Five Takeaways: Midwest City vs Del City
Del City jumped out to a quick 6-0 start that had the crowd in full support of them. The game was held at 2 pm leading to a very large student crowd that filled the entire bottom bowl of the arena. It appeared Del City remembered the first time they played the Bombers dominated 82-45. This time the Eagles took the fight to Midwest City early in the game ensuring it would not be a blowout. Del City did a great job of making the Bombers work for every single basket they scored. Del City hung around the entire game even holding the lead in the last two minutes. When the Bombers were struggling to find a scoring force they leaned on senior Derrick Walter Jr. He lifted Midwest City to victory with clutch plays throughout the second half. It was a valiant effort by Del City nearly pulling off the win. Below we have five takeaways from the game with a bonus.
Elite Coaching
Nobody wants to see Midwest City or Del City in the playoffs. They are talented, but even a bigger reason is the coaching job being done at both of these programs. Midwest City lost their top two players coming into the season yet they are still hosting a regional and have posted 16 wins on the season including two tournament championships (TOC and Bruce Gray). Del City looked terrible to start the year suffering several major defeats. But look at what Lenny Hatchett has been able to do over the past month. Since January 6th Del City has a record of 8-3 with most of those games coming against top 20 Class 6A programs. Del City has been tested all season long with the toughest schedule in Class 5A. Both Coach Bradley and Coach Hatchett have done tremendous jobs with their teams giving them both a great opportunity to make the state tournament.
Freeman becoming a key player for the Bombers
DJ Freeman was not thought to be a key player for Midwest City coming into the season. The emergence of the 2020 Forward has been a saving grace to Midwest City because of their lack of size. If you look just at the stat sheet you would not think Freeman is a key player for the Bombers because a lot of what he does goes way beyond the scorebook. Freeman provides Midwest City with toughness on defense in the paint. He does a good job of playing without fouling down low moving his feet and keeping his body straight up. Offensively, Freeman is not a liability actually quite the contrary as he has improved all season with the more touches he gets in the post. Freeman could be a breakout player in the Oklahoma 2020 Class. If I was a grassroots program in need of a big in the 2020 Class Freeman would be a guy to go after.
Crutchfield stock is rising
Demontreal Crutchfield. He was huge for Del City providing them scoring with a quick dribble to create openings at the rim and mid-range. Del City used him on the defensive end to be physical against the Bombers best Guards. Crutchfield is tough as nails. When he is on the floor Crutchfield is constantly making hustle plays for the Eagles. Another area of his game that stood out was his ability to find open teammates, notably in clutch moments. The skill mixed in with his dawg mentality of toughness have him rising up in the 2019 Class.
Walter Jr. improving off the Dribble
Oklahoma Christian signed a perfect fit for their program when they inked Derrick Walter Jr. He is going to come in with a great opportunity to play significant minutes early. The biggest recent improvement in his game is his driving ability to create openings for his jumper. Early in his career teams could guard him by running him off the three-point line, that no longer works. Over his four years, Walter has consistently improved each year, which speaks to his hard work. He will fit right in with Oklahoma Christian next year. Walter plans on leading a deep playoff run with the Bombers before he gets to Oklahoma Christian.
Goodlow comes up huge
Nate Goodlow is becoming one of the best two-way players in the Oklahoma 2020 Class. On Tuesday he grew up a little in front of our eyes hitting clutch buckets down the stretch for Del City. He was making plays on both sides of the ball left and right. It seemed wherever the ball was Goodlow was somewhere very closely involved. Goodlow scored the ball best shooting it from distance. He showed why he is a top ten 2020 Oklahoma prospect.
Bombers shooting woes
Good teams learn over the course of a season how to win games against quality opponents even when they are struggling to score the basketball. Give Midwest City a ton of credit for working through a lot of foul trouble and not being able to shoot very well. This game will help Midwest City a ton when the playoffs role around.