Ten Best: Trotwood-Madison v. Springfield
If there were any questions about Trotwood-Madison’s validity as State Title contenders, they were answered last night. The Rams went on the road and defeated Springfield 88-73 last night. Trotwood advanced to 20-2, and handed Springfield just their third loss…
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Continue ReadingIf there were any questions about Trotwood-Madison’s validity as State Title contenders, they were answered last night. The Rams went on the road and defeated Springfield 88-73 last night. Trotwood advanced to 20-2, and handed Springfield just their third loss of the year.
Through almost three whole quarters, Springfield handled Trotwood’s pressure defense and maintained a lead. Then, towards the end of the third, Leonard Taylor and RaHeim Moss were forced to take a seat with four fouls. The foul trouble left them with no height and less scoring options. Trotwood capitalized. Once the Rams took the lead, they never looked back.
Now, let’s take a dive into the Ten Best individual performances from the game…
MVP: Amari Davis (Trotwood)
Davis, a top five sophomore in Ohio, is incredible in the air — even against good athletes, he was just coming down when opponents were hitting the floor. The 6’4” guard was aggressive all night. Davis beats out some other great performances because he was consistent during all four quarters.
The only criticism of Davis is at the free throw line. Although his shooting mechanics don’t appear to need work, he’s not a reliable shooter.
Best offensive performance: Myles Belyeu (Trotwood)
The junior made it look easy driving the lane last night. He finished as the game’s leading scorer with 27 points, most all of them coming inside the paint. Even at 6’2”, Belyeu provided a physical element for Trotwood. When he wouldn’t get past a defender, he could just muscle up a lay-up through the contact.
Best defensive performance: Caleb Johnson, Hezekiah Shaw, Sammy Anderson (Trotwood)
They all share the award for their collective defensive effort in corralling Springfield’s Danny Davis. Davis, one of the state’s most lethal scorers, was held to one point in the second half. It wasn’t unusual to see two of these guys trapping Davis on any given possession.
Sixth man: Torrey Patton (Trotwood)
Trotwood’s leading scorer surprisingly didn’t start the game, but he was there to finish in the fourth. After battling foul trouble throughout the game, Patton had 15 in the second half. The unsigned 6’4” senior also provided a sense of calm once Trotwood had a comfortable lead in the fourth.
X-Factor: Torrey Patton (Trotwood)
Best underclassman: RaHeim Moss (Springfield)
The 6’4” sophomore is downright tough. It will be interesting to see him play a larger role over the next few seasons, as he’s not asked to create very much with the current roster.
Under-the-radar performance: Michael Wallace (Springfield)
Best unsigned prospect: Amari Davis (Trotwood)
Best intangibles: Amir Foster (Trotwood)
Even though he got into a scuffle that led to the referees having a word with them, Foster was consistently tough throughout the night. He appeared to have a slight limp at the end of the game, but never turned it down defensively.
Other: Leonard Taylor (Springfield)
Taylor will surely play college football, but his face-up game is elite. At 6’6”, Taylor can shoot it from anywhere, which puts the pressure on his defender. Taylor opted for the contested three a lot, which was working, but the few times he put it on the floor was also effective.