Alston leads Central past MLK
The next time you want to complain about how Philly has turned into Alaska, think of Kamell Alston. He's battling epilepsy.
The next time you want to complain about how Philly has turned into Alaska, think of Kamell Alston. He's battling epilepsy.
The 5-9, 150-pound Alston, a star student (3.5 GPA) and senior point guard for Central High's basketball team, was diagnosed 2 years ago after suffering a seizure in school.
"Getting that word had me down at first," Alston said. "Epilepsy can affect your memory and Central's a tough academic school as it is. But everything's going pretty well. You get dealt certain cards in life. You just have to play them. I get a lot of support from my mom and dad.
"The medication I'm on has things pretty much under control. I haven't had a seizure in a while - months. The doctor says you can outgrow epilepsy and that I should be OK when I get older."
Alston spoke yesterday and his voice was decidedly upbeat. No wonder. The Lancers not only got back to playing basketball for the first time in 12 days, they carved out a 59-56, Public A win over Mike Wilson and host Martin Luther King.
Referring to both, Alston quipped, "I used his building, then I beat him in his building."
Alston and Wilson, King's top player, are fast friends, and the latter lives in an apartment complex, The Towers at Wyncote, that features a full-sized gym and weight room.
"I was up there a lot during this break to play ball and work out with Mike and one of my teammates, Miles Henry," Alston said. "It really helped."
Alston finished with 17 points, two assists and four steals. He packed 13 of his markers into the fourth quarter, during which he sniped 7-for-8 at the line, and he shot 5-for-9 from the floor all told.
With 0:25 showing, Alston thieved an inbound pass, got hacked and drained two free throws to provide a 58-54 lead. The Cougars' Trayvon King canned a layup, then Alston returned to the line at 0:08 for a double-bonus. He made one, missed one, and Kenny Edwards could only hit the rim with a buzzer-beating, left-wing trey.
"I didn't shoot much early because I was feeling kind of rusty," Alston said. "I figured I'd get my teammates involved."
Oh, let them shoot the bricks?
"I guess you could say that," Alston purred.
He continued, "I shot more later because, like teams always do, King was really keying on [franchise center] Brandon Smith. I was telling my teammates, 'We have to help him up top. Help him from the wing. When they're good ones, we have to start shooting our own shots.' We opened up the floor. I started taking over a little. It was going well.
"I was very anxious to get back to playing. I was checking every day to see what [Pub honchos] were going to do with the season. Cut the regular season short. Freeze the standings. Just go right into the playoffs. We're happy they did it this way [and decided to finish the regular season]. After we finish these regular games, I'll be so ready for the playoffs."
Mark Sanders added 18 points for Central. Smith settled for seven, but claimed 12 rebounds. Before fouling out, Wilson hustled for 19 points, three assists and six steals. Sean Rogers (14) and King (11) also scored in double figures.
Alston, who lives in the Pittville section of West Oak Lane, directly across the street from the childhood home of deceased former Roman Catholic all-timer Eddie Griffin, has applied to schools such as Temple, St. John's, West Chester, Bloomsburg and Virginia Union. He'll major in biology with the plan to then attend medical school and become a neurologist.
"Since I'm going through this," he said, "I want to help people with diseases like epilepsy."
