Ten Best: Castle vs. New Albany
This game has so many lead changes. It was back and forth all night long. But then, in the fourth quarter, Castle exerted it’s size and depth of talent and New Albany couldn’t keep pace. Castle beat New Albany, 71-64…
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Continue ReadingThis game has so many lead changes. It was back and forth all night long. But then, in the fourth quarter, Castle exerted it’s size and depth of talent and New Albany couldn’t keep pace. Castle beat New Albany, 71-64 to reach the Semistate in 4A.
MVP: Payton Mills (Castle)
The MVP is Mills. With so much of the focus on Nunge, Mills was stellar in the low post as he continually got one-on-one chances and he dominates those opportunities. He’s not fancy but he’s tough and productive and has a motor that doesn’t stop. His 20 points and 6 rebounds were the key in this victory.
Play of the Game: Payton Mills (Castle)
The play of the game came late in the fourth quarter when New Albany was trying to make a run. Castle came down and missed a Hemenway jumper, Nunge tried to tip it in but missed. The ball bounced away towards the elbow and Payton Mills stole it and drive right back at the rim for a tough finish. That just took the wind out of New Albany’s sails as they really needed something to bounce their way.
Best Offensive Performance: Romeo Langford (New Albany)
Clearly not his best game but given that Langford scored 44 points while being the main focus, is still pretty impressive. However, his numbers won’t look that great, the ability to score that much against a really good team in Castle is pretty good. He was best when driving at the rim but did make some deep threes at key times, just not enough of them.
Best Defensive Performance: Jack Nunge (Castle)
Really liked how Nunge played in this one. He’s really improved over the course of the last year and toughened up and found even more ways to impact the game. His ability to come out and hedge and play away from the rim was solid as well as his shot blocking and diverting ability once in the paint.
Best Guy Off The Bench: Jace Stieler (Castle)
He might have only had 3 points but it was a huge three points. Romeo Langford just hit a big three to go up four points in the second half. Jace came right back down and hit the open triple and it calmed the crowd back down. Only twice did New Albany’s crowd really get into it and this could have been the third chance had Jace not hit that three.
Best Intangibles: Isaac Hibbard (New Albany)
In the first half, Hibbard played really well. His ability to drive with the ball and finish with some creativity was huge in keeping them ahead early on. He can give you a lot of things on the floor, most of which is his ability to play hard all the time. Doesn’t take too many plays off and he was a big key to New Albany’s success the last two years.
Best Under-The-Radar Performance: Brandon Eades (Castle)
With all of the attention on Mills and Nunge, I think Eades played a really good game. He was good early on as a defensive stopper on Romeo and Hibbard and making things a little tougher on them. Late in the game he had two really big plays. First a runner in the lane that put Castle up by their biggest margin to date at 9. Then, he stole the inbounds pass from New Albany in the final minutes that just was the cherry on top.
Best Underclassmen: Alex Hemenway (Castle)
Although he started off slow, Hemenway got his feet under him in the second half and really started to step up and make plays. The 6’2 guard is really talented and he’s proven he can play on the ball. His scoring ability is solid and he’s starting to learn how to make all-around plays to help win games. Has a ton of upside in the next year to tap into.
Best Player College Coaches Should Track: Payton Mills (Castle)
How Mills doesn’t have an “offer” from every DIII in the Midwest is beyond me. He’s built so perfectly as a low post forward and has the motor and skill to make any play you need him to. He could even end up being a Ben Carlson type of player at Indiana Wesleyan once he adds in some perimeter jumpers. Really good prospect you don’t hear enough about.
Best Storyline Moving Forward: The biggest thing obviously is the upcoming matchup with Ben Davis and Castle. Castle has now taken down the defending champ and Ben Davis took down the most likely challenger in North Central. Both teams seem to be playing well but Castle will have the size advantage moving into the next weekend. It will be interesting to see how Ben Davis handles that but Mark James has a week to game plan and he seems to have his guys buying in right now.