Post by WVHoyasfan on Dec 20, 2011 0:07:40 GMT -5
Anybody know anything about this kid from virginia and if he is on the Hoyas radar?With his length he would fit right in with this bunch of guys that Gtown is recruiting.
YORK —— Elijah Moore is a rarity in Bay Rivers District boys basketball: a legitimate Division I prospect. Moore showed why on Monday with perhaps the best game of his prep career in Grafton's 62-55 win at defending champion Tabb.
Moore, a 6-foot-61/2 junior, led the Clippers (3-0, 3-0) with 23 points, nine rebounds, four blocks and four steals. And he did a more-than-credible defensive job guarding reigning district Player of the Year Shaq Rodney.
Rodney played pretty well himself, scoring 17 points to lead the Tigers (4-4, 3-4). But Moore, who made 9-of-13 shots – including four 3-pointers – against the Tabb zone, limited Rodney to 7-of-17 shooting.
"Elijah is just so long and athletic," Grafton coach Jeremy Jordan said. "He has a 6-foot-9 wing span, so he makes it tough to shoot over him.
"He did a good job of forcing Shaq to take tough shots, but Shaq made some tough shots."
Moore made some tough shots, several with the game on the line in the fourth quarter of high quality for both teams. But it is his tomahawk slam dunk on an alley-oop from Tyler McMillan that probably left the biggest impression among the large crowd at Tabb.
While two Tigers attempted to trap McMillan, Moore ran the baseline, gathered in the pass with his back to the basket and slammed it home with his right hand. That gave Grafton a nine-point lead, which Moore stretched to 36-26 with a free throw shortly thereafter.
"That's my first time," Moore said of the tomahawk. "Most of my dunks have come on the fast break.
"I pointed up and he made the pass. It felt good."
Too good for the Clippers, perhaps. Perhaps over-excited by Moore's dunk, the Clippers failed to score on their next seven possessions, turning the ball over five times and missing two shots.
Shaq pounced, leading a 10-0 Tabb run. He scored on an offensive rebound, filled the lane for a layup after a Tabb steal, then stopped and buried a jumper off of yet another Tigers steal.
Mitchell scored on a reverse layup following a Grafton turnover, before Tabb teammate Joe Nelson (16 points) hit two free throws to tie the game at 36-all late in the third quarter. With the score tied at 38-all early in the fourth quarter, Moore went to work, burying consecutive 3-pointers – including a tough one over Shaq's outstretched hands – to give Grafton a six-point lead.
The quality of play continued to sizzle as the teams combined to score seven consecutive baskets, a dizzying stretch that ended with Grafton ahead 51-48. Tabb blinked first, turning the ball over on consecutive possessions. Jesse Santiago and Kevin Barnes capitalized with consecutive baskets to push Grafton's lead to 55-48.
Nelson converted a steal to pull Tabb back to within five points. Moore retaliated with a layup on an inbound pass and Blake Ream scored on the break to give Grafton a 59-50 lead with just over a minute to play.
"We were playing like we do during the summer," Moore said of the frantic fourth-quarter pace. "I like that."
Said Jordan, "Elijah played with a very high rate of efficiency. He just took over."