Metro League Tues.: Winter Ball Date Made, Phil Lumpkin Honored, DJ Fenner Scouted

Well, this is awkward.

As Seattle Prep sealed their win at O'Dea last night, I spotted three girls gathered in the hall connecting the gym to the parking lot. They were all wearing t-shirts with two large letters on them. I saw one girl wearing an "NT," next to one with "ER," next to one with "BA." Each held a white card with a question mark on it.

Friend David and I discussed this in confusion until I pieced it together.

"Winter Ball!" I exclaimed. "The t-shirts combine to say 'Winter Ball.' But what do the cards say?"

"Will you go to winter ball with me," said David.

"Yes," I replied. "Yes, David, I will."

And that's how David and I ended up as O'Dea/Holy Names 2009 Winter Ball partners. Not sure what his wife is going to think, but he asked me and how could I say no? Any O'Dea students reading, please let me know where to buy tickets and especially where the afterparty is.

But I've started at the end of the game. Let me get back to the beginning.

This was the first game of O'Dea's season, and thus their first in 18 years without head coach Phil Lumpkin, who died unexpectedly last month at age 57. Commemoration was in order.

Several O'Dea students wore #10 Suns jerseys personalized with Lumpkin's name (Lumpkin played 34 games for the Suns in '75-'76).

Seattle Prep made a nice gesture when they came out for warmups--each player and coach held a white rose, which they deposited on Lumpkin's now-vacant courtside chair.

Among the hundreds of banners in O'Dea's gym, the five state hoops championships Lumpkin won

Fans were asked to observe a moment of silence in Lumpkin's honor before the game. We did so. We were told that the court would soon be named for Lumpkin. We applauded.

No pomp, no ostentation. A few words and then basketball. From what little I knew of the ostentation-less Phil Lumpkin, I think he would've approved.

Then it was time for high-school basketball. HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL!

We were most excited to see Prep freshman DJ Fenner, a D.C. kid who is one of the best hoops prospects in the nation for his age. Fenner, a 6'5" guard, started slow, as did the game. Tight man-to-man defense strangled both offenses. Fenner didn't hit a shot, and the score was 12-10 after one quarter. Thereafter, things opened up.

A word first about the crowd. O'Dea's always-creative student section shined during free throws. One student attempted to distract Prep's free throw shooters with a loud bird call. This worked only sporadically. The Irish fans had cooked up a special cheer for Prep's Serbian center Nikola Djokovic. "U-S-A! U-S-A!" they chanted. Prep's fans countered with "Ser-Bi-A. Ser-Bi-A!"

Now the game was moving. The 35-second shot clock, new to Washington high school basketball this year has made it so. With Fenner still struggling to find a rhythm (though he hit finally hit his first shot, a rise-and-fire three-pointer, with 6:55 left in the half), Prep sophomore forward Mitch Brewe began getting some buckets inside.

O'Dea's interior defense, severely compromised with by early foul trouble, had no answer. Prep forged a 30-25 lead at half. Meanwhile, O'Dea's Dustin Watts kept the Irish close. Watts would finish the night with 25 points, nearly 40% of O'Dea's total. Watts did most of his damage outside, it seems to me.

Fenner looked for his shot more in half two. He attempted more shots in the third quarter than in all of the first half.

Just 30 seconds in Fenner made a nice cut without the ball on the baseline, took a pass and exploded to the hoop for a layin.

A minute after that Fenner grabbed a pass in the lane and was fouled attempting a shot.

A minute after that Fenner took the ball on the wing, feinted a drive, stepped back and hit a jumper.

A minute after that Fenner received a pass at the top of the key and immediately rose to shoot a three. He swished it.

Two minutes after that, Fenner was involved in the most controversial play of the game. He missed a shot off the front rim, leading to an O'Dea run-out. But Fenner raced back down the court, catching up to the Irish player just as he rose for a layin. Fenner pinned the ball against the backboard. He also bodied the shooter into the two-row grandstand under the basket.

The ref correctly called Fenner for a foul, but inexplicably deemed it an intentional foul. An awful call, because Fenner not only was clearly going for the ball, he actually got the ball. Sure, it was a foul, but it wasn't even close to an intentional one. (Sometimes high school refs are confused by super-athletic players; Fenner was also called (by the same ref) for a totally unwarranted traveling call on a sweet drop-step to the basket.)

Seattle Prep's fans rightfully went nuts and head coach Mike Kelly stood mouth agape with his arms spread wide in disbelief. Less than a minute later, Fenner made a steal, drove baseline and attempted to dunk over an O'Dea player. The defender got enough body to misdirect the shot--he got nowhere near the ball. The Prep faithful mockingly called for an intentional foul call on the Irish. Of course, this wasn't an intentional foul either, but Fenner's defense at least got a piece of the ball.

Behind Fenner, who finished with 18 points, Prep pulled out to a nine-point lead. They seemed to have the game won. BUT THIS IS HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL!!! No lead is safe (especially with the new shot clock, which prevents the keep-away tactics we would've seen in this situation last year). The Irish charged back behind Watts' shooting and tied the score with less than four minutes to go.

But Prep put away the game on one of the strangest basketball shots I've ever seen. Prep guard Jackson Clough attemped to feed a pass into the post, but it was tipped up by an O'Dea player. The ball hit the side of the rim, then defied physics by spinning straight up and through the basket for a three-pointer.

Prep hit their free throws at the end, pulling away to win 71-64.

If every game I see this year is as fun as this one, it'll be a great year of Metro League Tuesdays. Join me sometime, will ya? (Here's the calendar of games).