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Panthers are on the rise

Published Thursday, April 02, 2009 2:49 PM

By Greg Baechtle
Summerville Journal Scene ®

The Pinewood boys’ basketball team will wrap up its season this weekend when it takes part in the prestigious ESPN Rise tournament being held at Georgetown Preparatory’s Hanley Center outside Washington DC.

The Panthers were selected along with seven other of the nation’s outstanding high school teams.

Leading the field, and the Panthers first round opponent is the fabled Oak Hill Academy.

The Warriors are the number one ranked team in the country and the number one seed in the tournament with a 36-0 record.

The Warriors are led by Keith “Tiny” Gallion who has committed to Oklahoma and Lamont “Mo Mo” Jones who has committed to Virginia Tech.

The Warriors also feature three other division 1 commits – Syracuse bound Baye Moussa Keita, West Virginia bound Bryon Allen and UNC-Asheville bound Austin Alecxih.

The team has a long and storied tradition of sending numerous players to high profile college programs and ultimately into the NBA.

The game is scheduled for 2 p.m. Friday and will be televised on ESPNU.

If the Panthers can get by the Warriors, they will face the winner of the game between St. Benedicts (NJ) and St. Francis (MD) in a game scheduled for 11 a.m. Saturday that will be televised on ESPN2. The Championship game is scheduled for Sunday at 3 p.m. on ESPN.

Panthers coach Pat Eidson is excited about taking part in the event.

“It is truly an honor to be invited to this event,” he said. “This is the best of all the high school tournaments and we are thrilled to have been selected to participate. Hopefully we will have a good result.”

Other teams in the field include number two ranked Findlay Prep from Nevada, number nine ranked Montrose Christian out of Maryland, number six ranked St. Benedicts (NJ), number 37 ranked St. Francis Academy (MD), number 47 ranked Friends Central (PA) and Mountain State Academy from West Virginia.

The tournament will showcase a number of highly ranked players.

Five players who are participating in the McDonald’s All American game this week, including the Panthers Milton Jennings, will be on the floor over the weekend.
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