Isaiah Briscoe

The 6-foot-3 Briscoe is the Rivals No. 16 player in the Class of 2015 and has been consistently recruited by Syracuse, Arizona and Florida, among others.

“With Ohio state and Indiana, me personally it’s an honor to hear from both of them,” George Briscoe told SNY.tv. “But secondly I wouldn’t be surprised if they make his top five down the road, both of them.

“Isaiah’s style of play, big point guard. I just wouldn’t count it out as them being in his top five down the road.”

He will also visit Florida in “late June,” his father said.

Briscoe averaged 15.1 points, 4.6 assists, 3.5 rebounds and 2.3 steals for the 32-2 Gray Bees and helped them reach the ESPN National High School Invitational final, losing to Montverde (Fla.) Academy.

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NEW YORK — When St. Benedict’s senior point guard and Syracuse recruit Tyler Ennis was left off the roster for the McDonald’s All-American Game, he took his frustrations out by dropping a school-record 53 points on Eastern (N.J.) High School the next day in a 116-65 victory.

Ennis didn’t go that far on Saturday at the Jordan Brand Classic, but he certainly proved his worth on the national stage, scoring 14 points on 6-for-13 shooting to go along with six assists, five rebounds, four steals and just one turnover but his East squad lost to the West, 102-98, in the Jordan Brand Classic at Barclays Center.

“Ever since that game went on or that game was picked, I wanted to come out and prove that I’m one of the top players and that I should’ve been picked for that game,” the 6-foot-2 Toronto, Ontario native said. “It’s kind of like a wake-up call that I have to go out and play and prove to everybody what I can really do.”

“I thought Tyler played really big, I thought he was the MVP,” said fellow countryman and CIA Bounce teammate Andrew Wiggins, the projected No. 1 pick in the 2014 NBA Draft.

Ennis’ play even impressed former Syracuse star Carmelo Anthony, who sat courtside.

“I like the guy that’s going to Syracuse, Ennis,” Anthony told SNY.tv. “He’s good. A lot of the young kids, they wouldn’t be here if they didn’t do what they was doing.”

Told that Ennis projects to be the starting point guard next year for the Orange, Anthony said:

“I hope so. We’re gonna see what [Syracuse coach Jim] Boeheim does. You know how Boeheim do sometimes.”

In a contest that featured far more defensive intensity than your typical All-Star game, Ennis showed basketball IQ and maturity beyond his years, which has been the norm for him. Of course, it also helps to be playing with several guys projected to go inside the top 10 in the 2014 NBA Draft.

Among them is projected No. 2 pick Julius Randle, who was on the receiving end of several Ennis drives through traffic.

“Tyler’s a great point guard, he gets to the spots and he makes the game easier on you because he gets you in your spots,” said Randle, who will have East teammate Andrew Harrison as his point guard at Kentucky beginning next season. “He makes the game easier and it was fun playing with him.”

Ennis, along with Wiggins, are part of the current wave of Canadian talent sweeping through American high schools and in many cases, to high-major colleges. At this point, Ennis has younger Canadian players looking up to him for advice, one of whom being Jamal Murray.

The 6-foot-4 point guard from the Class of 2016 impressed in Saturday’s International Game at the Jordan Brand Classic, finishing with 24 points and seven rebounds to take home team MVP honors for the White team.

While Wiggins is obviously the big name from North of the border, the legacy that Ennis has left for the kids following him cannot be discounted.

“Kids like that, I just wanna show them they can get to this level and with him playing in this game, I think it gives him a lot of confidence, especially with the MVP performance he put on,” Ennis said of Murray, who he said he has worked out with back home. “A lot of people didn’t know his name, some people knew a little bit about him. I told him to be aggressive and I know the talent level he has. He’s going to be a real good player in a couple of years.”

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NEW YORK -- In this interview from the Jordan Brand Classic, Syracuse-bound point guard Tyler Ennis of St. Benedict’s Prep talks about St. Ben’s run to the ESPN NHSI final, the Orange’s future, fellow Canadian Andrew Wiggins and Saturday’s Jordan Brand Classic.

**For the SNY.tv documentary on Ennis and his voyage from Canada to Newark, click here.

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Taylor will visit St. Bonaventure the last weekend in April and will then trip to La Salle the first weekend in May, CIA Bounce coach Tony McIntyre told SNY.tv.

He is also still considering Old Dominion, where he pledged in November before recently re-opening his recruitment following the coaching change.

