Team Philly wins 57th Annual Albert C. Donofrio Classic
CONSHOHOCKEN >> “Lonnie Walker is gonna have to score 50 for Raw Sports to have a chance tonight.”
That was the general feeling around the Fellowship House of Conshohocken when rumors were swirling that the Raw Sports All Stars would only have six players in the Donofrio Classic championship game against Team Philly Tuesday night.
Even if the Miami commit scored 50, Raw Sports still would have been blown out.
Team Philly won the 57th Annual Albert C. Donofrio Classic, 128-85.
Raw Sports was without a number of players, including Spring Grove senior and Michigan commit Eli Brooks, Harrisburg senior Chris Whitaker, Manheim Township senior Taylor Funk and Westtown junior Jake Forrester.
“I thought they were going to have everybody when I got here,” Team Philly’s Daron Russell said. “I saw they were short-handed and I just came out here to play regardless of who they had.
“I thought they were going to come out and compete a little harder. As the game went on, I saw their energy started to go down and we started pulling away a little bit.”
Russell was named Team Philly’s MVP after scoring a game-high 32 points — including nine three-pointers.
“It’s another thing I can check off the list,” Russell, who lost last year’s final with Team Hardnett, said. “I had a really successful year with Imhotep. I’m going to keep it rolling.
“The goal was to win (the Donofrio). I look at myself as a winner, so whatever I do I want to win. That’s just the main goal in anything I do.”
Russell, an Imhotep senior and Rhode Island commit, scored 15 in the first half to help Team Philly take a 65-40 lead at the break.
He also made a big impact on the defensive end. He seemed to get a hand on every loose ball and came away with a handful of steals.
“Brother Andre (Imhotep coach Andre Noble) actually helped me with that,” Russell said of his defense. “He emphasizes defense at practice and if I wanted to play as a ninth grader and farther on I had to play defense. He kind of put that in my game.”
Archbishop Ryan senior Izaiah Brockington added 22 points for Team Philly and won the Sportsmanship Award. Imhotep senior and Robert Morris commit Koby Thomas and Haverford sophomore Christian Ray each had 17.
Walker was the MVP for Raw Sports. He scored 19 points.
Brooks won the Little Man Award.
Donofrio All Tournament Team
Tamir Green
Kahssian Kay
Andrew Funk
Isaiah Wong
Terrence Moore
Chris Ings
John Harrar
Som Iorio
Daquan Grandberry
Jordan Camper
Mikeal Jones
Ahmad Williams
Chris Arcidiacono
Conner Delaney
Andrew Sims
Talek Williams
Marc Rodriguez
Collin Gillespie
Tyree Pickron
Daron Russell
Koby Thomas
Lonnie Walker
Tyrese Martin
Izaiah Brockington
Eli Brooks
TOP PHOTO: Team Philly’s Daron Russell goes up for a shot against Raw Sports’ Tyrese Martin in the Donofrio Classic championship game. (Bob Raines/Digital First Media)
