Prep power Mountain State faces Red Devils in marquee game

Published 3:06 am Thursday, December 18, 2008

The first annual Ironton Classic basketball showcase Dec. 22-23 at the Ironton Sports Center features 11 teams from four states.

Here is the fourth game at 9 p.m. on Monday, Dec.22

Mountain State Falcons

Email newsletter signup

Head coach: Rob Fulford. Assistants: Phil Miron, Arkell Bruce, Lazar Milinkovic

Enrollment: 102

Colors: Blue and orange

Last season: 37-5

Preview: Ranked No. 33 in the ESPN Fab 50 preseason poll, the Falcons already have several verbal commitments including 6-3 point guard Noah Cottrill, ranked the No. 10 point guard by Rivals and Scout.com. He committed to West Virginia as a freshman and averaged 31.98 points per game last year at Poca High School.

Other standouts include:

Vandeer Joaquim, 6-10, No. 12 center by Scout.com, No. 14 by Rivals.com. He has signed with Nebraska. He played on the Angolan national team and was selected to play last year in the Olympics.

Deniz Kilicli, a 6-9 power forward, rated No. 14 by ESPN and the No. 44 player overall in the country. A member of the 18U Turkish national team, he has signed to play for WVU.

Jabs Newby, a 6-1 guard from Toronto, is being recruited by Marshall, St. Bonaventure, Wisconsin-Green Bay, Nebraska, Fresno State, and Duquesne.

Kofi Mensa, a 6-4 guard, being recruited by WVU, Marshall, Wake Forest, N.C. State, Virginia Tech, Oklahoma, Akron and Kentucky. Has been out due to an illness.

Campbell Memorial Red Devils

Head coach: Brian Danilov. Assistants: Damon Williams, Anthony Venable

Enrollment: 645

Colors: Red and white

Last season: 24-5

History: The Red Devils were state champions in 1994 to highlight a strong program under Danilov. They have won 12 sectional titles and reached the regional finals eight times including last season when they were regional runners-up.

Preview: Most of the starters return from last season and the team has enough depth than any of eight different players could be in the starting lineup.

Jere’me Williams, a 6-foot junior, returns as point guard and averaged 16points last season. The center is 6-3 Germaine Somarjit who average 7.0 last year. The other guard figures to be 5-11 sophomore Claxton Lebron with the forwards 6-2 Joseph Little-Horton and 6-foot Dorian Jones, both seniors.

The Ironton Classic

At The Conley Sports Center

Monday Dec. 22

3 p.m. — Largo, MD., vs. Columbus Walnut Ridge

5 p.m. — Chesapeake vs. Huntington, W.Va.

7 p.m. — Ironton vs. Russell, Ky.

9 p.m. — Mountain State (W.Va.) Academy vs. Campbell Memorial

Tuesday, Dec. 23

5 p.m. — Ironton St. Joseph vs. Racine Southern

7 p.m. — Campbell Memorial vs. Largo, MD.

9 p.m. — Columbus Brookhaven vs. Ironton