Landon travels to Pottstown, PA Mercer Invitational for contests against powerful opponents

On Friday December 17, the Bears go to the Hill School to participate in a star laden tournament with

•  
  • Berkshire Academy  (MA) Bears (3-1)
  • Chestnut Hill Academy (PA) Blue Devils  (2-3)
  • Episcopal High School (VA) Maroon (4-0)
  • Hill School (PA)    (3-2)
  • New Hampton School (NH) Huskies (5-2)
  • Peddie School (NJ) Falcons (1-4)
  • Woodberry Forest (VA) Tigers (3-1)

 

BERKSHIRE ACADEMY BEARS

This team is led by 2009 3rd team All New England 6’3″ SG/SF Ahmad Reid, Junior and three point shooter Diamonte Zarba ’13 (see pictures). These Bears have wins against Williston, the Williams JV and  Gunnery. Reid and Zarba have been the leading scorers in those game.Salisbury, an away game, is their only loss.

 Reid                                                     Zarba

CHESTNUT HILL ACADEMY

The Blue Devils lost earlier at Landon 47-37 and then Lawrenceville beat CHA 54-39 (A). More recently, the Philly school has had convincing wins (13 and 32 point margins) over Pennsylvania foes Shipley (A) and then George School (H).

 

EPISCOPAL HIGH SCHOOL

The Maroon are well known IAC foes of Landon. They arrive at the Mercer undefeated and ranked #3 in the DC area by the Washington Post’s most recent poll. They have wins over Haverford (InterAc by 29 points), Germantown (InterAc, 14 points), Bishop Ireton (WCAC, 5 pts), Liberty (25 points) and Miller (28 points). The High School is led by 6’2″ Senior Guard Sadiq Abubakar and Arnaud Adala-Moto , a 6’6″ junior guard and one of the IAC’s top players. (see pictures)

Sadiq Abubakar                           Arnaud Adala-Moto

 

 

 

 

Perhaps the most impressive team in terms of recent alumni is the Huskies, the returning Mercer Invitational champs–

 

• Rashad McCants (’02)  UNC  national Championship in 2005. 
• Bernard Robinson (’00)   the University of Michigan and  now Charlotte Bobcats.
•  Other Huskies have enjoyed playing time at Indiana,Oregon State, Missouri, Marquette, South Carolina, and Kansas to name a few. .
• Darius Songaila (’98)was the 2002 Boston Celtics 2nd-round draft pick who is now playing with the Washington Wizards. 
•  Awvee Storey (’97) is in his second year with the Washington Wizards
• Lawrence Moten (’91), a DC post grad played for the Vancouver Grizzlies

The Huskies have two wins over the Harvard JV and several New England prep schools with strong programs. Their only losses were to BIG TIME schools– Hargraves Military Academy and St. Thomas Moore. The team is led by UMass commit Jordon Laguerre (picture) and California PG (post grad, not point guard) Travis Souza. Laguerre

received a rating of 88 from ESPNU with the following scouting report: Jordan is an explosive guard who can get wherever he wants to on the court. He is lightning quick on both ends of the ball, has a quick handle when in attack mode, and a terrific array of finishes around the rim with quick bounce and good body control. He can make shots in bunches from behind the three-point line and also create space with his step-back in the mid-range area. He is equally accomplished defensively, able to keep his head on the ball for the entire length of the court or beat playmakers to their spots in the quarter court. Laguerre has a super high motor and plays the game incredibly hard at all times.

 aptly named Laguerre

PEDDIE SCHOOL

The Falcons have two of their losses to powerful Philadelphia teams (Friends Central and Abingdon Friends) and have two close losses. They are led by 6’5″ 210# Senior Hakeem Valles, who is also an outstanding  WR in football.

 

Landon will attempt to improve over its 2009 runner up results last year. Its first contest is against the Falcons