Tyler Roberson shines; St. Benedict's faces St. Anthony tonight (Syracuse basketball recruiting updates)

Roselle Catholic's Tyler Roberson (21) dishes the ball as Montverde's Devin Williams (5) defends during a game in the Hoops for Troops Classic held at Roselle, N.J.

This is a weekly series looking at the high school players who have signed to play for Syracuse University next season.

Tyler Roberson, 6-7 forward, Roselle Catholic, Union, N.J. – Roberson averaged 23.0 points, 20.5 rebounds and 5.0 blocks as Roselle Catholic won two games this past week to improve to 13-3 on the season.

Last Thursday, Roberson scored 27 points, grabbed 20 rebounds and blocked five shots in a 57-56 overtime win over Elizabeth (N.J.) High School. Roberson also hit a clutch 3-point shot with less than a minute to go in the overtime period.

Roselle Catholic, which is No. 5 in the Newark (N.J.) Star-Ledger’s Top 20 rankings, defeated Union 62-46 on Tuesday. Roberson had another spectular game, finishing with 19 points, 21 rebounds and five blocks. He’s now averaging 18.6 points and 10.7 rebounds per game this season.

Up next for Roselle Catholic is a game against Gill St. Bernard on Friday and another match-up with Top 10-ranked Linden on Tuesday. Roselle nipped Linden, 55-53, on Jan. 17.

Chinonso Obokoh, 6-9 forward/center, Bishop Kearney High School, Rochester, N.Y. – After missing a month earlier this season due to a strained ligament in his right foot, Obokoh missed three more games this past week after coming down with the flu.

Obokoh was so sick that he didn’t even make the trip with the rest of the Bishop Kearney team to the Dunk 4 Diabetes Shootout at Walsh University last Saturday and Sunday.

On Saturday, Bishop Kearney lost 80-76 in overtime to St. Edward High School of Lakewood, Ohio. Bishop Kearney trailed by 11 points with just under five minutes remaining, but rallied to tie the game. St. Edward pulled away in overtime.

On Sunday, Bishop Kearney lost to Hoover High of North Canton, Ohio, by the score of 70-57.

“It was disappointing for him to not be there,’’ Bishop Kearney coach Jon Boon said. “It might have been more disappointing for the people at the tournament who came to see him play.’’

Boon said he did not expect Obokoh to play against Rochester’s Marshall High School on Tuesday. “He’s still not feeling well,’’ Boon said.

Bishop Kearney will finish the regular season with five games in eight days, starting with Sunday’s game against Niagara Falls.

B.J. Johnson, 6-7, forward, Lower Merion High School, Ardmore, Pa. – Johnson helped Lower Merion to a pair of victories this past week, lifting the Aces' record to 17-2 on the season.

Johnson scored 19 points and grabbed seven rebounds in a 58-41 victory over Harriton last Friday. On Tuesday, Lower Merion blew out Marple Newtown by the score of 80-40. Johnson finished with 12 points and six rebounds in limited playing time during the rout.

Lower Merion (17-2) hosts Springfield (Delco) High on Friday night. It’s the final regular season home game for the Aces. Johnson is one of 10 seniors on the roster who will be honored before the game.

Ron Patterson, 6-3 guard, Brewster Academy, Wolfeboro, N.H. – Patterson scored a team-high 18 points to help Brewster to a 106-81 victory over Putnam Science on Wednesday. It was the third win over the week for Brewster.

Earlier in the week, Brewster defeated Kimball Union Academy, 80-48, on Friday and then whipped South Kent (Conn.) School 87-54 on Saturday. Patterson also scored a team-high 14 points in the win over South Kent.

Another Syracuse commit, Brewster junior Chris McCullough, averaged 11.0 points and 9.3 rebounds for the week.

This Saturday and Sunday, Brewster Academy will play in the National Prep School Shootout at Rhode Island College in Providence, R.I. Brewster will face St. Thomas More (Conn.) on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. On Sunday, Brewster plays Vermont Academy at noon.


Tyler Ennis, 6-2, guard, St. Benedict's Prep, Newark, N.J. – Ennis put together a sparkling all-around performance last Sunday as St. Benedict's defeated Germantown (Pa.) 85-58 in the Lehigh Valley Hoop Group Showcase in Allentown, Pa. The 6-2 guard scored 24 points, dished out nine assists, grabbed six rebounds and stole the ball five times.

On Wednesday, however, St. Benedict’s suffered an upset loss at the hands of Blair Academy. A Blair player hit a 3-point shot with 4 seconds left to hand St. Benedict’s a 54-52 loss. Ennis scored 14 points in the loss. It was St. Benedict’s first loss since last season – a 51-50 loss to St. Anthony’s on Jan. 1, 2012.

Ironically, St. Benedict’s next game is against St. Anthony on Friday.

St. Benedict’s is now 17-1 for the season and is fifth in the USA Today Super 25 boys basketball rankings. St. Anthony is 16-0 and ranked No. 4 in the USA Today poll.

The highly-anticipated tilt between two of the country’s top high school programs is at the Prudential Center in Newark. Game time is 8:15 p.m.

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