WASHINGTON -- Playing in last night's 25th Capital Classic at the MCI Center culminated a great day for Maine Central Prep's Kevin Braswell, who signed with Georgetown only a few hours earlier and was playing on a court where the Hoyas play many home games.
It also offered the former Lake Clifton star a chance to display a bit of one-upmanship over a couple of his former high school teammates as he helped the U.S. All-Stars to a 126-107 victory.
As a Lakers senior in 1997, Braswell starred with Michael King, who recently completed his freshman season at George Washington University alongside 1995 Lake Clifton graduate Shawnta Rogers.
Unlike Braswell, however, neither Rogers nor King was chosen to play in the Classic. The game will be televised at 7 p.m. tomorrow on Home Team Sports.
Braswell, 6 feet 2, finished with 12 second half-points, eight assists -- four of them for alley-oop dunks -- four rebounds and three steals. Expected to play primarily at shooting guard for the Hoyas, Braswell was five of eight from the field with two three-pointers, jumpers of 12 and 14 feet and a layup.
"I talked to Mike and Shawnta earlier today. They felt good about me playing in the game, and they told me to come out and do my thing. They were at the game, and they're waiting for me right now," said Braswell, who allowed only two points to be scored against him from the field.
"[Georgetown] Coach [John] Thompson said he likes the way I play, that he's going to put the ball in my hands. I tried to get everyone involved in the first half, so when I took my shots, they wouldn't get mad."
A late addition to the roster, Braswell averaged 21 points, nine rebounds and 4.3 assists as a senior, guiding Maine Central Prep Institute to a 35-0 record.
But his mother, Milicent Boone, missed all of that as she "couldn't see me play all year," at Maine, Braswell said. Boone and several friends were in the stands last night, and they had to be proud of Braswell, the first starter to be introduced.
Braswell did the small stuff, overcoming a shaky start that included two turnovers, by assisting on a dunk by 6-6 Duke-bound Corey Maggette of Illinois, who scored 13, and a jumper by 6-10 Notre Dame-bound Troy Murphy of New Jersey, who had 18 points, 21 rebounds and was the U.S team's Most Valuable Player. The efforts turned a 9-9 tie into a 13-9 lead which was never surrendered.
