5 Takeaways from Collins at Madison Central
For the second straight Tuesday, I made my way to Richmond to see the Madison Central Indians play host to a regional contender. Last week I watched them dismantle George Rogers Clark. This Tuesday, they appeared on their way to throttling defending 8th region champion Collins as well. Until Junior post Isaiah Cozart was undercut trying to grab an offensive rebound halfway through the third quarter. From there, the Titans made a late charge that ultimately fell short. Here’s some things I took away from the 64-58 Madison Central win.
1. Isaiah Cozart almost had a triple double in 20 minutes of play. Before Isaiah re-aggravated his back injury, he had 8 points, 6 rebounds and 8 blocks. He was well on his way to a triple double. Cozart had a nice two handed tip dunk in the second quarter that brought some life to the crowd in Richmond. Eastern Kentucky assistant coach Terrence Commodore was at the game and the Colonels are certainly making him their priority in the 2019 recruiting class.
2. Dustin Geralds really stepped up for the Indians. The senior wing ended the game with 19 points and 12 rebounds. Geralds never came off the floor and impacted the game in several ways. I can definitely see a school like Asbury or Union College getting a really nice player with Geralds.
Dustin Geralds. Photo courtesy of the Richmond Register3. Dayvion McKnight may be the best PG in the 2020 class. Full disclosure, Dayvion is going to be playing AAU for me this spring and summer. Having said that, there is no denying the kid is a stud at the PG position. Just a sophomore, Mcknight started all last season for the Titans as they made their run to the Elite 8 at Rupp. Throughout the game, McKnight pushed the pace on offense and created scoring opportunities for teammates. Dayvion finished the game with 14 points and 9 rebounds. Wright State, Northern Kentucky, Western Kentucky and Morehead State have all shown early interest in the point guard.
4. Collins’ Jacob Feltner is a big time shooter. I had never seen Feltner before Tuesday and he made a strong impression. Jacob was 4/7 from 3 and 4/4 at the free throw line. He finished 9/16 from the field and tallied 26 points. He also tacked on 4 assists with no turnovers. I don’t know his grades, but if I were a school like Centre, Transylvania or Brescia I’m making the trip to check out Feltner ASAP.
5. Collins is at their best in the open floor. The first half was played at Madison Central’s pace. Every possession was a grind for Coach Gaither’s offense. More than once, Collins had the ball for longer than 30 seconds only to wind up getting blocked at the rim by Cozart. In the second half, the offense became more running and gunning. They also started pressing in the full court on defense. The result was a 40 point second half (28 in the 4th quarter). The Titans have a lot of nice pieces and look capable of repeating as 8th region champions but to achieve that goal, they may need to pick up the pace on offense and force the issue on defense.