By Mitch Abramson
For Gladstone, it was an opportunity to expand his already burgeoning popularity and impress any college coaches who haven't already seen him. Gladstone has yet to pick a school but is considering attending either Brown or the University of Pennsylvania, among other schools. It can be tricky showing off your skills at exhibition games, but Gladstone made the most of his chance to play at the Garden.”It's not the best place to show your talents, but you try to do your best,” said Gladstone who finished with 8 points. “It's a chance to play in front of people who haven't seen you before, so you try to do your best.”His teammate at Cardozo, Vic Morris was also his teammate on the city team, which lost to the Suburban club 104-89. Morris wasn't overly concerned with trying to impress any college coaches or scouts. He's headed to Hofstra University after he attends Notre Dame Prep in Massachusetts. Morris' eyes lit up at the Garden. While a few players struggled to keep their nerves under control, Morris launched 3-pointers and laughed easily with the other players. He finished with 9 points on 4-of-11 shooting. When he was reminded that he was playing in his final high school game, Morris smiled and shrugged his shoulders.”I never thought of that,” he said. “Wow. I guess this is it.”Morris finished his career as the all-time leading scorer at Cardozo with 1,865 points, outstripping Charles Cranford's previous high. Morris averaged 24.8 points a game and was the motor that kept driving Cardozo's season. The last time Gladstone and Morris were at the Garden was during the Nike Super 6 January 16, when Cardozo upset the eventual city and state Catholic school champion Xavierian”It means a lot playing here,” Morris said. “It's a little hard to get in flow because you're constantly being subbed in and out, but it still feels good playing in a game like this. It's something you won't forget about.”Christ the King's Akeem Gooding probably took the loss in the Jordan Classic the hardest. A talented role player on the Royals, Gooding has yet to pick a college and is still doing his best to expand his pool of choices.”I was here to have fun, but I was also here to play well,” he said. “The chemistry just wasn't there. I wanted to win. I wanted to be serious and be impressive. At least I got to play at the Garden. I had never played here before.”Gooding charmed the crowd with his athleticism, tossing down an alley-oop from St. John's bound Ricky Torres (11 points) and playing tough defense.”I was just trying to play my game,” he said. “That's all you can do out here.”Reach reporter Mitch Abramson by E-mail at TimesLedger@aol.com or call 718-229-0300 Ext. 130.
