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As Usual, Hillbrook Will Showcase Talent
Mills, Munlyn and Mustaf Invade Rupp Arena
While Christmas shoppers and University of Kentucky basketball fans venture to Lexington this weekend for last-minute shopping and the UKIT, another breed of person will also be treated, the high school roundball fanatic.
Starting at 9 a.m. this Saturday at Rupp Arena the fifth annual Hillbrook Classic, four contests featuring some of the nation's top prep hoop talent, are scheduled to take place.
The format is comprised of four in-state teams  Scott County, Mason County, Lexington Tales Creek and Lexington Lafayette  and four non-Kentucky teams  Macon Southwest (Macon, Ga.), DeMatha Catholic (Hyattsville, Md), South Aiken (Aiken. SC) and Romulus (Romulus, Mich.).
Nick Nicholas
Cats' Pause Columnist
"For the average basketball fan who just wants to see good high school basketball this is a good opportunity for them," said Donnie Harville, head basketball coach at Lexington Lafayette and director of the Hillbrook.
"There's probably two or three of these kids that are future first-round NBA draft choices," proclaimed Harville about the type of talent committed to play in the fifth annual event. "Mills is probably a no-miss; Munlyn can probably be and Mustaf is probably a no-miss as first-round draft choices. And possibly there could be some sleepers in there, too."
The three blue-chippers Harville mentioned are: Terry Mills, a 6-9 senior  Romulus; James Munlyn, a 6-11 senior  South Aiken; and Jerrod Mustaf, a 6-9 sophomore  DeMatha Catholic.
Both Mills and Munlyn signed during the November period. Unless you've been touring Russia the past two months, Mills chose to stay within the state borders  Michigan  instead of traveling south to play for the Kentucky Wildcats. Mills (along with J.R. Reid of Kempsville HS. Virginia Beach, Va. and Rex Chapman of Owensboro Apollo), is considered by many of the recruiting experts as the top prep player in the country.
"He's an unbelievable talent," Harville said. "I've seen him in a couple of camps and he 'is' that.
"Everybody in the country, I think, was recruiting Mills, obviously."
Georgia Tech, picked by many this preseason to win it all, added another feather to its cap by landing the services of Munlyn.
"Everybody in the ACC recruited him," noted Harville. "He's on many of the ail-American lists."
Tipping-off the Hillbrook will be Aiken against Tates Creek at 9 a.m., followed by: Macon Southwest against Lafayette, DeMatha versus Scott County and Romulus will take on Mason County in the finale.
Each game has something to offer, from the average hoop fan to those zealous basketball junkies.
In the initial game, Tates Creek, one of two local favorites will battle the South Aiken Thoroughbreds. Though Munlyn and Co. will be tough to stop, Tates Creek does have its share of battlers.
Six-foot senior guard Ben DeVary, 6-1 Brian Lane and 6-4 Clay Green are three reasons why the Commodores should challenge for the 11th Region title come March. Recently, in a 71-64 win over M C Napier in the Coal Classic at Hazard, Green connected for 25 points and grabbed 18 rebounds.
At presstime Tates Creek was 2-1, losing to Henry Clay 78-62 in the Commodores' third game of the '85:86 campaign.
The second contest will display the talents of Harville's Generals against perennial southern power Macon Southwest. Harville noted that Macon will "probably have two or three major college prospects."
Don Richardson is beginning his 16th season of coaching the Georgia prep school and has guided the Patriots to 344 wins including: a national title, five Georgia championships, two Georgia runner-up finishes, eight regional titles and 10 sub-regional championships.
Lafayette, which many people also feel are strong contenders to make the a run at the 11th Region crown, has three top caliber players of its own  senior Bruce Wise, 6-4 forward; junior Prince Stewart, 5-11 guard; and junior Marcus Hill, 5-11 guard.
It may be billed as the nation's best taking on Kentucky's best when the DeMatha Stags will be challenged by the Cardinals of Scott County in Saturday's third matchup.
"They are suppose to be 'THE' program in the country," said Harville in reference to the Maryland school.
However, DeMatha, ranked No. 1 in the country by some preseason polls, has already been upset by a Bluegrass squad this year. Hopkinsville, last year's state champs, knocked off the Stags 74-69 in overtime during the finals of the McDonald's Classic. The championship contest took place Dec. 7th in Erie, Pa.
Revenge may be on the minds of DeMatha.
DeMatha is led by Mustaf, a growing 6-10, 205-pound sophomore.
"He is suppose to be a phenominal talent," Harville said. "As a freshman last year he was 6-8 and you could see that he was bound for stardom. Of course, they're surrounded by some other folks that can play."
Scott County forward Frank Persley, a 6-4, 205-pound senior, will try to upstage DeMatha's Mustaf. Last season Persley helped his Cardinals to an outstanding 30-3 record.
