Four players from New York and New Jersey will play in the prestigious game March 31 in Columbus, Ohio.

Duke-bound guard Kyrie Irving of Elizabeth (N.J.) St. Patrick; Tennessee-bound forward Tobias Harris of Dix Hills (N.Y.) Half Hollow Hills West; Villanova-bound JayVaughn Pinkston of Brookyn Bishop Loughlin; and uncommitted guard and Queens, N.Y. native Doron Lamb of Oak Hill Academy have all been invited. Harris, on left, and Pinkston are pictured at left during their recent battle at the Big Apple Invitational.

Tristan Thompson, a forward who has signed with Texas and plays at Findlay (Nev.) Prep, was also selected. Thompson previously played at Newark (N.J.) St. Benedict’s Prep.

The official list won’t be released until Feb. 11 on ESPNU.

A year ago, three New York-area players were named McDonald’s All-Americans: Lance Stephenson of Brooklyn Lincoln (Cincinnati); Dominic Cheek of St. Anthony (Villanova); and Dexter Strickland of St. Patrick (North Carolina).

In 2008, Mike Rosario of St. Anthony (Rutgers,) Samardo Samuels of St. Benedict’s (Louisville), Kemba Walker of Rice (UConn) and Sylven Landesberg of Queens Holy Cross (Virginia) were selected.

FREE THROWS

St. Patrick junior Michael Gilchrist scored the winning basket with 2.1 seconds left Saturday night to lead the Celtics to a 68-66 victory ovre Joe Jackson and Memphis (Tenn.) White Station in the Newark Invitational. He finished with 29 points and 15 boards. Irving added 16 points. On Sunday, Irving scored 23 points and he and teammate Kevin Boyle Jr. combined to hit 9 of their team’s 10 3-pointers in a 75-58 win over Gil St. Bernard’s…St. Benedict’s followed a win Saturday over De La Salle in the Newark Invitational with a 52-50 win Sunday over previously unbeaten Plymouth (Pa.) Whitemarsh in the Lehigh Valley Hoop Group Showcase. The Gray Bees (17-1) received 16 points from Temple-bound Aaron Brown and 14 from Arizona commit Sidiki Johnson. St. Joe’s commit C.J. Aiken finished with 14 points and 7 blocks…In an 80-50 win over De La Salle in Newark, Rutgers-bound Gilvydas Biruta put up scored 15 points, 5 boards and 1 block, while Texas-bound guard Myck Kabongo tallied 19 points…Tyler Harris, the younger brother of Tobias Harris, has reclassified to the Class of 2012 and will spend a prep year in 2011-12 after finishing up at Half Hollow Hills West. His father, Torrel, says Tyler has grown eight inches in the last two years and could reach 6-10 or 6-11. Numerous high-major programs are after him…6-8 forward Ryan Rhoomes of Cardozo will also prep next year, possibly at South Kent (Conn.). Cardozo fell to Rice, 63-58 in OT, Saturday in the SNY Invitational title game.

Follow Adam Zagoria on Twitter.

“Let’s not lie about it,” said LuHi coach Brian Carey, whose team lost by 17 points to the Friars last year on Long Island. “This is a really important game. You come to the gym over here and you win here, this is really important. I don’t care if you’re Long Island Lutheran or St. Pat’s or anybody. Anybody that comes in here and gets a win, it’s important for you.”

Yocoubou, a 6-4 sophomore wing who played last year alongside Tyreke Evans at American (Pa.) Christian, looked like the best player in the game. He hit two 3-pointers and scored four of LuHi’s final six points, including a knifing reverse layup that put his team up 58-54.

“I knew if we played hard, we were going to win,” Yocoubou said. “Everybody stepped up.”

Harris, a 6-8 junior with a slew of major D-1 offers, tallied 11 points and eight rebounds while sitting out much of the second half with four fouls. Kevin Johnson added 13 points for Lutheran.

Elijah Carter paced the Friars with 13 points, Devon Collier added 12 and Villanova-bound wing Dominic Cheek scored 11 points.

“We had no consistent wing play, and one of our wing players was 1-for-10 from 3-point range,” Hurley said of Cheek.

Hurley, whose team must turn around and play Linden Thursday, promised major changes in the lineup, pointing out that the JV squad is undefeated.

