Five Takeaways: Benton Central vs. McCutcheon
On the second day of the Franciscan Health Hoops Classic, we saw McCutcheon come out strong and then get a little sloppy as Benton Central gained their footing in the second half. However, McCutcheon never let it get too close as they won, 67-46.
Benton Central Young But Full Of Shooters
This Benton Central program has really been through some struggles the last decade plus but this current group is fairly young and the one thing they do well is shoot the ball. They went 8/19 from three in this game and that was able to bring them back before McCutcheon pulled too far away. They only scored 4 points in the first quarter but then had a 18-point second quarter. Players like Payton Hall, Drew Brock, and forward Ethan Hallenbeck will be the face of the team moving forward. Their shooting should give them a few more options at winnable games this year than maybe they had in the past. Another year of confidence will do wonders.
McCutcheon Will Rely On Phinisee Too Much
In this game, we saw just what is going to be issues in a lot of games this season. McCutcheon is going to rely really heavily on senior guard Robert Phinisee to do a lot of the scoring but also relieve some of the pressure. Phinisee was solid for stretches and showed his defensive ability but also forced a lot of shots. This McCutcheon team just doesn’t have the depth they had a year ago. Rowen Farrell and Isaac Angstadt are good but with teams being able to focus in on Phinisee to suppress the high scoring totals, games are going to end up being a lot closer and you could see some upsets.
Rowen Farrell Taking Big Step In His Game
Where the next player stepping up for McCutcheon will come from will be Rowen Farrell. The sophomore guard hit a growth spurt this summer and now at 6’2, he has begun developing more off the bounce. He’s really adept at scoring the ball as a shooter but now adding in the dribble-drive game much more. Phinisee will take some of the pressure off of his teammates as teams decide to double-team the standout senior, but still, Ferrell is looking like he is going to be able to make those adjustments this year. Not being as one-dimensional as last year already with plenty of time to develop over the course of the season.
Koby McNeely Name To Watch
As we have seen in a lot of games this year, some seniors are stepping up to the plate and showing that they can contribute. For McCutcheon to be really good this year, they need more depth. Senior guard Koby McNeely stepped up in this game as a perimeter weapon and showed he could be that missing piece. The 6’2 senior scored 18 points in the win and was actually the leading scorer for McCutcheon in the game. He did so by knocking down 4/8 three-pointers. He has good elevation and a high release on his jumper and could fill that secondary scorer role really well.
McCutcheon Is Going To Have Interesting Season
This season could be an interesting one. On one hand, they have really good talent with guys like IU commit Robert Phinisee and sophomore standout Rowen Farrell. However, they don’t have a ton of it. With a new head coach and a lot of pressure on this team in general, it will be interesting to see how things go. Could see a lot of up and down games as teams double up on Phinisee and force the surrounding cast to beat them. That could lead to a few upsets. But, then you could see games when Robert and company have it all going as they have quite a few good perimeter shooters and this team puts up big numbers. It won’t be as consistent as they have been in the last couple years and that could lead to an interesting season.