Losing only two lettermen is another reason why Scott County is favored to take all the marbles in '86.
Romulus and Mason County will square off in the final game of the day. Mason County's main objective will be to stop Mills, while Romulus will have its eyes on junior sensation Deron Feldhaus. One of the best third-year players in the state, the 6-6, forward/center averaged 13.5 ppg for the Royals last year.
"Deron is a tremendous athlete," said Harville. "He's a very talented young man, and I think a lot of people are going to be recruiting him."
Wherever the Mason County Royals go it seems they're always followed by a large number of loyal supporters. Don't be suprised if this power from Region 10 has a better gathering than Tates Creek and Lafayette combined.
"Mason County, as we all know, has one of the best programs in the state of Kentucky," commented Harville.
So, there you have it. Although it's early in the season, the fifth annual Hillbrook is truly a showcase of some outstanding young talent.
In each game a team from the Commonwealth will take on a ballclub outside the Bluegrass area. Kentucky pride may be an incentive for the in-state teams and the crowd, which definitely wouldn't hurt the Hillbrook's success.
"A lot of people feel like these teams come in from various parts of the country and they get all this national recognition and everything," Harville said. "But I think they are beginning to find out that the toughest high school basketball competition in the world is right here in the Bluegrass. I think that's been proven. It's been proven here in the Hillbrook.
A good indication of the Kentucky talent, according to Harville, is powerful DeMatha has lost twice in the Hillbrook to area teams while winning for the first time last season.
"I think they (nationally) are beginning to find out that this is the hotbed of high school basketball," said a confident and proud Kentucky prep coach. "And this particular event is the feature of that hotbed basketball.
"It gives us (Kentucky teams) a chance to show our talent. We don't get a lot of that outside recognition or national recognition. This is an opportunity for us to do that."
Hillbrook Classic Schedule Saturday, December 21, 1985 Rupp Arena
GAME 1 9:00 a.m. South Aiken vs Tates Creek
GAME 2 10:45 a.m. Macon Southwest vs Lafayette
GAME 3 12:30 p.m. DeMatha vs Scott County
GAME 4 2:15 p.m. Romulus vs Mason Conty
HILLBROOK TIDBITS: Tickets for the Hillbrook are now on sale at the Rupp Arena ticket office. Prices range from $8, $6 and $4 for reserved seating in the lower level, while a $2 charge is for general admission in the upper deck. . .After the 9 a.m. opener the three other games will follow at 10:45 a.m., 12:30 p.m. and 2:15 p.m. Harville noted that the ticket sales "have been going good. We've been averaging 14,000 to 15,000 and we're hoping that we can do a little better than that this time around.". . .Asked if the attendance would have been better if Terry Mills had signed with Kentucky, Harville nodded yes, "but I think the people in Kentucky and around Lexington appreciate basketball, period. They want to see good basketball and I don't think it will affect our gate that much.". . The reason the Hillbrook doesn't have Apollo and future Kentucky Wildcat Rex Chapman is that the western Kentucky school is playing in the King of the Bluegrass the same weekend. . .Besides all the talent in the matchup between DeMatha-Scott County, the game features two coaches who combined have won more than 1,000 games at their respective schools. Morgan Wooten has guided DeMatha for 30 seasons and has recorded an unblievable 792-106 win-loss slate. Five national titles have been won while Wooten was calling the shots, including his most recent championship in 1983. It's interesting to note that while under Wooten's tenure at DaMatha, the Stags have had more college players than any other prep institution in the nation. Scott County is coached by the popular Everette "Mutt" Varney. Varney has produced a record of 288-122 during 14 seasons for the Cardinals. Though he's won two regional titles, this may be the year where his squad can win it all. . The first year the Hillbrook was held it was played at Lexington's Memorial Coliseum, while Rupp Arena hosted the second, third and fourth annual Hillbrook games. . .Playing at Rupp Arena has its advantages, especially since the players stay nearby at the Radisson Hotel. When the Hillbrook was played at the coliseum the players had to be transported back and forth from where they were residing, the Downtowner. Now, the players are just a 'hop-and-a-skip' away from the court. . .All eight teams will be given tickets to the UKIT on Friday and Saturday evening. Scheduling the Hillbrook with the UKIT was a big consideration in having the prep event. Said Harville,"(We wanted) to give these teams an opportunity to come in here and see a UK basketball game and get involved with the hoopla and everything, (hoping) that it would really generate some more interest for Kentucky basketball. To see high school basketball and then to see the interest involved in the University of Kentucky's program (would help) the basketball atmosphere in the state of Kentucky. It's worked out real well for us. The kids really get excited. . .a lot of them never see a college game."