Dexter Strickland. (Photo. Kelly Kline)

Nike’s Super 6 Invitational at Madison Square Garden on Sunday showcased some of the best high school teams in the country and some of the top players in the tri-state area. The biggest name on the marquee was St. Benedict’s H.S. (NJ) big man Samardo Samuels, a Louisville recruit and Top-5 player in the Class of ‘08, who didn’t start the day like he wanted, but ended up copping MVP of the invitational’s main event. Also on the Super 6 roster were Top-100 seniors Kemba Walker (UConn), Kevin Jones (West Virginia) and Quintrell Thomas (Kansas), as well as some of the best juniors in the country and a few standout sophomores. Here are the stars of the Super 6:

Kevin Jones, PF, Sr., Mount Vernon (NY). 25 points, 19 rebounds, 5 steals.
Although KJ was putting up numbers throughout the game against Pateron Catholic (NJ) — he had a double-double before halftime — he wasn’t exactly showing why he was such a coveted Class of ‘08 recruit. Jones was having trouble with Paterson’s bigs for most of the game, and his usually reliable mid-range jumper was flat. But when Mount Vernon went to a full-court press in the fourth quarter and began to pull back into a game in which they were down double-digits, Jones displayed all of the skills that made him such a big catch for Bob Huggins at West Virginia. Harassing the inbounds passer at the top of Mount Vernon’s press, Jones started collecting steals and finishing with dunks and layups off of Paterson’s turnovers, and his jumper finally started falling. By the end of the Knights’ come-from-behind win, Jones had put up a monster stat line and left little doubt that he can succeed in the Big East.

Jordan Theodore, PG, Sr., Paterson Catholic (NJ). 12 points, 5 assists, 5 steals.
The Seton Hall commit has blinding speed quickness that will make him a favorite of Bobby Gonzalez in the near future, but his jumper wasn’t falling on Sunday. He was 0-for-6 from beyond the arc and finished the game 4-for-12 from the field.

Sherrod Wright, SG, Jr., Mount Vernon (NY). 20 points, 11 rebounds.
When Jones is gone, Wright will be The Man at Mount Vernon next year. An athletic wing with a bulldog mentality, Sherrod recognized his team’s inability to hit jumpers for most of the game and kept taking it to the basket instead to manufacture points. He hit the go-ahead bucket to cap MV’s comeback, then knocked down some free throws to ice the game. Sherrod admitted afterwards that North Carolina coach Roy Williams sitting at courtside motivated him to ball out, and you’d have to assume Roy was impressed with the kid.

Trevor Clemmings, PF, So., Paterson Catholic (NJ). 7 points, 5 blocks.
The youngster is a solid 6-6, 240 pounds and still growing, and he was most impressive Sunday in the way he played defense when matched up against Mount Vernon star Kevin Jones. The senior Jones still had a big stat line, but Clemmings was giving him all he could handle inside and continually forced Jones outside, where he was missing jumpers.

Dexter Strickland, PG, Jr., St. Patrick’s (NJ). 11 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists.
Strickland didn’t have his best game scoring the ball, but he showed a mature floor game and sticky defense (3 steals). The biggest splash the 6-3 guard made during the day, however, was when he verbally committed to North Carolina following St. Pat’s win over St. Raymond’s.

Darryl “Truck” Bryant, PG, Sr., St. Raymond’s (NY). 17 points.
As expected with any NYC team, the Ravens are loaded with guards, but Truck is the standout. The West Virginia-bound point guard had problems finishing on Sunday, going 5-for-19 from the field and 0-for-6 from three, but he can still get to the basket and draw contact; Bryant made 12 trips to the free throw line.

Quintrell Thomas, SF, Sr., St. Patrick’s (NJ). 25 points, 13 rebounds, 3 blocks.
Every time you looked up, Thomas was getting a dunk on the collective heads of St. Ray’s. Of his nine made field goals, at least six or seven were dunks. The Kansas-bound forward was, as St. Pat’s coach Kevin Boyle said, “A man against high school guys.” And while he was given credit for three rejections, Quintrell also altered a ton of shots and set the tone early as a shot-blocking presence that St. Raymond’s guards didn’t want to challenge.

Kevin Parrom, SF, Jr., St. Raymond’s (NY). 10 points, 13 rebounds.
Another Raven who struggled with his shot — St. Ray’s shot 25 percent from the field for the game — Parrom was 2-for-14 but made his mark on the glass. Against a front line that included Quintrell Thomas, Parrom pulled down 13 boards.

Samardo Samuels, PF/C, Sr., St. Benedict’s (NJ). 14 points, 13 rebounds.
Gray Bees coach Danny Hurley put Samardo on the bench at the beginning of the game against Rice (NY), citing an internal team matter, but the Louisville-bound big man was still the star at the end when his three-point play in the final seconds proved to be the game-winner for St. Benedict’s. Most of Samardo’s 14 points came well into the second half — he could have been more aggressive looking for his own shot at other junctures during the game — but he was still good enough to take home MVP honors of the Super 6’s marquee matchup.

Tamir Jackson, PG, Jr., St. Benedict’s (NJ). 15 points, 4 assists, 5 rebounds.
Considering that he was being hounded all day by Rice’s Kemba Walker — arguably the best on-ball defender in all of high school basketball — Jackson had a pretty good game. He turned the ball over five times, but he was able to score and did a good job on Kemba defensively, forcing eight turnovers from the Rice star. Point guards are ultimately judged by wins, and Tamir’s team won the game.

Durand Scott, SG, Jr., Rice (NY). 14 points, 2 steals.
Playing with a sore back, Scott gave a gutsy effort and was crushed after the game due to a critical turnover he made in the final seconds that played a huge role in Rice’s loss. Before that, though, Scott showed the natural ability and shooting touch that has made him a favorite of programs like Arizona, Miami and Seton Hall.

Greg Echenique, C/PF, Jr., St. Benedict’s (NJ). 15 points, 11 rebounds.
The second man in St. Benedict’s twin-towers setup, the 6-8, 240-pound Echenique has the attention of everyone from Duke to Florida to Kentucky to Maryland. He showed some grown-man post moves and an ability to score inside, and seven of Echenique’s 11 boards were on the offensive end of the floor.

Kemba Walker, PG, Sr., Rice (NY). 18 points.
While he committed way more turnovers than usual (eight) in Rice’s loss to St. Benedict’s, Kemba had several jaw-dropping drives to the hoop that he capped with acrobatic finishes. Not only can the UConn-bound senior get to the basket whenever he wants, he’s strong and coordinated enough to absorb contact, contort his body and still put the ball in the hole.