One of the few organized local tournaments on Long Island, the Rob Moore/Hempstead Village HS Classic, just completed it's sixth week of action.

Local D-2 and low D-1 coaches have a viable option for checking out some talent during this quiet period in which the tournament runs (until the championship game on August 13th). RM serves as an adequate measuring stick for HS hoops on the peninsula next year for many Nassau public (and a few Catholic) teams, but there are also a handful of standout players worth a peek. All games are played at the gymnasium in the Kennedy Park Recreation Center in Hempstead (located at 335 Greenwich St.) on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings. There are three games per evening: 6:15PM, 7:15PM and 8:15PM. Here is a rundown of the Week 6 main event game and some of the top performers of the week.

Game Of The Week: Uniondale Drops St. John The Baptist In The Battle Of Reigning (LI) Champs

Long Island's reigning kingpins from the 2008-09 season -Uniondale (Public AA) and St. John The Baptist (Catholic)- never had the chance to face each other in non-league action. When you factor in the graduation of key seniors from each championship team, trying to take a guess at who would've won that brawl is a shot in the dark. However, in this one time match-up of the two LI powerhouses, the new look Uniondale Knights got the best of the St. John The Baptist Cougars, 67-50, via a great display of defense and rebounding.

With both teams' lynchpin players -Devon McMillian of Uniondale and Joe Gibbons of SJB- in spectator mode due to injuries, the inactive lists were balanced early on.. 6'6 swingman Goey Charles would pick up where he left off in last week's tangle with Westbury by providing a majority of the Uniondale offense. However, his Bunky Reid All-Stars (AAU) teammate, Khaleev Ginyard, would reciprocate for SJB with typically hot shooting from mid and long range. Suffolk County's second leading three ball drainer last season was none other than the 5'8 Ginyard, and his Midas Touch showed no signs of rust for this rare match-up.

"I play AAU with (Gibbons and Ginyard) and we just got back from Las Vegas", said Uniondale's rising senior PG Bolade Akingboye. "So facing each other here, I expected great shooting from Khaleev."

Ginyard was also a super-pest on defense, but his hot shooting and hustle weren't enough strip Uniondale of their comfortable lead. Tight man defense from both teams lent itself to a three minute FG drought at the start of the second quarter, but Ginyard would again break loose and be the provider for SJB. Nonetheless, Uniondale would keep SJB at bay with a balanced scoring effort and when Ginyard went down with an ankle injury four seconds before halftime, the Catholic Champs' chances began to dim. Ginyard would not return in the second half.

Uniondale would throw a zone defense at SJB in the absence of Ginyard's zone busting three balls, and still managed to dominate the glass. SJB would cut the lead to as close as four points at the end of the third quarter, 48-44, but their failure to get offensive rebounds was compounded by the Knights' trademark defensive grit. Akingboye and Charles would turn their lock down defense into turnover points in the fourth quarter, and the reigning AA Champs had taken a double digit lead over their Catholic champ counterparts.

"We all play together in AAU, so to play against them (with our regular high school teams) is always big", Akingboye said.

Goey Charles led Uniondale with 17 points, while Bolade Akingboye displayed a lunch pail defensive effort and prudent passing to go along with 9 points. Khaleev Ginyard led St. John The Baptist with 17 points (all in the first half).

Westbury: 7-0 (clinched #1 seed)

Hempstead Salvation Army: 6-1

Baldwin: 5-1

Elmont, Uniondale & Valley Stream Central: 5-2

Stu Hicks- Manhasset HS

The 6'3 combo guard was the main catalyst in pulling #5 ranked Manhasset past #2 ranked Valley Stream Central after trailing the entire first half. With the exception of showing some athleticism via an early crowd-riling dunk, Hicks was dead silent until the second half. The rising senior then exploded in the third quarter, en route to 25 of his team high 27 points in a smorgasbord of ways. Threes, short jumpers, hustle-play tip ins and crafty reverse lay-ups were all a part of a solo flurry that ultimately gave Manhasset the momentum to scrape out a 59-57 win. Most importantly, Hicks iced two critical free throws with 14 seconds left to seal the game. Despite being Manhasset's lone true offensive threat, Hicks still involves his teammates by making the right pass at the right time and lets his offense come to him within the flow of the game. He is averaging just shy of 23 PPG, good for third in the tournament.

Sheldon Hagigal- Westbury HS

Similar to Hicks, the 6'0 combo guard overcame a slow start to ring up 11 of his 21 points in a third quarter that saw St. Dominic take a one point lead after trailing most of the first half. Hagigal's aggressiveness around the hoop and on the break held off a brief scare from St. Dom, and allowed Westbury to get out of striking range. Hagigal has a tendency to take things lightly at times, but when the game goes down to the wire, the rising junior plays like his life is on the line. Once he gets going, he's extremely difficult to stop. Westbury went on to trounce St. Dom, 81-54, behind a 28-9 fourth quarter and clinch the #1 seed in their division (with a 7-0 record) in the process.

- Shamoy McIntosh and Justin Wilson, Floral Park's high powered backcourt duo, are both rising juniors, not rising seniors.

- The Rob Moore Tournament championship game is Thursday August 13th , not Wednesday August 12th.