Governors Challenge: Day 3 Notebook

<p>Day three of the 2025 Governors Challenge took place Sunday as all the games were hosted solely at the Civic Center. As new teams made their way to town, it allowed for more evaluations on prospects of all classes. Those individual breakdowns will continue to flow here through the end of the year, but for the immediate, here's the notebook from Sunday's action.</p>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">St. George's (DE) upends Boys' Latin (MD)</h2>   <p>It was a battles of the opposites as St. George's poses a lineup of size and largely play through their frontcourt while Boys' Latin has a stable of young guards that have been forced to grow quickly. Ultimately, it was St. George's who left victorious and the top-ranked 2026 prospect in Delaware, Josh Obiora, was a big reason why. His two-way paint presence and command around the rim was on full display with 20 points, six rebounds, and five stocks (steals + blocks) in three quarters of action. Easy to see why he's garnering several DII offers and now DI's are trickling in.</p>   <p>For the Lakers, their 2029 duo of [player_tooltip player_id='2882931' first='Brayden' last='Whitaker'] (16 points) and [player_tooltip player_id='2973525' first='Austin' last='Pitts'] (9 points, 5 rebounds) were bright spots. Both play more of an off-ball role as 2028 [player_tooltip player_id='2621950' first='Noah' last='Sulaiman'](11 points, six rebounds, four assists), another impactful underclassmen guard in head coach Dom Milburn's deck, plays the initiator role.</p>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">St. Stephen's St. Agnes (VA) holds off a late John Carroll (MD) surge</h2>   <p>A good Baltimore/DMV matchup ensued as St. Stephen's St. Agnes and John Carroll for the bracket #8 championship. SSAS came out from the jump with an advantage thanks to their energy on the defensive side of the ball and allowing that production to fuel their offense. John Carroll trailed by as many as 14 in the third quarter before going on a run of their own led by their trio of seniors and scrappy freshman guard, but the punch was absorbed well by the Saints and they'd go onto win by a final score of 69-60.</p>   <p>2026 [player_tooltip player_id='1963530' first='Marcus' last='Hancock'] was the key from start to finish with his precision from outside. He led the effort to a tune of 22 points, nine of which came from three along with six boards. Hancock is one of the better available pure shooters in the 2026 DMV class. Another senior guard in Mark Stafford surprised me with his shot-making performance along with his activity on the defense end. Stafford finished with 14 points, six assists, and four steals. SSSAS finished with five players in double-figures.</p>   <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1782586' first='Aidan' last='Able'] (UMBC) struggled to find his mark from three today, but still managed to find his way to a game-high 24 points. Randolph Macon commit [player_tooltip player_id='2547300' first='Andrew' last='Clark'] churned in a 13-points outing, going 3-of-3 from the field and 7-of-7 from the free-throw line.</p>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Archbishop Carroll (DC) trio clicks late to storm back against Archbishop Wood (PA)</h2>   <p>On the Elite Showcase side, Carroll played in their lone game of the event against Archbishop Wood. Out of the gates, Wood had control and showed no signs of slowing down. Then Anthony Brown (Vanderbilt) showed off why he;s regarded as one of the more prolific lead guards in high school basketball while others followed suit.</p>   <p>2027 [player_tooltip player_id='2353541' first='Bam' last='Bolding'] was the mainstay for Carroll through the first half struggles and would go on to score a game-high 23 points, going 4-of-8 from three. 2026 [player_tooltip player_id='1963388' first='Bryton' last='Barrett'] had loud flashes in the final two quarters that developed into 19 points (3/5 3P) and six rebounds for the game. Much of Brown's activity took place in the second half as he came out playing like his hair was on fire in the third quarter to boast a double-double of 16 points, 12 dimes, and five rebounds. </p>   <p>Wood goes 1-1 in their Gov. Challenge experience and despite the loss, had four players reach double-figures led by Marist pledge Brady MacAdams' 16 points. 2027 Jadyn Jenkins registered a double-double of 11 points and 12 rebounds. 2027 Caleb Lundy finished with 13 points and five rebounds as 2027 Dylan Powell had 11 points and a couple of assists.