Five Takeaways: North College Hill vs. Mt. Healthy
Usually the team that plays the hardest will put themselves in the best position to win, even when shots aren’t falling. And that was exactly the case Saturday night in the Battle of Hamilton Avenue as Mt. Healthy fought their…
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Continue ReadingUsually the team that plays the hardest will put themselves in the best position to win, even when shots aren’t falling. And that was exactly the case Saturday night in the Battle of Hamilton Avenue as Mt. Healthy fought their way to a 54-40 victory over rival North College Hill. While neither team shot particularly well from the field, 35% for the Trojans to just 33% for the Owls, it was Mt. Healthy 43-33 rebounding advantage that helped seal the deal in victory.
The Owls had a balanced scoring attack with four players finishing in double-figures lead by 2020 F Brandon Lanier who finished with 12 points and 8 rebounds. 2019 guards Chris Simmons and Aushadon Mathis scored 11 points apiece in the winning effort. 2020 G Hakeem Griggs led the Trojans with 16 points in a losing effort while 2019 G Tyree Robinson chipped in with 10 points and 7 rebounds in a losing effort.
Five Takeaways
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1. The Owls did a very good job containing NCH F Cameron Harris (2019 PHO #123). Mt. Healthy was very physical with when defending Harris, with defenders always in position to help and making sure that they kept a body on him at all times. The guards for Mt. Healthy also did a good job digging down in the post to force the ball out of his hands or into tough looks. Cameron finished with 4 points and 5 rebounds on 1-6 shooting from the field and was in foul trouble for most of the game.
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2. The before mentioned Brandon Lanier was the main reason for the rough night of Cameron Harris on both ends. One of the better two sport athletes in Southwest Ohio, Lanier size (6’3/230) helped do a good job walling up on Harris which forced him into some difficult looks at the rim on the defensive end while he his strength, quick feet and ability to finish in traffic were too much for the whole NCH roster offensively.
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3. As we begin to see the talent that is starting to emerge from the class of 2022 remember to throw in the name Kollin Tolbert, point guard for the Owls. While learning to play the PG position at this level, Tolbert has good size (6’0), never lost his poise during the game and played with good pace throughout the evening. His importance showed during the game as Mt. Healthy struggled some getting good looks with Tolbert out of the game, especially in the first half.
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4. Another game, another team not taking advantage of free points from the line. The Owls shot 63% from the line (17-27) while the Trojans shot 50% going 10-20.
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5. Speaking of Griggs earlier, he is as strong as I have seen over the past year at the point position in Cincy. Hakeem used his upper body strength to knock Mt. Healthy defenders off-balance and showed an ability to finish strong at the rim. If there was a downside to his evening from an offensive standpoint, he was also 4-8 from the free throw line.