What We Learned: Collins at Franklin County
On Tuesday night I made my first ever trip to Franklin County high school to see a potential big time guard duo match-up between Collins’ Marcellus Vail and Dayvion McKnight and Franklin County’s Kyle Stivers and Jared Courtney. What I got was…
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Continue ReadingOn Tuesday night I made my first ever trip to Franklin County high school to see a potential big time guard duo match-up between Collins’ Marcellus Vail and Dayvion McKnight and Franklin County’s Kyle Stivers and Jared Courtney. What I got was a very hard to watch foul-fest where Collins did enough in the end to make a run and put the Flyer away in the 4th quarter. Here are my biggest takeaways from 64-53 Titans win.
- Kyle Stivers has more fun on the court than most. And that’s a good thing. In the second quarter, Collins was hit with an administrative technical and Stivers stepped to the line for two free throws. He missed the first then air-balled the second. He couldn’t help but laugh at himself. Shortly thereafter, Kyle hit a big three and was running back down the floor going crazy and trying to get the student section to get more rowdy. At a time when so many kids are visibly stressed when they’re on the court, it’s refreshing to see a young man visibly enjoying playing the game he loves. Not to mention that he finished with 30 points and 14 rebounds.
- Jared Courtney needs to slow down and let the game come to him. The Junior point guard didn’t play when I saw Franklin scrimmage last month at Dunbar. Last night he had 6 turnovers and it could have been worse if Collins had caught a few errant passes. Courtney too frequently tries to force the offense in the open floor and he avoided two other turnovers when he lost the ball as the quarter ended. As a team, the Flyers had 21 turnovers in the game and their inability to handle the 2-2-1 pressure of Collins in the second half led to their downfall. Neither team took great care of the ball but the Junior point guard has to limit the mistakes in order for them to be a factor in the 11th region.
- Even when Dayvion McKnight has a quiet night, he’s outstanding. To be clear, I do coach Dayvion in AAU. I was fairly underwhelmed with him last night. It seemed like he had grabbed a lot of rebounds and scored at the rim but I didn’t realize his stat line was so good. McKnight narrowly missed a triple-double. Dayvion finished the game with 18 points, 12 rebounds, 9 assists, 6 steals and a block. It’s entirely possible that I am immune to Dayvion’s greatness because I see it a lot but you just don’t see kids affecting the game this much every night out. There is zero doubt that he is the best point guard in the Junior class and could be the best in the state, regardless of class.
- Marcellus Vail finally has the offensive freedom he needs. Vail spent much of last season as the 4th offensive option behind McKnight and two seniors. Now Marcellus is playing his true position on the wing and has the green light from Coach Chris Gaither to create his own offense. Vail finished his night last night with 20 points on 7/14 shooting and added 5 rebounds to go with his 20 points. With Marcellus and Dayvion, Collins has two players who can score the ball but will need their role players to step up if they want to win the region and get to Rupp Arena.
- Franklin County has a lot of weapons but struggled to score. Beyond Stivers and Courtney, Ike Boling, Zyshonne Atkinson and Joe Meador have all flashed potential but none was particularly outstanding last night. Atkinson had looked really good last month against Lafayette but was only 2/7 from the field last night and forced his offense. Meador is a 6’8 jumping bean but can’t stay on the floor long enough to affect the game. Ike Boling is a big time athlete but should contribute more than 2 points and one rebound. I guess what I’m trying to say is that the Flyers have a LOT of talent on the roster but they need more defined roles and some of those guys just have to play harder. They have the talent to win their district and at least one regional tournament game. Hopefully they’ll have it rolling when I get a chance to see them again.