(5) Rivers School defeats (1) Millbrook School

In the NEPSAC Class B semifinals, Rivers traveled all the way to New York to play Millbrook and stunned them in their own gym with a dominant victory. This one was close for some of the first half before Rivers' offensive firepower was too much for Millbrook to keep up with. Rivers moves onto the finals.   Here are my standouts.    Alekseyenko was dominant in the semifinals for Rivers, as he was in the quarterfinals. I called him “baby Jokic” a while back and he had a Jokic-esque game against Millbrook; he was finding backdoor cutters for beautiful feeds and used his power to move around players in the paint for easy post finishes. He also showcased a couple really nice turnaround/fadeaway shots in the post that I haven't seen him take before. As always, he was fun to watch creating out of the dribble and using his solid handle to get by bigger players. He plays at his own pace – and it's a slow pace – but you can't speed him up and he still manages to get the job done.     Altman just does absolutely everything on the basketball court. Literally. Score, pass, defend, rebound, hustle, and anything else you can think of. He was extra aggressive getting to the paint and finishing, as well as looking for his mid-range jumper and floaters from a little farther out against Millbrook. I especially loved how he used his body against smaller players in the post to get to his spots and rise up for easy shots. Defensively, Altman was a menace in the passing lanes and completely shut down Zoumana Traore. He does all of the little things and is going to be quite a pleasant surprise for his coaches at Penn next year. He's just a winner.     Schwartz is a true role player. He's never asked to do too much offensively besides cut away from the ball and move it quickly when it comes to him – he did a great job of both of those against Millbrook. The senior guard is a very smart cutter and understands how to slash into the lane when his defender isn't looking, and he also always makes the simple, right play. Defensively, he makes extra efforts again and again and really understands how to rotate on the weak side. He probably doesn't get the credit he deserves for what he brings to this Rivers squad.     I cannot believe Costello is a freshman. The 6-foot-4 wing is coordinated and agile for his size/age and can really shoot it from the outside – he has a beautiful-looking stroke, nice footwork, and confidence. He also uses his body well and has some solid hops when it comes to attacking the lane. He has so much time to keep figuring out what type of player he is, but right now Costello can do a little bit of everything. Any level of college basketball is on the table for someone this young and with this much potential, both skill wise and athletically.     I really enjoy watching Garcia play the game. He's so solid with the ball in his hands and is a nice table-setter for Millbrook; he can handle it well but also looks for his own offense. He gets into the lane consistently and either finds enough room to get off his floater – which is very accurate and effective – or dime up teammates for easy layups/threes. He's also a knockdown shooter from the outside and had some really heady cuts to the rim when his defender fell asleep. He'll be perfect at NYU next year and will have a heck of a career there if I had to guess.

In the NEPSAC Class B semifinals, Rivers traveled all the way to New York to play Millbrook and stunned them in their own gym with a dominant victory. This one was close for some of the first half before Rivers' offensive firepower was too much for Millbrook to keep up with. Rivers moves onto the finals.