5 Takeaways: Northside-Pinetown vs Plymouth
Northside-Pinetown vs Plymouth was a high level 1A matchup that came to fruition last night as Northside-Pinetown hosted the championship night of their Christmas tournament. There were college prospects all over the floor and none of them disappointed.
Plymouth Is Talent Hotbed
Plymouth has been somewhat of a goldmine for several colleges over the last decade. Most recently, Fayetteville State University graduate Carl McCray and NC-Wesleyan star guard Adrian Moore have produced at a high level collegiately after graduating from Plymouth High School in Plymouth, NC. Senior guard Taquan White is a player that should at least get some serious junior college opportunities in the near future. He’s a 6’0” guard that can light it up and take care of the basketball.
Super Sophomores
Northside-Pinetown boasts a familiar name in 5’7” sophomore guard Rashod Smith. Despite facing a long and athletic backcourt. He’s a college prospect that despite his size will continue to post 20 point & 10 assist double-doubles for years to come. He finished with 23 points & 8 assists in the matchup.
Cedez Norman for Plymouth is a tricky scoring point guard with solid size for the position. He poured in 29 points and never backed down at any point from a challenge that was brought in his direction.
DeAndra Downing is the most intriguing prospect standing at 6’5” with a solid handle, length, court vision & athleticism. He finished with 10 points, 10 rebounds & 9 assists in the championship matchup.
Shooters
5’11” senior guard Braeden Cooper for Northside is a lights out knockdown shooter. He buried 3 points after 3 pointer all night long. Aforementioned Taequan White for Plymouth HS also was lights out from 3 point land in addition to his ability to create off the dribble and communicate on the defensive end.
Johnathan Clark Is Underrated
Northside has a sneaky good junior guard in Johnathan Clark. He’s a 6′ athlete with an incredibly high motor. He gives 100% on both ends of the floor, makes really quick moves to the basket and will rise up & dunk it on you in traffic should he see daylight on a drive.
Plymouth Head Coach: Lamont Gilliam
It was a very bright spot to see the different defensive looks that Plymouth gave Northside on the road in this game. They are undefeated for good reason and it appears that their defensive schemes will give a ton of teams lots of problems all year long. Much credit to Coach Gilliam for getting his young team to really buy in defensively and execute on that side of the ball.