When summer workouts begin and St. John’s coach Steve Lavin’s renowned nine-man recruiting class comes together, there is sure to be some talk about the prestigious iS8/Nike Spring High School Classic. Sir’Dominic Pointer, the bouncy 6-foot-5 combo forward out of Quality Education (N.C.), will have all the bragging rights.
Not only did he have 12 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Sean Bell All-Stars to a 71-60 win over future teammates Maurice Harkless, D’Angelo Harrison and Jakarr Sampson of Real Scout in the tournament final yesterday in South Jamaica, Queens. He also had a memorable right-handed slam squarely over Sampson that brought the capacity crowd to its feet.
“I’m going to remind him [about it],” Pointer joked.
Pointer had help from MVP Josiah Turner, his teammate at Quality Education headed for Arizona in the fall. Outplaying counterpart Tavon Sledge, an Iowa State-bound point guard, Turner had 16 points and seven assists. He gave Sean Bell the lead for good with a spinning right-handed layup in the lane to close the third quarter and controlled tempo the entire way.
“I never played in a tournament like this,” said Turner, the third-ranked point guard in the Class of 2011 by Scout.com. “It was a good experience playing against New York guards.”
All-American Khem Birch, a Pittsburgh recruit, added nine points for Sean Bell, while Harrison had 13 points, eight steals and six assists for Real Scout, P.J. Torres had 15 points and Sampson notched nine points and seven rebounds.
Harkless, limited to three points because of a sore right ankle, and Sampson developed a bond over the last six weeks teaming together in the 60-team tournament that draws nationwide talent. They got to know Harrison, who flew in for the weekend from Texas.
“It’s a tournament that helps you get ready for college because the competition is crazy,” Sampson said. “It was a good experience playing with D’Angelo, getting to know him, getting to know his playing style. So we can come in and just play right away.”