For those of you who come by this site looking for some CIS chatter, allow me to plant a couple of names you should bookmark in your brain for a couple of years.

The fourth annual Brandon Sun Spartan Invitational high school boys tournament wrapped up on Saturday and it was a pair of underclassmen who made some big noise on the final day.

• Grade 10 Dakota Collegiate (Winnipeg) guard Phillip Labongo flashed a skill set well beyond his years and led his Lancers into the championship final on his way to a tournament all-star nod. Labongo showed a pure jump shot, a great hesitation step, and an ability to consistently stick the step-back jumper. What was more impressive to see, however, was a 15-year-old who could rise up over defenders to get the shots he wanted. When defenders got up on him on the perimeter, he was still able to create space by simply going over top of them and that’s something you don’t see too often from a player that age. You have to figure as well that he still could add a few more inches on to his 6-foot-2 frame and then he’ll be even more deadly. Him in Grade 12 is a frightening thought for opposition.

• Grade 11 guard Jarred Ogungbemi-Jackson of Garden City Collegiate (Winnipeg) saved the finest performance of the tournament for the biggest game. Ogungbemi-Jackson hit nine three-pointers — five in the third quarter alone — and set a tournament record with 46 points in roughly 32 minutes of play as the Fighting Gophers won their first BSSI title. Ogungbemi-Jackson has next-level handles already and a number of times over the weekend elicited growns and moans from the crowd when he broke someone off the dribble. At just 5-foot-9, Ogungbemi-Jackson would normally be watched with caution from recruiters, but his abilities are more than enough for you to discount the size factor. Despite being small, he still has a tremendous ability to hit shots over defenders and he’s not shy of going in traffic. Also of note, is Ogungbemi-Jackson’s character. After sitting for the first seven minutes of the fourth quarter (four fouls plus a gigantic Garden City lead), Ogungbemi-Jackson was re-inserted into the lineup with a legitimate chance of scoring 50 and adding to the 44 he had already dropped. Instead, he called off the dogs on his own, getting other players involved and turning down shots he most certainly would have taken if the game was closer. Head coach Phil Penner was quick to talk about his player’s maturity off the court despite the fact everyone was struck by what he was doing on it.

“He’s a very special kid and I don’t mean just about basketball,” he told the Brandon Sun. “He’s one of the nicest kids you’ll ever meet and I would say the hardest worker I’ve ever had to coach and maybe the hardest working kid I’ve ever seen. They used to talk about (former Brandon Bobcat) Dave Nackoney, a guy I played with in high school, as one of the hardest workers ever and he’s taken it to that level, if not more.”’

Resonating words, to be sure.

• Coming out of high school in 2008 will be another player who should garner a lot of attention from universities. If he plays basketball, that is.

Six-foot-eight Miles MacDonnell (Winnipeg) forward Dan Penner was outstanding all weekend long averaging some 26 points per game over five contests. Penner is also an accomplished volleyball player but if his decision is to play basketball, he’ll be a hot commodity and one of the best graduating players in Winnipeg this year.

• Not sure where he’ll end up but Churchill Trojans (Thunder Bay, Ont.) forward Matt Schmidt should find himself playing university ball next season, as well. Schmidt is a 6-foot-7 forward who reportedly has interest in Brandon while also being pursued by his hometown school, Lakehead. Schmidt wasn’t mind-blowing this weekend but he showed what he can do. He’s got the size that is desired by coaches and his stroke is pretty pure. Schmidt is capable of being a guy who will nail rhythm shots at the next level and, off and on, showed signs that he can score when he puts the ball on the floor. There’s still work to do but Schmidt should be helping someone in the CIS by this time next season.

• Hard to know what to make of River East Collegiate (Winnipeg) big man Chad Posthumus. At a slim 6-foot-10, Posthumus has the size that everyone desperately wants to find but he didn’t blow anyone away and in a tournament that was largely devoid of true bigs, Posthumus should have dominated a bit more than he did. That said, he’s still in Grade 11 and has time to develop a bit of a mean streak. He’s got tremendous hands and foot work, so everything is there for him to become the dominanting presence he should be.