An exciting Saturday afternoon led to another two days of some of the nation's best high school basketball at Springfield College's Blake Arena during this year's Hoophall Classic. Below are some brief highlights:

A snowstorm in Winchendon made for a shaky bus ride to Springfield for the Winchendon School team. Green Wave head coach Mike Byrnes used the opportunity for inspiration, putting the film “300” on the televisions.

“Before the game, I put the word ‘phalanx’ up on the board. They had never heard the word before,” Byrnes said. “I said, 'They have seven guys on their team, all ranked higher than everybody here.' I said, 'but we play with 12.' The Spartans came together in a phalanx, and they were able to overcome.”

That they did. The Green Wave downed Patterson, 81-70, behind 19 points each from UMass-bound Sampson Carter and Hofstra-bound Yves Jules (10 rebounds). Junior Preye Preboye, a transfer from Springfield Central, also put up a double-double (18 points, 10 rebounds), in his hometown return.

“I couldn’t sleep last night,” he laughed.

Patterson was led in scoring by Vincent Council (17 points) and got a double-double from Georgia State-bound Rashanti Harris (14 points, 11 rebounds).

In the first game of the third day, Tilton capitalized on its height advantage with UConn-bound forwards Alex Oriakhi (23 points, 17 rebounds) and Jamal McCoombs-McDaniel (33, nine). They easily dispatched Hotchkiss, 98-79, despite a 30-point effort from Derrick Wilson.

“I wanted to take advantage down low, so I didn’t want to take any jump shots,” Oriakhi said.

Gonzaga College got 24 points and eight rebounds from hot-handed junior guard Cedrick Lindsay, while Princeton-bound forward Ian Hummer added 17, in a 60-53 win over St. Mark’s. The Lions’ two highly touted Division 1 prospects – senior Erik Murphy (Florida) and junior Nate Lubick (Georgetown) combined for 24 points and 21 rebounds.

In the next game, DeMatha Catholic’s Tennessee-bound Josh Selby did a number from the floor, shooting 75 percent (12 of 15) and totaling 28 points as the Stags downed St. John Neumann-Maria Goretti, 88-71. Texas A&M-bound forward Naji Hibbert also added 17 points in the win. Wake Forest-bound guard Tony Chennault paced Neumann with 20 points.

Snow troubles prevented Brewster Academy from making it to Springfield; its last-minute replacement was the St. Lambert, Quebec-based Champlain, which was on its way back from a tournament at St. Thomas More in Connecticut. The play of Hargrave and its five scholarship athletes was too much to overcome, though, as they went on to win 91-57.

Worcester Academy took advantage of its size advantage over St. Andrew’s, using the presence of 6-foot-9 Vermont-bound forward Ben Crenca (10 points, 10 rebounds). The Hilltoppers beat St. Andrews, 79-64.

A packed house saw some of the country’s top seniors hold court, starting with St. Anthony (N.J.) versus Putnam City (Okla.). Memphis head coach John Calipari had a front row seat to watch Tigers commit Xavier Henry (24 points, seven rebounds) lead Putnam, but it was the Bob Hurley-coached Friars and Devon Collier (19 points, 10 rebounds) who won out, 58-50.

Next up was Hurley’s son, Dan, manning the St. Benedict’s sidelines, and he was able to make it a Hurley sweep with a 77-67 win over Wheeler (Ga.), thanks to double-doubles from Pitt-bound Lamar Patterson (19 points, 15 rebounds) and Texas commit Tristan Thompson (20, 13).

In arguably the most anticipated matchup of the tournament, DeMarcus Cousins and LeFlore (Ala.) took the floor against Lincoln (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and its much-hyped guard, 6-foot-6 senior Lance Stephenson. But it was Cousins, the No. 2 rated 2009 prospect on Rivals.com, that stole the show, getting 18 points and pulling down 20 boards (18 defensive). Stephenson ended up with 24, but needed a strong second half to get there. He had 20 in the second half after getting three fouls in the first.

Mater Dei and UNC-bound twins Travis (24 points) and David Wear (18) easily dispatched Whitney Young (Ill.), 86-61. Four Springfield schools closed out the tournament; Sci-Tech downed Putnam, 72-62, while Central beat Commerce in the nightcap, 61-49.

The All-Tournament Teams were as follows:

First Team

• Derrick Favors, Sr., South Atlanta/Atlanta, GA (Georgia Tech)
  
• Keith “Tiny” Gallon, Sr., Oak Hill Academy/Mouth of Wilson, VA (Oklahoma)
  
• Jamal Coombs-McDaniel, Sr., Tilton/Tilton, NH (UConn)
  
• Josh Selby, Jr., DeMatha Catholic/Hyattsville, MD (Tennessee)
  
• Travis Wear, Sr., Mater Dei/Santa Ana, CA (North Carolina)

Second Team

• Xavier Henry, Sr., Putnam City/Oklahoma City, OK (Memphis)
  
• Demarcus Cousins, Sr., LeFlore/Mobile, AL
  
• Lance Stephenson, Sr., Lincoln/Brooklyn, NY
  
• Alex Oriakhi, Sr., Tilton/Tilton, NH (UConn)
  
• Kenny Boynton, St., American Heritage/Plantation, FL (Florida)

Third Team

• Carson Desrosiers, Jr., Central Catholic/Lawrence, MA
  
• Preye Preboye, Sr., Winchendon/Winchendon, MA
  
• Devon Collier, Jr., St. Anthony/Jersey City, NJ
  
• Erik Murphy, Sr., St. Mark’s/Southborough, MA (Florida)
  
• Justin Jackson, Jr., Montverde/Montverde, FL