Hill School beats Taft in Mercer Tournament opener
POTTSTOWN >> Unlike the case at some holiday tournaments, cupcakes are not served at Hill School’s December hoops fest, better known as the Dave Mercer Invitational Tournament.
The eight-team fields annually are of high enough quality to attract a good number of college coaches. There’s some eye-popping talent and some hair-raising competition. Players and teams get a good idea early in the season of where they stand.
PHOTO GALLERY: TAFT AT HILL SCHOOL
When you lift that trophy after the championship game on Sunday, it means something, and it would really mean an extra bunch to the host school, which last won the Mercer in 2007. Hill’s had a lot of good teams since then. Just shows you how tough it is to navigate the three days of brackets, this year including schools from New York, Connecticut, Virginia and New Jersey as well as Pennsylvania.
The Blues got off to a good start Friday night, putting away a feisty club, Taft School, from Watertown, Conn. Hill won 53-42 at Gillison Gym, tailing off a bit offensively after a 20-point first quarter but staying committed to defense and draining 21-of-29 foul shots. They were to play the winner of Friday’s nightcap of Knox School (N.Y.) and Woodberry Forest (Va.) Saturday at 5:30 p.m.
Colton Lawrence, an explosive 6-3 post-grad from Eastern Lebanon County High School, led the Blues with 19 points, including four 3-pointers and a jaw-dropping alley-oop dunk on a fast break. Lawrence is getting looks from Ivy League and Patriot League schools, among others. The Blues’ 7-1 center, Solomon Ruddell, who will play next year at UC-Irvine, had nine points and some good interior defensive work. Junior point guard Chase Audige also scored nine as the Blues improved to 6-3.
Leading 20-11 after the first quarter, the Blues held Taft scoreless for five and a half minutes in the second quarter while building a 30-15 halftime lead. That came in handy because Hill went a bit cold in the third. Still, their defense didn’t lapse and the Blues had a 10-point lead entering the fourth.
They were whistled for a good number of fouls themselves – Taft took 19 free throws but made only 11 – but Hill coach Seth Eilberg liked the effort.
“I’m hoping that’s a good lesson – that if you consistently defend, it’ll carry you through those stretches when you miss some good shots,” Eilberg said. “We’re at a point where we’re still looking to play a good, solid 32 minutes, but we started moving toward that tonight.
“But it’ll take a lot more than that to win this tournament.”
Lawrence scored 13 in the first half.
“He’s explosive, athletic and can score,” Eilberg said.
Good defense and rebounding fuel the transition game and open looks from three-point land. One such jumper from Lawrence gave Hill an 18-9 lead late in the first quarter. Then he followed it with a runner off the glass just before the period expired.
The newcomer to Hill felt welcome from the get-go.
“The school is a huge adjustment from public school,” Lawrence said, “but the team has made me feel like one of the family. We’re developing chemistry.”
“We’re a closer team than last year,” Audige added. “We have versatile guys and we play for each other.”
It showed as Hill grinded it out down the stretch, fighting off a late Taft run that trimmed the margin to eight with 3:39 left.
