(1) New Hampton School defeats (5) St. Thomas More School

It was all the usual suspects in this barnburner of a game for a trip to the NEPSAC Class AAA Final. New Hampton's big three showed out with each of them providing sparks at different points in the contest. STM battled hard but wasn't able to defend NH nearly to the level that they needed to in order to secure the win. Onto the finals for New Hampton.   Here are my standouts from the game.    Blackwood scored 13 points in the first 13 minutes of the game and was therefore a huge catalyst in helping New Hampton get out to an early lead. The senior wing used his incredible strength and physical driving ability to get to the rim with ease, and he also knocked down some shots from the outside and mid-range. He has one of the most well-rounded two-way games in New England, and Saturday's matchup against [player_tooltip player_id='1106063' first='London' last='Jemison'] was a good opportunity for him to show that he can compete at the high-major level against anyone. Penn State might've gotten a steal that other big-time schools will be kicking themselves for.     Meyer took over in the middle part of the game with a number of incredibly tough shots. He's one of the best tough-shot makers in the region; he's able to shoot without much balance and often fades away on his release, giving himself some extra wiggle-room to get the shot off. He also goes from dribbling to gathering and getting a shot off SO quickly, which also allows him to make some crazy ones. Meyer is another phenomenal two-way talent at the wing position for New Hampton, and he's going to succeed at the next level as a result of his versatility on both ends.     When it came down to winning time, Tillery completely took over the game and put the New Hampton squad on his back, and it was honestly pretty amazing to watch. The 6-foot-1 senior got into the lane and finished with contact again and again with absolute ease; left hand, right hand, high off the glass, etc -- it didn't matter. He also punished the defense going under the screen by hitting a few massive three-point shots. He showed some serious ice in his veins, as he has many times throughout this prep season and his high school career, and that's just something you can't teach at any level of basketball.     Benjamin might be the most overlooked player in the region, and I'm honestly quite flabbergasted he isn't getting high-major looks. His combination of size and skill is just not something you come around often at all; as I've said many times now, people his size are not supposed to move with that level of agility and coordination. And, despite his shot looking a bit wonky, I've seen enough to claim that he can knock down shots relatively consistently from the three-point line. I would be all over him if I were a high-major coach or recruiting coordinator, and I think they'll be kicking themselves next year.     I can't get over how strong and confident Pettway is with the ball despite looking very slim out there on the basketball court. You'd look at him and think you can push him off his spot or bother him with extreme ball pressure, but he takes it all in stride and is surprisingly physical on drives to the rim. I don't know what the next step in Pettway's development is -- because he already can do basically everything offensively -- but I don't think D1 coaches should be dissuaded by his size (or lack thereof), because he's shown consistently that he is stronger than he looks.     The best way to describe Jemison's game is smooth. He glides up and down the court and has no wasted motion on his shot or his dribble moves to the hoop. Against New Hampton, he struggled to guard Blackwood early on but picked up his energy and pressure as the game went on. Offensively, he hit shots throughout the game and found some success crafting his way to the rim with slow, long steps that threw off the defense. He reminds me SO MUCH of Cam Reddish; the way he moves, how his shot looks, and his size and athleticism. Sky's the limit for him if he can continue to develop at the next level.

It was all the usual suspects in this barnburner of a game for a trip to the NEPSAC Class AAA Final. New Hampton's big three showed out with each of them providing sparks at different points in the contest. STM battled hard but wasn't able to defend NH nearly to the level that they needed to in order to secure the win. Onto the finals for New Hampton.