Ten Best: Marion Shootout
We saw a little bit of everything in the Marion shootout. We saw teams from 1A to 4A and players that will fit at every level in college. We break down the games below as well as that our ten…
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Continue ReadingWe saw a little bit of everything in the Marion shootout. We saw teams from 1A to 4A and players that will fit at every level in college. We break down the games below as well as that our ten best from the entire day.
Game 1: Northwood 61, Liberty Christian 37.
Game 2: Oak Hill 68, Northeastern 63.
Game 3: Tech 59, East Chicago Central 58.
Game 4: FW North 42, Lawrence Central 40.
Game 5: McCutcheon 77, Merrillville 74.
Game 6: Lawrence North 61, FW Snider 53.
Game 7: Mt. Vernon 72, Marion 60.
Leading scorers: Eddy Collins (McCutcheon) 37, Haden Deaton (McCutcheon) 29, Malik Williams (FW Snider) 27, Jermaine Couisnard (East Chicago Central) 25, Spencer Ballinger (Oak Hill) 24, Tyler Smith (Northeastern) 23, Erick Shepherd (Mt. Vernon) 21, Cameron Wilbon (Merrillville) 21, Caleb Middlesworth (Oak Hill) 20.
Leading rebounders: Micheal Ertel (Mt. Vernon) 14, James McCloud (Mt. Vernon) 13, Jaylen Butz (FW North) 13, Haden Deaton (McCutcheon) 12, Caleb Middlesworth (Oak Hill) 12, Ernest Myles (Lawrence Central) 12, Kevin Easley (Lawrence North) 11, Jibril Harris (East Chicago Central) 11, Keion Brooks (FW North) 10, Malik Williams (FW Snider) 10.
MVP
Eddy Collins (McCutcheon)
With high major recruit Rob Phinesee out for this game, Collins and Haden Deaton had to step up for this game to have a shot against Merrillville. Step up they did as they combined for all but 11 of their team total. Collins was one of the best players we saw all day. Collins scored 37 points on 11/20 shooting. He started out with three triples in a row and helped McCutcheon build an early lead. Collins even added five rebounds and four assists. He was the best player of the tournament because he had to be great, and was.
Erick Shepherd (Mount Vernon)
Shepherd may not have grabbed the most rebounds but he did score the most points in the game and he was the best all-around player. Shepherd scored 21 points on 7/16 shooting and had seven rebounds. Most impressive was that over half of his rebounds were offensive. He passed the ball well dishing out four assists and looked really good today. He has a great college ready body and is a good tough guy to have on your team.
Spencer Ballinger (Oak Hill)
Ballinger led the charge for Oak Hill. They were down by 17 entering the fourth quarter and Ballinger took the game over. He finished with 24 points but 16 of those came in the last quarter. He also hit three triples in the game – all in the fourth. Ballinger didn’t just score in the game. He dished out five assists and grabbed six rebounds. Ballinger even had a block and three steals. A great comeback win for Oak Hill, influenced by Ballinger.
Best offensive performance:
Jermaine Couisnard (East Chicago Central)
Couisnard came off the bench and scored 25 points. Couisnard showed a solid jump shot and looked like a D1 player today. Most impressive was he drew 11 fouls, which then resulted in 16 free throw attempts. He made 7/12 from the field and looked like a solid mid major kid in the future.
Haden Deaton (McCutcheon)
Deaton put on a show but was still in the shadow since Collins put up 37. Deaton actually shot the ball really well from deep going 5/9. Deaton grabbed five offensive boards and was really aggressive, as he had to be. His shot looks better this year and when you score 29 points in a game against a very athletic team it has to be. Deaton will be a solid player at Grace.
Caleb Middlesworth (Oak Hill)
Middlesworth just played really really solid offensively. He scored 20 points and did that on 8/11 shooting. He looked good inside in the post but also stretched it out a bit and made a three-pointer. Middlesworth even pulled down four offensive rebounds. He’s a solid 6’8 junior for a very good 2A team.
Best defensive performance:
Kevin Easley (Lawrence North)
Easley struggled on the offensive end going 3/13 but he made up for that on the defensive end with a great game against FW Snider. Easley was all over the floor blocking four shots which is very impressive for a 6’7 guy. Easley also added a steal and made a difference in the game with his ball pressure. Easley had seven defensive rebounds battling with Snider’s 7′ center for the ball.
Malik Williams (FW Snider)
Williams is a huge presence inside for Snider. He is a legit 7′ tall and really makes life are on the opposing team. He had two blocks, even though Lawrence North did not really go at him and challenge him that much. Williams is so long and fluid in his body and can move like a wing. He had three steals as well. The Louisville commit will be a strong player for them and could make contributions early as next year.