</p>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Riverdale (MD) edges Friendship Tech (DC) in OT</h2>   <p>It was a back-and-forth affair that ended in a miraculous turnaround three from 2028 Friendship Tech guard [player_tooltip player_id='2500743' first='Cayden' last='Morrison'] to force overtime. Riverdale outscored Friendship 10-4 in the extra session to win by a final score of 70-64 and claim the bracket championship.</p>   <p>2026 [player_tooltip player_id='1588140' first='Ean' last='McLaughlin'] packed the stat sheet as he usually does with 20 points, 10 rebounds, six assists, and six steals. Some could argue that a few steals were missed by the stat keeper. Along with McLaughlin, another available senior in [player_tooltip player_id='1588133' first='Derrick' last='Robinson Jr']. helped pace Riverdale with a double-double of his own by scoring 15 points and snagging 10 boards. </p>   <p>2026 Friendship Tech guard [player_tooltip player_id='1782661' first='Malik' last='Shackleford'] continues his productive senior season and led his group with a game-high 24 points. Nice flashes from 2027 Michael Jones-Lloyd with his activity around the rim and strong finishes to finish with 12 points and seven rebounds. As mentioned above, Morrison played hero to send the game into OT, but put forth a nice outing overall getting to his spots with balance and scoring 19 points on just eight attempts from the field.</p>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Haverford (PA) outlasts McDonogh (MD) in slugfest</h2>   <p>One of the more intriguing matchups outside of the Elite Showcase games lived up to the hype as Haverford outscored the Eagles 30-21 in the second half to win 63-59.</p>   <p>2026 Dillon Gamble did nice job of controlling things from the lead guard spot using his end-to-end speed for lay-ups or burst off the dribble in one-on-ones to get to his spots in the mid-range. Gamble scored 20 points on 7-of-9 shooting while dishing out a handful of assists. 2027 Silas Graham is one of the stock-rising juniors in the state of PA and showcased his well-rounded game represented 22 points, eight rebounds, four assists and two blocks. </p>   <p>2028 [player_tooltip player_id='2547346' first='Sonny' last='Moore'] had one of the most impressive games I've seen him since he entered high school by scoring 29 points and applying constant pressure to the Haverford defense with his ability to break down his man off the dribble. Versatile 2027 wing [player_tooltip player_id='2455425' first='Carlos' last='Ferguson'] went 7-of-10 from the field to account for 19 points and four rebounds. </p>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Wasatch (UT) uses their defense to suffocate Clinton Grace (MD)</h2>   <p>Wasatch used a combination of their size, defense, and forcing the game to be played in a half court setting in a dominant 50-29 win. They held the Eagles to just seven percent (1-of-15) from deep.</p>   <p>2026 Chidi Nwigwe was all over the rim in his 13-point, 6-rebound showing. Mariano Manciel (Stephen F. Austin) provided scoring from the guard spot, tying Nwigwe's 13. </p>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">St. James (VA) leaves Salisbury 2-0 with win over Lincoln Prep (CAN)</h2>   <p>Head coach Book Richardson leaves his first experience at Gov. Challenge with an unscathed 2-0 showing after Sunday night's commanding 90-66 win over Lincoln Prep (CAN). The Strivers got out in transition early and often </p>   <p>St. James had five players in double-figures led by 2027 [player_tooltip player_id='2353555' first='Malachi' last='Terrell'] who was on fire from deep in the first half and ended up finishing the game 4-of-6 from downtown, 11-of-15 overall. 2026 [player_tooltip player_id='2466505' first='Jahda' last='Swann'] was up next with 18 points and four assists followed by 2027 Judah Bontemps' 14 points and eight assists. 2027 [player_tooltip player_id='2458579' first='Jacoby' last='Briscoe'] notched 13 and 2026 [player_tooltip player_id='2027757' first='Joe' last='Nunez'] was good for 11.</p>   <p>For Lincoln Prep, 2026 Dauntay Tonary brought some intrigue with his size and skill as a stretch-four while leading the Huskies with 18 points. 2027 Alessandro Acosta-Reyes scored 17 points and hauled in six rebounds while the toughness of 2026 lead guard Jaylen Simmons stood out with a packed stat line of 17 points, six rebounds, and six assists. </p>

Day three of the 2025 Governors Challenge took place Sunday as all the games were hosted solely at the Civic Center. As new teams made their way to town, it allowed for more evaluations on prospects of all classes. Those individual breakdowns will continue to flow here through the end of the year, but for the immediate, here's the notebook from Sunday's action.