Palestra hosts stars of tomorrow

Most people who know about the Palestra know it for its college basketball. Look around, though, and you'll find that there's an impressive history of high school hoops on 33rd Street as well.

The names and faces of players who graced the famous floor can be found on one of the wall panels along the north side of the concourse, and the roster is truly impressive -- from Wilt Chamberlain and Ernie Beck to Rasheed Wallace and Kobe Bryant.

Last night, the Palestra welcomed a new set of high school stars, as four of the area's top teams squared off in a doubleheader.

The first game was between American Christian School, located in Aston, Pa., and Prep Charter from South Philadelphia. It was mainly about ACS sophomore guard Tyreke Evans, touted by the evening's promoters as the "nation's No. 1-ranked 10th grader."

Evans lived up to the hype, recording 30 points, eight rebounds, three assists and three blocks in a 72-65 win.

Of course, this being the Palestra, it shouldn't be surprising that Prep Charter made a late run to cut a double-digit ACS lead to six with under two minutes remaining.

The second game was the one that most of the nearly 5,500 in attendance came to see -- Episcopal Academy, from Merion, Pa., against another South Philly powerhouse, Neumann-Goretti. ESPN2 was on hand for the occasion, making this the first-ever nationally televised game between two Philadelphia-area high schools.

Episcopal is known mainly for its two senior forwards, Gerald Henderson and Wayne Ellington. They will be on the floor together again in college, but under far different circumstances -- Henderson is going to Duke and Ellington to North Carolina. Episcopal center Mike Yocum, heading to Albany, can dominate a game as well.

Four of the Neumann-Goretti starters last night could also be headed for the big stage. Guard D.J. Rivera has committed to Saint Joseph's, and center Rick Jackson and guard Scoop Jardine, both juniors, have committed to play for Syracuse.

Episcopal led for almost the entire game, but Neumann-Goretti came charging back to cut the deficit to 63-62 with 28 seconds remaining. With the black-and-gold half of the Palestra on its feet, Ellington, at the free-throw line for Episcopal, missed the front-end of a one-and-one. Rivera made a layup at the other end to give the Saints the lead for the first time all night, 64-63.

Ellington then missed two more free throws, and Pettis got the rebound. He was fouled and also missed the front end of a one-and-one, which Yocum rebounded without any Saints players standing along the lane boundary.

After Yocum called timeout with nine seconds remaining, Ellington took the inbounds pass all the way down the floor himself, dribbled past two Neumann defenders and hit a 12-foot floater. That brought a roar worthy of anything the Big 5 could produce.

Yocum intercepted the long inbound pass and the Episcopal students rushed the floor to celebrate.

"It was one of the best experiences of my life -- I'm going to remember this forever," Ellington said. "Playing in front of our fans, being on national TV, it doesn't get any better for a high school player."

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