“One of the things that needs to be done here is we’re about time for a shakeup,” Hurley said. “There’s an undefeated JV team. That’s part of the changing here because if you look today, I think we played 10 players. We gave 10 a chance to prove…I think of the entire group today I think Elijah Carter was really the only one that really earned minutes. And I think [Ashton] Pankey will start against Linden.”

Hurley added that he might even be looking forward to next year.

“If this year is now in a freefall, we’re not used to this,” Hurley said. “It is for us, it’s a freefall. Anybody observing this sees a total lack of poise. I’m playing seniors and we’re not playing very well…This is getting a little bit mysterious. I think we’d like to start maybe working on next year.”

LuHi trailed 32-26 when Harris picked up his fourth foul with 5:46 remaining.

The Long Island school still managed to go on a 19-9 spurt to take a 45-41 lead with Harris on the sideline.

Johnson hit two big shots down the stretch, a floater in the lane and a jumper to push LuHi’s lead to 54-48.

The Friars cut it to 58-57 on a 3-pointer by Carter with 1:07 remaining.

Harris hit two clutch free throws with 46.5 seconds left to extend the lead to 60-57.

Collier made 1-of-2 free throws with 16.7 seconds left to cut it to 60-58.

Tyler and Tobias Harris missed four straight free throws in the final 24 seconds, but Tobias redeemed himself with a block of Williams in the final seconds.

“Today wasn’t my best day and Ach picked us up,” Harris said. “That’s how we got the win.”

BOX SCORE

Long Island Lutheran (13-8)

Tobias Harris 3-4-11, Kevin Johnson 5-2-13, Derek Klein 3-1-8, Achraf Yocoubou 9-3-23, Shamar Stephen 0-0-0, EJ Parry 1-0-2, Tyler Harris 1-0-3. Totals: 22-10-60.

St. Anthony (18-4)

Dominic Cheek 5-0-11, Jamee Jackson 0-5-5, Ashton Pankey 4-0-8, Derrick Williams 1-1-3, Elijah Carter 4-3-13, Devon Collier 5-1-12, Devone McLeod 1-0-3, D’marcus Owens 1-0-2. Totals: 21-10-58.

RECRUITING NOTES

***Among the coaches on hand were Keith Booth of Maryland, Jared Grasso of Fordham and a coach from Georgia Tech.

***Yocoubou says UConn is his favorite school.

“Georgia Tech and Maryland are recruiting me. I like UConn the most,” Yocoubou said. “I went with [Tobias Harris] one time to Midnight Madness.”

***The Harris brothers went back to UConn Saturday for the Michigan game and Tobias said they enjoyed it.

“I like UConn a lot,” he said. “I like the way they play and I like the game.”

He said UConn is the only school that has offered both brothers.

“UConn is the only school that’s offered me and him,” Tobias said.

Tobias has a long list of schools including UConn, Tennessee, Louisville, Syracuse, Rutgers, Georgetown, Virginia, Maryland, Marquette, West Virginia, Wake Forest, Georgia Tech, St. John’s, Boston College, Notre Dame, Georgetown, Indiana and USC.

***Collier’s list includes UConn, Villanova, St. John’s, Wake Forest,Virginia, West Virginia, Marquette, Rutgers, Seton Hall and Fordham.

(Photos courtesy Robert White, NYHoops.com, Richard Orr)

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — Bob Hurley was prowling the sidelines in the gym at Springfield College, yelling at players so loudly his voice could easily be heard above the crowd.”

“You’re supposed to guard him,” Hurley shouted at his star player, Dominic Cheek, after the opposing team’s star, Xavier Henry, scored a basket. “Where were you?”

Dressed in tan slacks, a short-sleeved maroon shirt and a black Reebok vest with “St. Anthony Friars Basketball” emblazoned on it, Hurley, 61, had to periodically sit down and towel dry his head because of all the sweat he generated.

Read the full story here.

(Photo courtesy Richard Orr)

The Friars improved to 8-1 but arent blowing out opponents like they did last year when they featured six Division I players.

“We made a lot of mistakes so it really came down to who made fewer mistakes, them or us,” St. Anthony head coach Bob Hurley told the Jersey Journal.

“We’re still young and we haven’t yet worked it all out,” said Hurley.

Villanova-bound guard Dominic Cheek scored 22 points for the Friars and Quinnipiac commit Jamee Jackson added 16.

