Charm City vs Windy City Showcase Standouts
This past Saturday, Poly played host to the second annual Charm City vs Windy City Showcase where two of the top teams from Baltimore collided with top teams from the city of Chicago. In the first game, St. Frances defeated Morgan Park by a final score of 95-75. In the game that followed, Simeon defeated Poly 71-64.
Talen Horton-Tucker | Simeon ’18
Horton-Tucker was the most impressive player at this weekend’s showcase. The 6-foot-5, 220-pound senior completely controlled the game as he finished with 34 points on the night. He finished with four three’s and a bevy of crowd-pleasing dunks. The future Iowa State Cyclone plays with tremendous strength, control and has a unique understanding for the game.
https://twitter.com/HoopMajor/status/957652457949196288
Rahim Ali | Poly ’20
Ali led the Engineers with 19 points in the loss, but showed relentless energy on both ends of the floor throughout. The sophomore point guard handled Simeon’s big, stout guards nicely and didn’t let the physicality get him off balance on his jump shot. Despite losing, Ali made big shots to help keep the Engineers in striking distance and had constant ball pressure defensively that set the tone for what was a 32-minute battle.
Elijah Epps | St. Frances ’18
Epps continued his scoring tear against Morgan Park Saturday in a big way scoring 15 of his 19 points in the first half to help St. Frances get out to an early lead. The senior leader finished shoting 7-for-11 from the field and a perfect 4-for-4 from deep. In the second half, the 6-foot-2 guard did a tremendous job using the attention he demanded from the defense and creating for his teammates as he finished the game with seven assists.
Marcus Watson | Morgan Park ’20
Watson led Morgan Park with a game-high 26 points in the loss. The sophomore guard is very scrappy and played great on-ball defense against St. Frances’ Ace Baldwin. The majority of his baskets came in transition where the 5-foot-11 lefty finished consistently despite contact or contests. Last year Watson stepped in with Ayo Dosunmu being injured and gained trust from the coaching staff. Since then, he’s had a breakout summer and continues to show rapid development into being a special talent moving forward.
Ace Baldwin | St. Frances ’20
Baldwin finished with a stat line of 14 points, seven assists, six rebound and two steals. If you’ve seen Baldwin play this year, seeing him post this type of line has become routine. The 6-foot-1 floor general fills it up in every positive category and while he doesn’t have a score-first mentality, he understands when to start looking for his own shots within the flow of the game. That’s exactly what he did Saturday and as a result, had Morgan Park at his mercy.
Adam Miller | Morgan Park ’20
Miller recorded 19 points in the loss, but displayed his impressive mix of talent and athleticism. The 6-foot-4 sophomore nailed three triples and finished 3-for-5 from the charity stripe. Whether it’s in the halfcourt or in transition, Miller is always looking to breakdown his defender with a crafty move that usually is followed by a strong take to the rim.
Xavier Pinson | Simeon ’18
Pinson is a very fun player to watch. The 6-foot-3 guard finished with 15 points in the win and was the perfect complement to Horton-Tucker. Pinson has a very smooth, shifty offensive game off the dribble and can get to his spots in a hurry. He has nice length, which helped him finish over the rim a couple of times in transition. Most importantly, Pinson showed great competitiveness and willingness to do all of the small things that helped Simeon come out on top.
Justin Lewis | Poly ’20
Even though Poly came up on the short end of things, sophomore forward Justin Lewis had a statement game finishing with 18 points. Lewis displayed his much improved jump shot from 15-18 feet and nicely set up his defender by baiting him to think he would settle for those types of shots, only to put the ball on the floor and finish strong around the rim. One possession unfolded exactly like that and Lewis was able to slam home a monster one-handed dunk that ignited the gym.
Ed Ferguson | St. Frances ’18
Ferguson pitched in 17 points for the Panthers in the win going 6-for-7 from the field and 3-for-3 from deep. He has become such an important part of St. Frances’ attack off the bench with his ability to knock down shots in a hurry. Over the past couple of weeks, he’s much improved utilizing a shot-fake into a one or two-dribble pull-up. The 6-foot-5 senior has seemed to have settled in his role and will be an integral piece for head coach Nick Myles moving forward.
Jordan Toles | St. Frances ’20
Toles is the other beast off the bench for the Panthers that Coach Myles has the pleasure of unleashing. The 6-foot-2 guard is one of the most electrifying athletes you’ll find in his class. He finished with 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the field Saturday. None set the gym off into a frenzy like this play in the second half to put the nail in the Morgan Park coffin.
Ace Baldwin lob to Jordan Toles on the break, rinse, repeat. It’s become a regular thing. @PrepHoopsMD pic.twitter.com/DLVL8QYzG9
— Colby Giacubeno (@ColbyGHoops) January 27, 2018