Siegel-Father Ryan Five Takeaways
A grinding Father Ryan team completely shut down the Siegel Stars Tuesday night at the Wolverine Classic, 46-32.
Five lessons learned follow.
Prideful Defense
Siegel did not score like they should Tuesday night, but part of the problem was Father Ryan’s stifling defensive pressure.
Every young man Father Ryan ran out there got up into the shirt of his mark. The defense on James Franklin was particularly tight. He didn’t have driving lanes all night. Most of his successes came on fast breaks.
Beyond the exceptional man-to-man defense the Fightin’ Irish played multiple players intercepted passes. The interceptions were not just deflections. Both JC Clausi and Jack Mclaughlin lunged their entire bodies into passing lanes.
Father Ryan final box. pic.twitter.com/5tNZN7wtGA
— Prep Hoops Tennessee (@PrepHoopsTN) December 20, 2017
Siegel Offensive Struggles
PrepHoopsTN covered a rivalry blowout between Siegel and Blackman earlier this month.
Siegel simply pitched a dud that night. Maybe it was an aberration. Maybe a couple players woke up on the wrong side of the bed. Maybe the gameplan didn’t work.
James Franklin Jr. (PrepHoopsTN #64) and his Stars struggled mightily to score then and Tuesday the opening half was more of the same. Despite an abundance of decent hoopers the Stars scored just 12 points in the opening 16 minutes of action.
After three quarters of play, the Stars recorded just 17 points.
When a team repeatedly struggles to score it stops being an accident.
Maybe Siegel just isn’t the free-flowing, high-ocatne team they appear on paper. Maybe Siegel is going to be a low-scoring team all season.
If that is the case, then it would be a really disappointing way for the seniors to end their high school careers.
They finished with 32 points, but most of them were uncontested in the waning moments of a blowout.
Irish Flame
Father Ryan typically infuses their games with technical, unselfish play. And they still do, but this current Father Ryan squad has more athleticism than usual on the wings, namely Kendall Young. FRHS Head Coach Douglas Bontrager has a play or two that really utilize Young’s bounce and agility. Frankly, there could be even more. Young gets off the floor really well and in some of the games he plays there are no athletes close to him.
Crisp
Everything about the Father Ryan basketball team is crisp. The passes are sharp. The defense is invested. The team dresses nice and acts like men. The whole program reeks of class. There will be losses in 2018, but nobody will steamroll the Fightin’ Irish because everything this team does is crisp and purposeful.
Father Ryan has leaders on their coaching staff, but also on their team. JC Clausi is really solid as a lead guard.
Future Stars
Siegel has a couple underclassmen worth monitoring in the coming years. Freshman Zion Swader has good handles. He needs to grow a little to be an impactful college player, but already he looks like a future high school starter.
Class off 2020 Brennon Marsh is long and a little awkward, but as he grows in to his body he could be something special. The tall, 6-foot-7 forward moves decently and has a soft touch around the rim. Of course, like most young bigs he needs to add strength. If that comes quickly, then he might be a tough player in 2018-2019.