Thursday, February 02, 2006
1/28 - Sun - "DaJuan Summers can beat teams by driving to the basket or taking jumpers"
I missed this story from a few days ago, but it appears that Summers has the kind of skills that will fit the Princeton offense pretty well.
The Baltimore Sun
January 28, 2006
McDonogh upsets St. Frances Boys basketball
Todd Karpovich
McDonogh senior DaJuan Summers can beat teams by driving to the basket or taking jumpers from outside the paint. Yesterday, he did both.
Summers was a major force in helping the No. 12 Eagles to a 53-48 upset of No. 3 St. Frances in a Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference game. Summers finished with a game-high 19 points and 11 rebounds as the host Panthers had trouble matching up with the 6-foot-8 forward.
"I usually just come out and see how the defense is playing me," said Summers, who was last year's All-Metro Player of the Year and has signed with Georgetown. "They were playing a zone, so I just hit my jump shots early. Once they went man [to-man], I took it inside."
The Eagles (13-8, 6-4) took control early, opening a 27-13 lead late in the first half. St. Frances had trouble finding any rhythm, committed seven turnovers and made only four of 16 shots.
Panthers coach William Wells said part of the problem was that he had only six players healthy enough to practice on Thursday. He also said his team did not match McDonogh's intensity.
"McDonogh is a tough team, and they came down here to beat us," Wells said. "We are a much better team than how we played. We played real soft. That is what happens when you don't put your heart on the floor."
After trailing by double figures for most of the game, St. Frances (17-7, 6-5) cut the margin to seven with four minutes left. But McDonogh settled down and made seven of 10 free-throw attempts in the final three minutes to close out the win.
Brandon Herbert also had a big game for the Eagles with 14 points and six rebounds.
"The kids really buckled down, played unselfish and gutted out a win," McDonogh coach Donta Evans said. "We knew they would come at us in the third and fourth quarter, and fortunately, we were able to hold them off."
