Lucas Xplosion: Day 1 recap

The first edition of the Lucas Holiday Xplosion and Athletic Conference got underway on Monday and it had a lot of the old feel of the Academy National Invitational that used to occupy the same building, the Campbell Center in Aldine ISD, at this time of year.

As mentioned in previous posts, it is smaller in scale than the Academy, which generally boasted eight teams in a 'Texas' division and eight teams in a 'National' division, but its organizers insist that this is just the beginning for what they hope will become a nationally-recognized holiday destination for teams from across the country. 

Crowds were sparse for the opening day, but everyone associated with the event seemed pleased with the way the day went. On the floor, there were a pair of very competitive games, a couple of blowouts and plenty of familiar faces in the crowd.

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Familiar face #1:  Johnnie 'The Hawk' Carter, former head of the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches, head coach at Hastings High School and current director of athletic services for Aldine ISD. 

Carter's resume is impressive. He played at Carthage High School and East Texas Baptist. His coaching stops include assistant's roles at Cushing High School, Grambling University and Forest Brook High School,  and head coaching positions at Aldine MacArthur, Lufkin and Hastings.  Those Bears' teams won four district titles and appeared in four regional tournaments.  He had a 465-246 career record.

Carter is also the only member of the Texas Basketball Hall of Fame (inducted in 1998) that I can say I know.

On Monday, as a representative of the host Aldine ISD, he was all over the Campbell Center taking care of behind-the-scenes issues, but allowed himself to sit and watch portions of a couple of games.  As Atascocita took on Norcross High out of Georgia, I asked him if he missed the sidelines at all.

"At times like this, yeah," he answered with a smile.  Which, to me, means he only misses it about 30-40 nights a year...and you can live with that if the other 325-335 nights were difficult to endure.

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Familiar faces #2-3:  Wayne Jones, head coach, and Ray Marshall, assistant coach, of the Strake Jesuit Crusaders.  It was good to see those two men...for the first time this season.  I had the privilege of following them throughout their run to the Class 5A state tournament in 2008-09.  The Crusaders went undefeated until running into the DeSoto Eagles in the state semifinal.

We reminisced about that weekend last March for a few minutes.  Both Jones and Marshall understand how special that team and season were.  But they also know it is now just a piece of history.

I asked Jones if his prolific trio--Brooks, Frazier and Rogers--have called him since beginning their college careers.  He said they definitely have.  He's proud of the fact that, as a freshman, Frazier starts for Penn State and that Brooks had a nice game for Notre Dame against Bucknell recently.

Will this year's Strake team repeat last season's success?  If you ask him about that, Jones won't specifically say no, but he is a realist: "We're just so young this season."

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On the floor on Monday...

Christian Life Center Academy, from the north side of town, easily defeated Mt. Zion Academy out of Durham NC, 77-56.  The previously-heralded Chris Coleman was held to four points by Mt. Zion, which happens to be Tracy McGrady's alma mater. (I didn't spot T-Mac in the crowd, though.)

The Atascocita Eagles hung tough with the Norcross Blue Devils,  but fell 52-47.  Neither team shot the ball very well, which was as much a tribute to the good defense played on both ends as anything else.  For Atascocita, Everrette Pleasant (F, 6'5", junior) has the look of an athlete. For Norcross, Victor Nickerson (C, 6'6", junior) and Marty Johnson (G, 6'1", senior) led the way.

Against Prestonwood Christian, Jones' Strake Jesuit Crusaders looked as young and inexperienced as he said they were.  The PCA Lions rolled out to an early lead and increased it every quarter to claim a 59-39 win.  Elliott Franshaw (C, 6'7", senior), one of only three returning players from last year's squad, got into early foul trouble, had to spend a lot of time on the bench and fouled out with over six minutes to go in the game.

Without him, Strake had no answer for the twin-tower duo of Zach Peters (C, 6'9", sophomore) and Julius Randle (F, 6'8", freshman), who each poured in 16 points.  They combined with senior Jason Pospichal, who added 17 points (included five three-point buckets), to deliver the win.  Rasheed Sulaimon scored 23 for the Crusaders in defeat.

The nightcap featured a pair of top-ranked teams in the Bellaire Cardinals and White Station Spartans from the northern part of the metropolitan Memphis area.  Early on, it looked like Bellaire might win in a rout.  The Cardinals scored the first six points of the game and led 21-11 after one period.

But White Station, defending Tennessee state champs, got into a rhythm beginning in the second and held even with Bellaire in the second quarter, before outscoring them in the second half to eventually take a 61-60 lead with just over six minutes to go in the game.

But Bellaire rebounded, led by Toby Oyedeji's 29 points, and pulled out a 72-68 win.  A pair of free throws by Shelden McClellan with 0:34 to go sealed the victory.

White Station's All-American guard Joe Jackson recovered from a rough first quarter to lead the Spartans with 22 points.  Andre Hollins (G, 6'3", junior) also scored 22 points and Nino Johnson added 17.

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The showcase wraps up on Tuesday with games featuring Mt. Zion vs. Atascocita (3:30 pm), Norcross vs. Strake Jesuit (5:00 pm), Prestonwood Christian vs. Bellaire (6:30 pm) and Christian Life vs. White Station (8:00 pm).