The New Hampton School took the championship at this weekend's Mercer Invitational Tournament hosted by the Hill School, defeating the Berkshire School, the host Hill, and then the Landon School in the final.
New Hampton's senior guard Jordan Laguerre took MVP honors, averaging just under 20 points per game on the weekend in 32-minute games played without a shot clock.
The tournament is just the latest in what has been a very strong start to the season for the UMass bound guard. Laguerre made an early commitment to UMass just prior to the beginning of this summer's live period and so his performances have tended to fly a little under the radar, but this is a guy who consistently outplays high-major prospects at virtually every stop and has the tools to be an impact addition in the Atlantic 10.
He opened his season by putting 23 points on one of the nation's top prep teams, Hargrave Military Academy, followed that up with 20 against Redemption Christian, 25 against Summit Prep, and 32 (along with 14 rebounds) against Winchendon.
While Laguerre's explosive quickness has always given him an innate ability to make plays with his dribble and score the ball, his game has become much more diversified within the last 15 months.
"He has improved tremendously in the last two years," says New Hampton coach Peter Hutchins. "Last year he was somewhat one dimensional. Now he's scoring in every which way and making so many plays for his teammates."
This weekend the only game in which Laguerre didn't top the 20-point plateau was in a blowout win over Hill in the semifinals in which he had 11 points but handfuls of assists.
"He didn't have to score because he was making plays for other guys," Hutchins said.
At UMass, Laguerre will join a dribble-drive system that appears tailor made for his game because his ability to create off the dribble is undeniable with his ability to distribute and make shots from the perimeter much improved within the last 15 months.
"I'm just so impressed with how he has progressed over the last two years," Hutchins said, "and from a scoring standpoint you would be hard pressed to find somebody who was distinctly better than he is."
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