Tyrone Johnson

Prime cuts: Talking big-time dunks and ‘Nova with Tyrone Johnson

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All Tyrone, all the time

One of our favorite players at the Primetime Shootout this past weekend was Montrose Christian point guard Tyrone Johnson, who was sensational in outclassing Findlay Prep’s Myck Kabongo in a Montrose rout.

Johnson, playing at home after transferring from Plainfield High School last year, played brilliantly on Saturday, tallying 25 points and eight assists as Montrose surprised everyone by bouncing back from an upset loss to Linden on Friday night with a 63-37 takedown of Findlay.

He was superb in general, but the lasting memory for everyone in attendance was Johnson’s ridiculous dunk in traffic over Findlay Prep’s Amir Garrett, sending the crowd at Kean University to its feet with a raucous celebration.

Terry Rains of Blue Devil Nation and I caught up with Johnson following the game and talked to him about his dunk, his matchup with Kabongo, how he prepares for games and what he’s working on before heading to Villanova next year.

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Primetime players, Saturday: Tyrone thrives, Findlay fizzles

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Victory From the first time I went to the Primetime Shootout — a young up-and-comer named LeBron James scored 52 points in Trenton — I was hooked. The tournament has always lured some of the best teams in the country, and it’s a great opportunity to get a handle on players you end up seeing at major college programs or in the pros.

(The tournament has hosted A-listers like Dwight Howard, Josh Smith, Kevin Durant and Carmelo Anthony in the past. I’ve personally seen Luol Deng, Nolan Smith, Ty Lawson, Trevor Ariza and Sebastian Telfair.)

The Mega Group did a great job as usual organizing the Shootout, attracting not only a cadre of top teams, but a host of notables at courtside: The infamous World Wide Wes, Kentucky czar John Calipari, Murder Inc producer Irv Gotti, and former NBA players Ron Harper and NJ prep legend Dajuan Wagner.

I was joined on Saturday and Sunday by Terry Rains, a contributor to SportsAngle and Blue Devil Nation. We’ll have some video interviews in the next day or so, but for now, here are some of our thoughts, starting with Saturday:

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