Philadelphia Public League Semifinals: Primetime Players

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Tuesday night at LaSalle University, the Public showcased four of it's top teams a host of talented players. Here's who balled out:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Samuel Fels 79, Universal Audenried 62</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Imhotep 73, Murrell Dobbins 51</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2492472' first='Izaaz' last='Kornegay'] | 6'7 F 2026 Samuel Fels </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>If “the best ability is availability,” then Kornegay had that in spades on Tuesday. His teammates could always find him because he constantly glided to open space when they drove or someone else cut to the hoop. And when they got the ball to him in the paint, Kornegay turned it into two points, then turned around and protected the rim on defense. Battling foul trouble, he tallied 16 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 blocks. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2782285' first='Nathan' last='Lee'] | 6'6 F 2027 Universal Audenried </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>With all of the vets on the floor, it was Lee who paced the Rockets. He used his touch inside to score on post-ups and putbacks. His presence on defense was critical as well, deflecting passes and altering shots to keep the Panthers at bay in the first half. He finished with 14 points, 8 rebounds, 2 steals, and 2 blocks. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2328782' first='Jarrell' last='Little'] | 6'3 G 2025 Dobbins</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Despite falling behind early, Little remained aggressive. In the second half, he responded to Imhotep baskets by getting into the mid-range and hitting tough pull-up jumpers. Those two later became threes as he went on to score a game-high 30 points, with 24 coming in the final two quarts. Little chipped in 4 rebounds too. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1888747' first='Latief' last='Lorenzano-White'] | 6'4 W 2026 Imhotep</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Anchoring the Panthers' defense, Lorenzano-White deterred opponents from entering the paint. He was also a monster on the offensive glass, scoring 7 second-chance points and kicking a couple more rebounds out for assists. His overall selfless play sustained Tep throughout the game. Lorenzano-White finished with 9 points, 11 boards, 4 assists, and 1 block. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1613878' first='RJ' last='Smith'] | 5'9 G 2026 Imhotep </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The lock-Smith wouldn't let Dobbins's guards bring the ball up the court. The Tep floor general simply beat his man to spots, undercut him and snatched the ball away for several points in transition. He carries that sense of urgency into offensive possessions too, attacking open space inside the arc and being ready to shoot once the rock swung back his way. In just 3 quarters of action, Smith sunk three treys on his way to 17 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists, 8 steals. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Emerson Suarez | 6'1 G 2025 Samuel Fels </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Audenried led for the majority of the first half, while Suarez mainly contributed as a connector and rebounder. But everything changed when Fels opened the third quarter with a 10-2 run led by Suarez's shotmaking. He was relentless from deep. His four triples and three steals in that period took the Panthers from a 1-point deficit to a 17 points lead. In all, he had 18 points, 8 boards, 4 assists, and 5 steals to lift his team to the championship game. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->