Eastside (0-4), which features Robert Morris-bound guard Karon Abraham, has yet to win its first game after reaching the Passaic County and North 1, Group 4 finals last year.

“Starting out like this, now I’m frustrated,” Abraham told The Record (NJ) of Hackensack. “I have to be a leader now.

“So I’m coming back and finishing my senior year strong

St. Anthony will get some frontcourt help mid-January when transfers Devon Collier, Ashton Pankey and Derrick Williams become eligible.

St. Patrick, the favorite to win the Tournament of Champions, also gets guard Kyrie Irving after 30 days. He will team up with North Carolina-bound guard Dexter Strickland to form what should be the top backcourt in the Garden State.

***St. Peter’s upset Don Bosco, 57-48, behind 22 points from Miles Davis.

***St. Benedict’s and St. Patrick are No. 3 and 4, respectively, in the latest PrepNation.com poll. Dan Hurley’s St. Benedict’s club has already won the Kreul Classic in Florida and the Gatorade International Championship in Puerto Rico, while Kevin Boyle’s St Pats team won the Beach Ball Classic and reached the final of City of Palms before falling to No. 1 Mater Dei. Highly touted sophomore forward Michael Gilchrist (pictured) erupted for 31 points and 14 rebounds in the Beach Ball final against Marietta (Ga.) Wheeler.

Rice is No. 21 in the PrepNation poll, while St. Anthony and Lincoln both dropped out.

Dominic Cheek officially declared his intention to attend Villanova University Friday at a press conference in Jersey City, choosing that school over defending NCAA champion Kansas.

The story was first reported by ZAGSBLOG early Friday morning.

Read the full story here.

***Check out the video above from the press conference taken by CUNY graduate students Collin Orcutt and Michael Preston.

***And see the stellar documentary on Cheek by those guys: “A Star Emerges from City Streets.”

After repeatedly powering his way to the basket and also showing his long-range shooting skills by draining a 3-pointer from two feet behind the line, the 6-foot-5, 220-pound Stephenson was named MVP of the game upon making 13 of 21 from the field. He entered averaging 34.3 points per game.

“He’s got the God-given body, and he’s blessed with quickness to go with it,” Duncanville coach Phil McNeely told the Dallas Morning News prior to the game. “That’s a deadly combination.”

Coach Self sat courtside with a Diet Coke. Stephenson says he is considering Kansas, Memphis, USC and St. John’s, and Self is clearly interested. Stephenson told the Star-Telegram he intended to attend college and not play overseas like Brandon Jennings.

“That’s not an option,” Stephenson said. “I’m just taking my time, and I will decide after the season in April.”

Stephenson’s parents, Bernadette and Stretch, were in the stands and the Lincoln coaches all looked very sharp in their dark blazers and crisp blue shirts.

Oklahoma State head coach Travis Ford and assistant Butch Pierre were also on hand watching future Cowboys Roger Franklin and Reger Dowell of Duncanville. Baylor coach Scott Drew was in the house to watch Perry Jones, a 6-10 junior power forward committed to Baylor.

Lincoln guard Darwin “Buddha” Ellis also played well.

Lincoln (3-1) lost its first game, while Duncanville improved to 7-2

Lincoln, No. 6 in the ESPN Rise Fab 50, overcame a 20-4 deficit to take 36-35 halftime lead on No. 10 Duncanville behind 17 points on 7-of-11 shooting from Stephenson.

Shawn Williams had 10 points for Duncanville at the break and Franklin and Julian Washburn scored eight each.

“[Lance] is a kid who can put the ball in the basket,” Lincoln coach Dwayne “Tiny” Morton told the Dallas Morning News.

“Lance is very aggressive on the court. I think a lot coaches would love to have a kid who could put ball in the hole the way he does.”

Duncanville outscored the Railsplitters 42-21 in the second half.

ESPN analyst Jimmy Dykes summed it up pretty well at halftime when talking about Lance.

“Every coach in the country will tell you he’s as talented as anybody in the Class of ’09,” he said. “Part of the question mark you have about Stephenson if you’re a college coach evaluating him is, How does he fit into a team setting? Sometimes a little bit selfish, maybe a little bit lackadaisical in his approach to the game.

