2, CPABBALL went up against the top Middle School team in Philly, World Comm....  These guys had some phenomenal players who will end up being very high major prospects in the near future...  They had size, guards, shooters, defenders and good coaching...   They had a backcourt of 6'3 pg David Beatty and 6'3 powerful wing guard Ahmad Williams......    These guys played well beyond their years.....   Along with 5'6 slick guard Raymond Glass and they are a tough group....  Once again, CPABBALL had a slow start finding themselves down 14 - 2 early in the game....

Not sure if they were out of energy being it was their second game in a row without a rest but nevertheless, they still had to play ball.....  This game here also was about defense as CPABBALL fought back from a 17 pt deficit behind the on the ball pressure of Ty Little (3 steals) and Elyjah Camp....  East Pennsboro's 7th grader Tim Kater Jr. was in the passing lanes as well as CD's Daron Jennings (hurt his hamstrings)That turned into easy baskets for 7th grade sharp shooter Casey Caruso who ended up nailing 4 TREYS to help with the comeback....   Caruso was on fire as World Comm lost track of him on the floor multiple times....   That's the last thing you want to do, lose track of that kid....  If it wasn't Caruso hitting threes, it was Sam Allen banging inside with some nice finishes....   World Comm ended up winning the game 37 - 28 but again, CPABBALL fought till the end....

One thing the kids did was earn respect from the Philly Fam in the gym....  The kids never complained about the official as he really let all teams play ball.....  Of course in the Mid Penn, kids aren't used to playing tough basketball because the officials call everything a foul...  That's a whole nother topic so I'll leave that one alone.....

Here's a look at the guys who participated in the event from Harrisburg....

Casey Caruso game MVP vs World Comm

 This guy can really fill it up from the outside....  His shot was off in the first game but when that second game came, he got it going...  Knocked down 5 treys vs World Comm and won MVP honors that game...  Played extremely hard for the day....  Casey even began to defend like never before...  I can see big things in his future....

Darien Perez

 Darien was one of the most active kids on the floor...  In the first game, he grabbed 13 rebounds and blocked 2 shots...  One of his blocks was on a 6'4 8th grader....  Darien plays hard all the time and is a very good rebounder....  Even knocked down a deep jumper in the 2nd game for 3 of his 5 pts...   Perez looks like he's not done growing and will be a super leaper in the future...

Daron Jennings

 Daron has nice length and it bother both teams on the defensive end...    This kid is a fighter as he pulled his hamstring in the first game but still tried to give everything he had...  It was tough for him so he sat most of the 2nd game....  The outcomes could have been different with a healthy Jennings....

Elyjah Camp

Elyjah was one of the top guards in the gym....  He handles the ball like a wizard and has really good court vision....  His passes are on a higher level and he loves pressure situations...   He ended up winning the MVP of the first game but fatigue set in on the 2nd game.....  Nevertheless, he earned respect from everyone in the gym....

Sam Allen

Sam gets better and better each time I see him....  He competes at a high level on both ends of the floor...  Sam had to go against some pretty good big guys and he more than held his own....  The southpaw had some sweet finishes in the paint and a few big blocks as well....  He had an MVP type game in the 2nd game so look out for this name in the future....

Tim Kater Jr.

This was a great experience for Tim because he had a chance to play against high level players that were all older than him....  Tim didn't score as much as he usually does but what he did was learn to defend on a higher level and at a faster pace....  He was matched up with some pretty crafty ball handlers but he used his size to slow them down and keep them out of the lane....   Now that he can add that to his game, it could mean trouble for his opponents....

Tra'el Seagers

If you ever seen this kid play football, you would understand where he gets his basketball game from....  This kid goes 110% ALL THE TIME....  He did a great job jumping into passing lanes and anticipating steals....  He played really good on both sides of the ball and finishes well inside....  Not sure if there's too many guys as physical as him around.....

Tyrece Little

Talk about accepting a challenge...  Ty was asked to cover the top guards on both teams and he accepted the challenge...  He played defense from end to end while he would just turn the ball handlers from side to side....  Just when they thought they had him beat, he would then steal it from behind....   It helps to be able to contribute even when your shot is off....   That's exactly what he did....   He attacked the basket well drawing fouls and creating opportunities for others.....  People complemented Little on his effort on the way out of the gym....

Overall, the kids had a great morning of basketball...   Everyone made it back in time to see the Super Bowl as well....  Can't ask for much more than that.....

Back row; Tyrece Little, Tra'el Seagers, Tim Kater, Sam Allen, Daron Jennings, Darien Perez
Front row; Casey Caruso and Elyjah Camp

Gotta give Coach Joe Caruso and Coach Tim Kater a big shout out for coaching those kids and never letting them give up....   Also, the fans the followed along like Unique, Tone, Portia, Star and her parents, Daren and a few more people....   Also want to say thanks to Rasool Haaj from www.runhouse.net for inviting us down to Philly.....   Look forward for some MAJOR EVENTS coming in April for high school Seniors........

Coach Little