St. Vincent-St. Mary peaking in time for postseason
St. Vincent-St. Mary started off its trek for a repeat of its 2017 Ohio Division II state championship with a resounding rout of Canton South on March 2.
The Irish were led by its trio of college prospects as 6’1” Seth Wilson (2021) scored 11, while 6’3” Lunden McDay (2019) scored 7 and 6’4” Malaki Branham (2021) added 7 as did the Scott Walter, the team’s only senior and emotional heartbeat of the team.
St. Vincent-St. Mary led 20-5 after one quarter and cruised the rest of the way in winning 67-25. The Irish improved to 15-8 and play Tallmadge in a district semifinal on March 7 at the Canton Field House.
Wilson stepping up as frosh
Wilson, who is on the radar of a slew of big-time college programs, has shown continual development through this his freshman season.
His shooting stroke is already at a big-time level, evidenced by the fact he connected on 43 percent of his 3s this year. He finished the year averaging 12.1 points a game.
“He’s really learned how to play basketball this year,” said one AAU coach.
Ohio State and Xavier have shown interest in Wilson, who went on an unofficial visit to Columbus last month.
“I really liked it,” Wilson said of his impression of the Columbus campus.
Lunden has colleges calling
Buffalo and Ohio University have shown interest in the versatile McDay, who anticipates that he would play at the 2-guard in college.
“I kind of play everything. I’m used to playing on the win and in the post,” McDay said.
In the win over Canton South, he displayed an ability to get the basket off the dribble. Long and athletic, he averaged a team-best 14.5 points per game and 4.2 rebounds and shot 58 percent from the field.
“I need to work on my 3-point ball and handles,” said McDay.
The other fab frosh
Branham, who started off the year splitting time between varsity and junior varsity, has solidified his spot in Dru Joyce II’s rotation as the season has progressed. He finished the year averaging 3.5 points per game and 2.5 rebounds.
He played with more confidence in the win over Canton South then he showed when I saw him earlier in the year in a game against Garfield Heights.
“The coaches told me to be aggressive and I just started doing that,” said Branham, when asked to describe his development over the course of the season.
At this point in his career, Branham doesn’t seem to be concerned with his offensive numbers, at this point in his career.
“I’m going to grit and grind. I just do whatever the coaches want me to,” Branham said.
Ohio State and Miami of Ohio have shown early interest in Branham, he said.