Taylor was a key cog on a St. Benedict’s team that reached the ESPN NHSI final, where it lost to Montverde, 67-65, on Saturday. Taylor had five points and six rebounds in the game.

“He is a warrior,” St. Ben’s coach Mark Taylor previously told SNY.tv. “He is the guy who you win with. Even in our pickup games here, whichever team Denzell plays with, they find a way to win.

“He does a lot of things that go unnoticed that help you win. He has a constant motor, gets loose balls, blocks shots, sets screens, makes putbacks.

“He doesn’t require the basketball, which is a rare breed. He doesn’t pout, he just keeps going whether he touches the ball or not. In today’s game, that is a rare breed.”

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“Michael has informed me of his intention to enter the NBA Draft,” said Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim. “He’s coming off a tremendous season and we appreciate all he’s done for Syracuse basketball. We wish Michael the best of luck as he pursues a pro career.”

Carter-Williams started all 40 games for the Orange this season and finished fifth in assist average (7.3) and fourth in steals average (2.78) among Division I performers. He also averaged 11.9 points per game and a squad-best 35.2 minutes a game.

Carter-Williams probably helped his stock in the NCAA Tournament, going for 24 points in Syracuse’s win over No. 1 Indiana in the East Region semifinals.

DraftExpress.com projects him as the No. 12 pick in the Draft.

“He has really helped himself in the Tournament,” a veteran NBA scout told SNY.tv. “Great size for position, makes teammates better with his penetration and passing, improving his shooting. Very good using length and anticipation for steals. Great upside.”

Carter-Williams’ family home in Hamilton, Mass., also recently burned down, and going to the NBA will help him aid his family going forward.

Carter-Williams’ decision officially means that St. Benedict’s Prep floor general Tyler Ennis will take over the point guard duties when the Orange move to the ACC.

The 6-2 Ennis led his team to the ESPN NHSI championship game on Saturday, where he hit a huge clutch 3-pointer to put St. Ben’s up by one point with 12 seconds left.

Montverde answered with a 3-pointer at the buzzer to win the game and end Ennis’ tremendous career at the Newark school.

“I think he’s going to be pretty good, he’s pretty good,” Boeheim said in the locker room after Syracuse lost to Michigan Saturday in the national semifinals Saturday. “He’s a good player. I think we have a good group coming in. I think we’ll be fine.

“I think we got a really good player sitting out [Michael Gbinije], I think we’ve got some good players coming in, and I think we’ve got some really good players here.

“But next year is next year.”

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After losing back-to-back national championship games in 2011 and 2012, Boyle led Montverde (FL) Academy to a thrilling 67-65 victory over St. Benedict’s Prep in the ESPN National High School Invitational championship game at Georgetown Prep in North Bethesda, MD.

“It means so much…coming out here and winning a national championship,” Kentucky-bound big man Dakari Johnson, who played for Boyle as a freshman at St. Patrick when they lost the mythical national championship game to Bob Hurley and St. Anthony, said on ESPN after putting up 18 points and eight rebounds in the win.

“And I’m going to win a national championship at Kentucky next year.”

Boyle won five New Jersey Tournament of Champions titles at St. Patrick, but never a national championship there. He left the school following the 2010-11 season to come to Montverde, and Johnson soon followed.

Montverde (24-2) trailed by as many as 16 points in the second half but stormed back to outscore St. Benedict’s, 26- 16 in the fourth period. St. Ben’s (32-2) led 36-22 at the break.

After Syracuse-bound Tyler Ennis put St. Benedict’s up 65-64 with a 3-pointer with 11 seconds left, Florida signee Kasey Hill kicked the ball out to Jalyn Patterson, who won the game with a 3-pointer from the right wing.

It was Patterson’s first field goal of the day, and it won the championship for Montverde, which blew a huge second-half lead to Findlay Prep in last year’s final.

“Us hitting a trey to take a lead and them coming down to hit a three to win it at the buzzer – you couldn’t have scripted it any better,” said St. Benedict’s coach Mark Taylor, who has gone 67-5 in his two years at the school after taking over a 13-12 club. “Unfortunately, we came out on the wrong end today.

“I’m so proud of this team. They did everything we asked of the all year and more. I really felt we were going to win it when Tyler hit his three. I guess it just wasn’t meant to be.”

Hill finished with 19 points, six rebounds and five assists.

“He means so much,” Johnson said. “He was cramping up before we got here at McDonald’s, but I was just telling that him we gotta suck it up and win this national championship. And that’s what we did.”

Montverde won despite shooting 9-for-21 from the stripe, while St. Benedict’s went 15-for-24.

