Looks like Lance Stephenson made the right move skipping his trip to Kansas this weekend for Late Night in the Phog in order to play with the Juice All-Stars in the is8 playoffs.
Stephenson, the 6-foot-5 combo guard out of Brooklyn Lincoln, dropped 30 points to go with seven assists and five rebounds as Juice knocked off New Heights, 85-78, in the second semifinal, according to NYHoops.com.
Juice meets the Playaz Seniors in Sunday’s 11 a.m. championship. Despite playing without Fordham commit Chris Gaston and St. Anthony star Dominic Cheek, the Playaz downed the Gauchos, 98-89. Cheek was on an official visit to Kansas.
Without them, Georgia Tech-bound Brian Oliver and Fordham-bound Lance Brown of Paterson Catholic scored 25 points apiece for the Playaz. Rice commit Tamir Jackson, another Paterson native who plays at St. Benedict’s, scored 19 points, while Robert Morris-bound Karon Abraham of Paterson Eastside tallied 17 points and six assists.
Durand Scott of Rice, who is considering UConn, PItt, Miami, Tennessee and UCLA, dropped in 32 points in a losing effort. West Virginia-bound big man Danny Jennings posted a double-double of 12 points and 12 boards for the Gauchos.
In the Juice-New Heights game, Karron Johnson, a 6-foot-7, 210-pound power forward from Mount Zion Academy in North Carolina who lists Seton Hall as his favorite, chipped in with 18 points for the winners. Current Lincoln and former St. Patrick of Elizabeth point guard Shaquille Stokes added 13 points and Darwin “Budda” Ellis added 11.
St. Anthony big men Derrick Williams (17 pts) and Devon Collier (15 pts, 12 rebs) led the way for New Heights.
**Meanwhile, the Daily News is reporting that Lance was recently arrested for an incident at his high school.
