December 29, 2008
When a player is a great college prospect as a high school freshman, it’s interesting to see him play once-a-year to see how he develops: I had seen John Manning play for Chantilly, Virginia High School last season, and today I went back to see him play a second time. John Manning is wearing the white jersey number 54 in the 6 photos that appear in this story. John Manning was a star even as a 6-10 freshman last year (as a member of the high school Class of 2011). Now, he’s listed as 6-11, and who knows how tall he’ll get? I saw him play tonight when Chantilly High played at home against visiting West Springfield High. He’s on national recruiting lists and is a dominating shotblocker who has been watched by colleges for years in AAU (Amateur Athletic Union) off-season play. Chantilly High School is located near Dulles, Virginia and it’s 98 miles north of Charlottesville where I live.
In tonight’s game, he was unstoppable. To get to the point, he scored 19 points, hitting on 9 out of his 10 shots, and his team won 66-53 over West Springfield High of Springfield, Virginia. (The photo at the bottom left of this story shows the final score. The photo at the bottom right is of the larger scoreboard at the other end of the court, and was taken before the game started.) Both Chantilly High and West Springfield High are Group AAA schools: Group AAA schools are the largest in terms of enrollment in the state of Virginia. They are schools that have over 1,000 students. Chantilly High is one of the better teams in Group AAA and West Springfield is not considered a talented team.
So, the game was never in doubt. The loss dropped West Springfield’s record to 2-6, and extended Chantilly’s to 9-0. This game was in a tournament called the “Pohanka Chantilly Classic.” However, this was actually the closest game Chantilly had played this year! That itself was an interesting fact, considering that Chantilly’s goal is to win a state championship. After all, the “Washington Post” ranks Chantilly number 12 in it’s rankings of all of the high school teams in northern Virginia, Washington (DC), and southern Maryland! The only difference between the two teams was John Manning, and he played a perfect offensive game. Manning scored 15 points in the first half, as his team led 36-24. His coach substituted a lot in the second half, possibly because of the fact that the team would be playing several games in a short period of time.