Despite a sprained right shoulder suffered on a first-haf collision with super sophomore Ben Simmons, Ennis finished with 15 points, six rebounds and five assists in his final high school game before becoming the starting point guard at Syracuse next season.

Pittsburgh-bound Mike Young scored a team-best 19 points and grabbed 11 boards for St. Benedict’s (31-2). Isaiah Briscoe added 11 points for the Gray Bees.

During this magical season for the Gray Bees, they snapped St. Anthony’s 83-game winning streak earlier this year and Findlay Prep’s 54-game streak in the semifinals.

A putback dunk by Simmons put Montverde up for the first time in the second half, 61-60, before Ennis answered with a floater in the lane for a 62-61 St. Benedict’s lead.

Johnson answered with three-point play to give Montverde the lead back at 64-62.

Then Ennis hit his three before Patterson ensure Boyle his elusive national championship.

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St. Benedict’s 60-57 victory in the semifinals at Georgetown Prep in North Bethesda, Md., sets up Saturday’s championship game against Montverde Academy, which earlier knocked off Prime Prep, 57-55.

The game will tip at 1 p.m. on ESPN.

Montverde is coached by former St. Patrick coach Kevin Boyle, whose teams used to play St. Benedict’s annually in New Jersey.

“Kevin and I have played a few times,” St. Benedict’s coach Mark Taylor told SNY.tv by phone. “He’s a great coach and they have a great program and a terrific team and it’s going to be fun.

“We’re very excited, we feel like we can play with anybody with right now and we’re playing at a very high level, so it’s gonna be exciting.’

Findlay Prep had won two straight NHSI titles, including last year’s come-from-behind win over Boyle and Montverde, and three of four NHSI crowns.

After leading by eight points after three periods, St. Benedict’s trailed 55-51 midway through the fourth.

Briscoe (14 points) hit a huge 3-pointer from the left corner and then a 2-point jumper to put the Gray Bees up 56-55. Briscoe later added a steal and a layup to make it 58-57, although he missed the free throw. Briscoe also came up with a loose ball under the Findlay Prep basket.

“I had sat him for a minute, I think he re-focused himself and he went off in the last three minutes,” Taylor said of Briscoe. “Just unbelievable.”

Young (10 points) grabbed a defensive rebound and hit two foul shots to make it 60-57 in favor of St. Benedict’s.

“Mike Young got an unbelievable big-time rebound and Mike hit two foul shots and that put us up three,” Taylor said.

Young later missed another foul shots that would’ve made it a four-point lead.

Washington-bound Nigel Williams-Goss missed a desperation 3-point shot at the buzzer. He finished with a game-best 20 points on 8-of-13 shooting.

Indiana commit Stanford Robinson had 13 points and Michigan State commit Gavin Schilling and UCLA-bound Allerik Freeman 10 each for Findlay (35-1)

Syracuse-bound point guard Tyler Ennis had 19 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists and Denzell Taylor added nine points and 12 rebounds as St. Benedict’s improved to 32-1 and will now play for its first NHSI title.

“St. Benedict’s is a great place with a lot of history so I just think everybody’s excited about it,” Taylor said.

St. Benedict’s will play for the championship on the same day that Ennis’ college team will meet Michigan in the national semifinals.

“I know we got a lot more work to do down there,” Ennis previously told SNY.tv. “Hopefully by Saturday night if we win the whole thing and if [Syracuse] ends up being in the championship, it’s either going to be a great day or a bad day for my basketball.”

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The 6-foot-2 Syracuse-bound Ennis will lead St. Benedict’s Prep into the ESPN National High School Invitational at Georgetown Prep in North Bethesda, Md. The No. 4 seed Gray Bees will face No. 5 La Lumiere on Thursday at 2 p.m. on ESPNU.

The semifinals are Friday and the championship game is Saturday, the same day Syracuse meets Michigan in a national semifinal in Atlanta.

“Hopefully, we beat Michigan and if we play Louisville again, we can get some revenge for the Big East Tournament,” Ennis said of Syracuse’s loss to the Cardinals in the Big East final.

As we reported earlier, Ennis figures to slot in as the starting point guard at Syracuse next season with Michael Carter-Williams likely headed to the NBA Draft lottery. Carter-Williams has elevated his level of play recently, going for 24 points in Syracuse’s win over No. 1 Indiana in the East Regional semifinal and 12 points, eight rebounds, six assists and five steals in the final against Marquette.