“[Davidson coach] Bob McKillop tried to get it out of him for that USA Under 18 team. He couldn’t do it. Therefore [Lance] got cut.

“But there’s no question about it. That kid is as an elite a talent as there is in the Class of ’09. He’s big-time.”

STARTING FIVES (COURTESY DALLAS MORNING NEWS)

DUNCANVILLE
Shawn Williams, 6-7, G/F, Sr.
Perry Jones, 6-11, C, Sr.
Reger Dowell, 6-1, G, Sr.
Julian Washburn, 6-7, F, Jr.
Roger Franklin, 6-5, F, Sr.

LINCOLN
Lance Stephenson, 6-6, G/F, Sr.
Shaquille Stokes, 6-0, PG, So.
Darwin Ellis, 5-8, G, Sr.
Davon Walls, 6-6, F, Sr.
James Padgett, 6-8, C, Sr.

**

NOTES

Neither Kentucky signee Daniel Orton of Bishop McGuinness nor Memphis commit Xavier Henry of PUtnam (Ok.) City played in the first game between because of injury…Lincoln will appear on ESPN at least twice more this year…Three of the top 10 teams in the ESPN Rise poll are from the metropolitan area….No. 3 St. Patrick, No. 4 St. Benedict’s and No. 7 Lincoln.

**[Read the Rivals story I wrote on Cheek here].

Dominic Cheek will choose between Kansas and Villanova and will announce his decision Friday at a 6 o’clock press conference at the Golden Door Charter School in Jersey City, according to a report in the Jersey Journal.

“For six months I thought it was going to be Villanova or Kansas and I don’t think anything has changed,” St. Anthony coach Bob Hurley said Wednesday by phone. “The decision is being made by this kid.”

The 6-foot-5 Cheek, the No. 6 shooting guard in the Class of 2009, had initially included Memphis, Pittsburgh and Rutgers on his list but has apparently cut them.

Hurley said he plans to run a two-hour practice beginning at 3:30 on Friday and no announcement will be made until it’s over, probably around 6.

“I’m trying to take this basketball team and make sense out of it,” Hurley said. “We’re in season, we’re fighting for our lives.”

Cheek is suffering from tendonitis and is not currently practicing with the team.

Cheek has visited the Villanova campus on several occasions and is close friends with incoming freshman Maalik Wayns, who teamed with Cheek on the USA U-18 National Team that traveled last summer to Argentina.

“I’m just trying to get him to come, telling him how he’ll fit in and trying to convince him every day to come over with me,” Wayns said recently. “We talk every day, and most of the time it’s not even about ‘Nova because we’re close friends. If he decides to come, that would be a great thing.”

As for Kansas, the Jayhawks are the defending national champs and desperately need a wing player now that Xavier Henry of Oklahoma Putnam City has chosen Memphis over Kansas.

Cheek visited Kansas for “Late Night in the Phog,” when the team raised its national championship banner.

“Oh, Kansas that was a great experience,” Cheek said. “The place was sold out. Defending national champions. They put the banner up. It was crazy out there.”

HURLEY ON TAYLOR AND ROSARIO

Coach Hurley also commented on former players Tyshawn Taylor of Kansas and Mike Rosario of Rutgers.

On Taylor, the Big 12 Rookie of the Week: “I’ve seen every game because of the TV package. I talked to him on the phone the other night. He’s happy, he’s getting a chance to play. Coach [Bill] Self is kicking his behind and pushing him and he’s enjoying every minute of it.”

On Rosario, who said he was frustrated with his teammates after Sunday’s loss at home to Binghamton: “I spoke to him the other night after they lost and he’s lost more games already this year (three) than he’s lost in his last two years of high school (one) and he’ll lose more games by early January than he lost his whole high school varsity career (four), so it’s something you gotta deal with it.

“Everybody there, including him, they all have to work to get better. Everybody’s got to get better. The coaches got to get better, the players got to get better, they’ve got to get more players. They’ve got do do a million things that the teams that aren’t winning have to do.

“To watch them, they look like they’re playing hard but they’re just not there. They just need more players.”

DRUMMOND GETS RELEASES

Villanova has granted releases to Siena, Marist and Boston University to allow them to speak with Casiem Drummond about transferring. The 6-foot-10 Drummond announced his intentions to leave Villanova and will have one and a half years of eligibility remaining. He visited Marist this past weekend.