No. 1 fits St. John’s

The team from Maryland
wins the Iolani Classic
championship

By Pat Bigold
Star-Bulletin

It was one of those nights when Damien Wilkins wished he could call his father.

But there was an 11:55 p.m. plane to catch back to Maryland and no time to waste after he won the MVP trophy for leading nationally top-ranked St. John's at Prospect Hall (Frederick, Md.) to its second straight Iolani Prep Basketball Classic championship.

Wilkins, a 6-foot-7 junior whose father, Gerald, plays for the Orlando Magic, scored 23 points last night in a 45-41 victory over the cinderella team of the classic, Provo High of Utah.

Dad scored only eight in a 99-88 loss to the New Jersey Nets yesterday.

"I talked to him before the tournament," said Damien. "He knew what I was up against and he gave me some advice on how to get the job done."

The advice -- whatever it was -- apparently was taken to heart.

"I think this was my best game of the tournament," said Wilkins, whose 13 points allowed the Vikings to keep pace with the upset-minded Provo team in the first half and take a 23-21 edge into the locker room at halftime.

The Bulldogs had knocked off two teams ranked nationally in the top 10 by USA Today in two nights last week -- No. 10 St. Joseph Notre Dame on Friday and No. 9 Miami Senior on Saturday. The 67-66 win against Miami snapped the Stingrays' 39-game win streak.

The back-to-back upsets earned previously unranked Provo a No. 18 ranking yesterday in the National Prep Poll.

"We played hard and executed down the stretch, and did what we had to do to get it done," said Wilkins.

"You got to think that this little team out of Utah has been knocking off nationally ranked teams -- they got all the edge in the world, nothing to lose and everything to gain."

This was by no means the same Provo team that lost in the Iolani Classic final to St. John's last year, 80-39.

Provo lost six seniors head coach Craig Drury rotated in and out of his starting lineup last year. Eric Jackson is the only regular who returned.

The Bulldogs' Jake Chrisman and the Vikings' D'Juan Neal traded baskets to open the game but Provo quickly took a 6-2 lead.

The momentum slowed when Jackson, the Bulldogs' top scorer, picked up his second foul with 1:37 left in the first quarter.

Wilkins' five points allowed the Vikings to take a 9-8 first-quarter edge.

"They played the post real tough, something I expected," said Wilkins. "Fortunately, we got the job done anyway."

Provo tied the game three times (19-19, 21-21 and 23-23) to start the second half. A 3-pointer by Chris Allphin briefly returned the lead to the Bulldogs, 26-25. But then two straight baskets by prep All-American Jason Capel put the Vikings ahead to stay.

"I think Provo is the high school equivalent of Princeton," said St. John's head coach Stu Vetter .

"Watch Princeton play -- they're top 25 and Provo deserves to be too. When they play against a North Carolina or Duke, they just play great because they play so smart. This Provo team is a tremendously intelligent team."

Laie-born Hala Kaufusi, who has Tongan ancestry, was high scorer for Provo with 12 points.

"That's a good basketball team we played, and that's why they won," said Drury.