10 Best: Baltimore Poly vs St. John’s
Last night I was in attendance at St. John’s as they played host to Baltimore Poly in part of the 1st annual “More Than Basketball St. John’s Invitational.” Out of the all the games that I have been to this…
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Continue ReadingLast night I was in attendance at St. John’s as they played host to Baltimore Poly in part of the 1st annual “More Than Basketball St. John’s Invitational.” Out of the all the games that I have been to this year, it was the best game I have seen. Poly won in overtime with a final score of 59-58 after a game winning layup by 2020 Rahim Ali.
Best Overall Performance | 2020 Justin Lewis | Baltimore Poly
Finishing with a total of 16 points, 14 rebounds, 4 blocks and 2 assists, there is really no question of who had the best performance. Justin used his strong body to grab rebounds on offense and defense and get to the basket and score the basketball. He brought tons of energy to the floor and was the lead catalyst in helping Poly pull off the win at St. John’s.
Best Performance from St. John’s | 2019 Casey Morsell | St. John’s
In his past three games, Casey has put up some big numbers for his Cadets team. Last night he was shooting the ball excellent, playing hard defense which caused turnovers and beating defenders to score at the basket. Right now he is money with his jumper and St. John’s is going to need to continue to play through him to finish near the top of the WCAC. Last night he finished with 20 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists and 4 steals.
Best Clutch Performance | 2020 Rahim Ali | Baltimore Poly
This is a no brainer, Rahim hit the game tying three pointer for Poly over Casey Morsell to send the game into overtime and then went coast to coast to hit the game winning layup as time expired. This kid was not afraid of the big moment at all last night.
Best Guy Off The Bench | 2019 Jalin Abbott | St. John’s
Jalin provided a huge spark for St. John’s coming off the bench as he finished with 14 points and 8 rebounds. He was not afraid to pull up from deep even his defenders were in his face. He went two for three behind the arc in big situations during the game. It was one of the better games I have seen from Jalin and was really encouraging for St. John’s.
Best Rebounder | 2020 Justin Lewis | Baltimore Poly
Nobody was attacking the glass and pulling down rebounds like Justin Lewis was last night. He was getting up high in the air and constantly pulling boards down. He finished with a total of 14 rebounds.
Best Play | 2020 Rahim Ali | Baltimore Poly
As his team was down one with 6 seconds left, the junior went coast to coast on John Wilson of St. Johns and finished on a layup right underneath Jalin Abbott to win the game for Poly. This was a statement win for Poly and the city of Baltimore as teams from D.C. have been beaten up teams from Baltimore so far this year.
Best Under The Radar Performance | 2020 Ishmael Leggett | St. John’s
Leggett only had 3 points at halftime but finished with 13 and was a key piece to St. John’s in the 2nd half. He has been shooting the ball well early on this year and continues to get past his opposition to finish smooth at the rim.
2nd Best Under The Radar Performance | 2020 Ian Wallace | Baltimore Poly
Wallace finished with a quiet 10 points for Poly shooting 4/9 from the field while playing 32 minutes in the game. He is not the first option on this Poly time but when his number is called he has shown that he is ready.
Best Game So Far This Year
Like I said in the opening, this game was absolutely unbelievable as it should be whenever a Baltimore powerhouse comes to play a D.C. powerhouse. Poly did not give up when they were down late and showed fight during the whole game. Both teams traded baskets three straight times down the floor to start overtime but Poly eventually ended up winning it at the last second. It is going to be hard for any game to beat this one this season.
Best Story To Watch Moving Forward
This win was obviously huge for Poly and another tough loss for St. Johns. Poly will use this momentum to carry them into a tough slate of games in Baltimore and a win that could potentially help them later on in the year. For St. John’s they still are itching to find that first big win for them. They have yet to do so this year so maybe this will really motivate them and help them figure out how to close out close games.