10 Best: Wharton at Plant
On a night where Plant football was playing for a state semifinal at Bartram Trail, the Panthers basketball team filled the stands for a big game against district opponent Wharton. Plant pulled out a tough 62-58 home victory on Friday night.
The scrappy Panthers were led by senior guard Ronald Boyd and his game-high 24 points. Senior forward Chance Jackson paced him with 17 points. For Wharton, senior forward DJ Henderson had a team-high 16 points while junior guard Darin Green Jr. recorded 12 points of his own.
Here are the 10 best performers from the game.
MVP: Ronald Boyd (Plant)
The senior guard displayed patience in transition and was a true court leader for Plant. With junior guard Logan Morrissey inactive, Boyd stepped up in the biggest way. Normally the point man, he played every second of the game netting 24 points including five of the game’s last seven points. Boyd was electric. He lived at the free throw line with 14 points coming there due to his attacking.
Best offensive performance: Chance Jackson (Plant)
That’s by far the best I’ve seen Jackson play. He benefited from the high-end passing of Boyd and Reagan Weiss, but most importantly the senior made his shots. The forward had 13 points at the break. He only scored four points in the second half, but they were crucial buckets and he held his own defensively for the most part as well.
Best defensive performance: Dylan Wilson (Plant)
Wilson didn’t mess around on defense. He contained DJ Henderson and Darin Green Jr., the Wildcats top two players. Henderson was held scoreless in the fourth quarter while Green Jr. had only five points. Wilson also paced the offense with 11 points. He is a physical player.
Best intangibles: DJ Henderson (Wharton)
Henderson is blazing fast, long and fun to watch. It was a slow start for the senior, but he got going in the third quarter. Henderson finished with 16 points and is already having a nice final high school season. The Wildcats will need him to start faster in games, but overall I liked what I saw from Henderson.
Best catch and shoot guy: Darin Green Jr. (Wharton)
Green Jr. is a superb outside shooter, but Plant made life tough on him for the most part. Adding 12 points in total for the game, I’m sure he is mad at himself for leaving a few plays out there. In the end, he is the best spot-up shooter this team has and I fully expect the junior to bounce back.
Best under-the-radar performance: Reagan Weiss (Plant)
Sophomore forward Weiss had five points on the night. He had some nice assists and a few very important rebounds late in the game. Weiss may not have shot much but he did plenty for Plant. Once he puts his head down and goes to the rack more consistently, then he’ll further his game.
Best worker: Carr Thiam (Wharton)
Thiam opened up the game red hot with a pair of 3’s, but the sophomore was contained by the Plant defense after that. He had nine points on the night. Although it wasn’t what he wanted from the game, Thiam did show flashes of athleticism and pure determination.
Biggest supplemental player: Kyle Singletary (Plant)
The final stats show Singletary generating three points. Normally a top player off the bench, the senior drew the spot start with Morrissey knicked up. Singletary did all of the little things to keep possessions alive. His passing is crisp and he never stops working on rebounding situations on both sides of the ball.
Best effort: Ryan Anders (Wharton)
Senior forward Anders always seems to find ways to make 3’s and come up with rebounds. He had nine points on the night, including a pair of 3’s. The Wildcats will lean on Anders to do a lot of dirty work in the paint.
Best aspect of the environment
The Panthers fans were very relevant in this one and the bench was fun to watch. After every big bucket, the Plant bench exploded out of their seats. They constantly chanted “Young Bull” anytime Boyd was at the free throw stride. The best moment came with under a minute left when a player got up from the bench and went into the locker room. Another player got him back and said: “we need a full bench, don’t jinx us.”