Quinones flexes strength at Hoopfest

Quinones flexes strength at Hoopfest

By Robert Alfonso Jr.

TAMPA, FL – Lester Quinones has made the transition from the Big Apple to the Sunshine State seamlessly. His game and body is better for it.

The New York City native matriculated into IMG Academy to prepare himself for the next level: college life. Quinones knew is body needed to change in order to compete with the physicality of college basketball. A lot of that work was on full display in an 87-82 win over Montverde Academy CBD at th ARS Rescue Rooter National Hoopfest at Berkeley Prep on Friday in Tampa.

Quinones finished with a game-high 22 points by shooting g an efficient 8-for-15 from the field, including four three-pointers. He also had eight rebounds.

“Coming down here has really changing my body to get ready for the next level,” said Quinones who is a highly-toted recruit. “The strength trainer has really helped change my game by becoming a more dominante player and being stronger than the rest. It is a great transition getting used to being at the college level.”

College coaches are looking forward to getting Quinones on campus for a visit and eventually as a student-athlete. Memphis assistant coach Mike Miller was in attendance to watch Quinones’ performance, who has already taken official visits to LSU and Maryland. Quinones has three more official visits, per NCAA rules, before making a decision.

His final visits will be narrowed down from Memphis, Georgia, Miami and Michigan.

“All the schools are great situations,” said Quinones, who will sit with his parents and New Hights AAU team Oswald Cross. “Something has to stand out.”

Quinones is making sure he stands out on the hardwood.

Coming into the game Montverde executed the perfect scouting report. IMG was unable to get into its offense set. Many times IMG had to make a play with less than 10 seconds on the shot clock. This is when Quinones body skills and strength were on display.

The 6-foot-6 guard, of Dominican decent, went to work. He would hit the Eagles with a pull-up jumper, a three-pointer or simply just absorb the contact when attacking the rim. Quinones was just determined to help IMG walk away victorious.

“With 10-seconds on the shot clock whether it was myself or my teams, we all made plays,” he said. “My confidence is there to be a feeshman in college playing major minutes. Now, I’m more confident with my body and physicality.”

Another solid performer for IMG was Quinones backcourt mate Terrance Shannon Jr. Shannon is a 6-foot-6 guard who helped flex his muscle as well. He was relentless late in the second-half, which the Chicago native capitalized with a thunderous dunk. He finished with 21 points.

“TJ is my guy,” Quinones said. “We push each other in practice. We are being physical, in games it is hard to stop him. In the game it is hard to stop him when he’s driving down the lane and I’m in the corner. Having his athleticism at getting to the rim and my shooting both of us are very hard to stop.”

Huntington Prep 45, Berkeley Prep 43

AJ Hoggard was determined to get his Huntington Prep squad a victory. The 6-foot-4 junior guard was relentless on both ends of the floor. Whenever Huntington Prep needed a basket he delivered. If they needed a stop he intercepted a pass.

All this helped Huntington Prep get the victory as he secured the games MVP award scoring a team-high 13 points.

Berkeley Prep’s CJ Hawkins scored a game-high 16 points and eight rebounds. Senior Chase Barrs had a double-double (10 points, 11 rebounds). Kegan Karnes had 12 points.

Tampa Prep 50, Orlando Christian Prep 35

Gabriel Sharp scored a game-high 20 points to lead Tamp Prep in the opening game of Hoopfest. Jaren Phillips chipped in with 15 points.

OCP’s offense sputtered as it did not have a single player in double-figures. AJ Brown and Eric Butler scored seven points apiece.