“I’ve been watching him all year doing the things he’s doing, the things he does good and the things he does bad,” Ennis said. “Pretty much I’m going to go in and play my game but learn from his mistakes as well.”

He believes playing at St. Benedict’s and with Andrew Wiggins and company on the CIA Bounce AAU team has prepared him for Syracuse and the ACC.

“For the last three years I’ve been playing with the best players in the country and you got Anthony Bennett going in the first round in the draft and he’s an NBA player, so pretty much those are the same people I’ve been playing with up until right now,” he said. “It will be an adjustment with the speed and the physicality of the players [in college], but basketball-wise I’m not worried about it.’

Asked if Ennis could replace Carter-Williams next season, Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim told SNY.tv, “He has to, he has to. He has to.”

While several players in the NHSI are competing in Wednesday’s McDonald’s All-American Game in Chicago, Ennis was snubbed for the game that will star Wiggins, Julius Randle, Jabari Parker, Aaron Gordon and the Harrison twins.

That could work out to his advantage, though, as he has had all week to practice and prepare with his team, which also includes Pittsburgh-bound forward Michael Young, Old Dominion commit Denzell Taylor and uncommitted sophomore guard Isaiah Briscoe.

“I don’t really use it as motivation,” Ennis said of the McDonald’s snub. “I’m not going to use it as a personal thing.”

Yeah, right.

If it all comes together for St. Benedict’s and Syracuse, Ennis could be celebrating big-time come Saturday night.

“I know we got a lot more work to do down there,” Ennis said. “Hopefully by Saturday night if we win the whole thing and if [Syracuse] ends up being in the championship, it’s either going to be a great day or a bad day for my basketball.”

ESPN NHSI Schedule

Quarterfinals: Thursday, April 4
Noon ET (ESPNU & WatchESPN): No. 3 Prime Prep (Texas) vs. No. 6 Blanche Ely (Fla.)
2 p.m. ET (ESPNU & WatchESPN): No. 4 St. Benedict’s Prep (N.J.) vs. No. 5 La Lumiere (Ind.)
4 p.m. ET (ESPNU & WatchESPN): No. 2 Montverde (Fla.) vs. No. 7 Oak Hill Academy (Va.)
6 p.m. ET (ESPNU & WatchESPN): No. 1 Findlay Prep (Nev.) vs. No. 8 Montrose Christian (Md.)

Semifinals: Friday, April 5
2:30 p.m. ET (ESPN2 & WatchESPN): Prime Prep/Blanche Ely winner vs. Montverde/Oak Hill winner
4:30 p.m. ET (ESPN2 & WatchESPN): St. Benedict’s/La Lumiere winner vs. Findlay/Montrose winner

Championship Game: Saturday, April 6
1 p.m. ET (ESPN & WatchESPN): Semifinal 1 winner vs. semifinal 2 winner

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In addition to defending NHSI Champion Findlay Prep, this year’s field features teams from seven different states, including Blanche Ely, Class 7A Champions from the Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA).

Here are the teams:

Findlay Prep, 34-0, No. 1 ESPN ranking

Montverde Academy (FL), 21-2, No. 2

Prime Prep (TX), 36-0, No. 4

St. Benedict’s Prep (NJ), 27-1, No. 5

La Lumiere (IN), 25-3, No. 8

Blanche Ely (FL), 27-1, No. 9

Oak Hill Academy (VA), 33-5, No. 19

Montrose Christian (MD), 19-4, 24-5

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The Gray Bees crushed Blair Academy, 93-47, to win their second straight New Jersey Prep Championship at St. Benedict’s. Blair handed St. Ben’s (26-1) its only loss of the season, 54-52, last month.

Ennis, who may well become the starting point guard for Syracuse next season when the Orange head to the ACC, led the barrage with a 28-point, 12-assist, 6-steal effort, while Pittsburgh commit Mike Young contributed 23 points and 10 rebounds.

Also scoring in double figures for coach Mark Taylor’s team were Isaiah Briscoe (14 points) Tyrell Green (12 points) and Old Domininon-bound forward Denzell Taylor (10), who also hauled in 12 boards.

“We were extremely focused tonight and relaxed,” Taylor told SNY.tv. “Our guys wanted to prove it was a mistake [losing] at our first meeting at Blair.

“Our guys are focused and when they defend like they did tonight, they become a special team and a major problem for whoever we play. I love this team as a group on and off the court. It’s a good group to go to war with.”

The Gray Bees now have several games before they hoped to be invited to the ESPN national high school championship in April.

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