Daveon Bell (Lawrence Central)
Bell was not particularly good on offense, or even really close to being so but he brought it on defense. The quick guard was a handful all game long for FW North and really troubled their guards. He pressured the ball tough and he, along with his fellow teammates, held the North guards to just 15 points in the game.
Best underclassman:
Mike Saunders (Lawrence North)
Saunders has improved even since I saw him earlier this year. He looks much more comfortable already this year and made some really nice no look passes. So far he has shot the three well but was 0/3 today. It was nice seeing him attack the basket as well though today scoring 13 points on 5/7 shooting inside the arc. Most impressively he did not turn the ball over once. He is one of the best in the freshman class. A little small at 5’8 but he’s just a freshman so he will continue to grow. One of the most impressive performances of the day.
Jordan Stolle (Northeastern)
Stolle comes off the bench for Northeastern and is a solid freshman guard. He can really shoot the ball as we saw him in the first half going 3/4 from behind the arc. Stolle played 15 minutes and made 50% from deep. He is a player that once he develops something other than shooting from behind the arc will be fun to watch.
JK Thomas (Marion)
Thomas is a bowling ball going through the lane. He is a small stocky freshman but can really play ball. He scored 12 points on 4/8 shooting. He is quicker than he looked and is very aggressive as a freshman. He will be a guy to watch to see how he develops over the years to come.
Best under-the-radar performance:
Ra Kpedi (Lawrence North)
It is hard to not be under-the-radar when you have five future D1 players on the floor at one time but Kpedi was impressive and flew under everyone’s eyes. He grabbed eight rebounds and had 14 points, which actually led his team. He looks much more fluid in everything that he does. He’s a mid-major talent and once he started playing a bit more complete and does not get in foul trouble he will be a double-double machine.
Freeman Brou (Northeastern)
Brou is usually outshadowed by Tyler Smith the Florida Southern commit but Brou showed us how effective he could be today. He had 10 points and seven rebounds and played really solid the whole game. He is a tall and long wing that at the 2A level will dominate most teams since they just won’t be able to matchup with him. Brou established himself today as one of the more intriguing juniors in 2A
Luke Zurcher (Northwood)
As with Brou, Zurcher usually gets overshadowed by a high volume scoring guard on his team. Today Zurcher had excellent production with 16 points, eight rebounds and two blocks. Zurcher was as solid as he could of been against Liberty Christian even hitting two three-pointers.
Best guy off the bench:
Jibril Harris (East Chicago Central)
Harris came off the bench to play 24 minutes. In that span Harris scored 14 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. We was the best player on the floor for a time in the game. He blocked four shots as well and forced a bunch of Liberty Christian bad shots. Harris was a bright spot on an underwhelming ECC squad.
Davontae Kinnie (FW North)
Kinnie came off the bench and had six points and four assists. He is a solid small school guard that can shoot it a bit and is really quick. He has pretty decent handles and hit the game winning shot for FW North. He blew by his defender and finished at the bucket for the last score of the game. Check out the game winner here on Overtime!
Best future college player:
Keion Brooks (FW North)
Brooks a a legit high major stud. He can do everything at a high level and is just a sophomore. Brooks had 12 points and 10 rebounds today but still kind of struggled. He is a five star prospect and has D1 schools from all over the Midwest already in on him. Brooks is the highest ranked sophomore in the state.
Tyler Smith (Northeastern)
The D2 Florida Southern commit scored 23 points today but did not really shoot the ball well at all. He is a steal at the D2 level as a scorer who can get to the rim but needs to work on his jumper a little bit. He went 0/4 from behind the arc but still got to the rim well.
Jaylen Butz (FW North)
Butz is a DePaul commit who looked like a solid 6’10 post player. He had 15 points and 13 rebounds and did not shoot any threes. Most of his scoring came right at the rim and he pretty much had his way once he got the ball inside. Look for Butz to be an impact player at DePaul in the future with a little polishing left to do on his game.
Best shooter:
Tim Leavell (Marion)
Leavell only had 13 points but he is a known shooter. He got to the rim a few times and created for himself. He drained a long ball in the face of his defender and made another long three. His shot is really crisp and shoots it like a guy who can make five or six in a row.
Best passer:
Tyce Frank (Oak Hill)
Frank almost had a double-double in points and assists. It is tough at any level to get nine assists in a game but Frank made it look easy. Frank hit guys on the drive and kicked it out to open men for threes and he also hit the cutters that he needed too. Only had one turnover.
Best dunk:
Wesley Jordan slams it home for Lawrence Central