De la Salle North 87, Riverdale 54: Five Takeaways
The non-conference slate was a bit of a gauntlet for De la Salle North. The Knights played against top teams in tournaments in Oregon and Washington, beating some schools twice their enrollment while falling to a couple of others. Now…
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Continue ReadingThe non-conference slate was a bit of a gauntlet for De la Salle North. The Knights played against top teams in tournaments in Oregon and Washington, beating some schools twice their enrollment while falling to a couple of others. Now back home, the defending 3A champs are embarking with league play and while conference opponents can never be taken for granted, the Knights did get a bit of a breather by cruising to a 87-54 win on Monday night.
“It’s nice to be able to play sort of in our neighborhood, not having to travel so far, getting to have a normal school day where kids didn’t have to get out of school early, and then play a familiar team,” said De la Salle North head coach James Broadous. “And what we’ve been able to do consistently is bounce back after a loss. We’ve been able to refocus and have a good game today and everything was clicking tonight.”
De la Salle North jumped out to an early lead after a bit of a sloppy start, but once the Knights got their defensive pressure and transition offense going, they never looked back. They led 48-22 at the half and won going away, resting their starting lineup the entire fourth quarter. Junior guard George Sadi led the way with 22 points and six rebounds while senior swingman Kadeem Nelson tallied 15 points and 11 boards.
De la Salle North Ready to Defend Their Crown
If there’s one thing the extremely challenging non-league schedule gave the Knights, it was toughness. De la Salle North beat 6A schools Westview and Sandy in the Les Schwab Invitational “The Eight” and also two large Washington schools in Ferris and Glacier Peak in two other tournaments. At the same time, tough losses to powerhouse Eastside Catholic and most recently to Western Christian helped develop character. There’s a good contingent of seniors such as Kadeem Nelson who have worked to adapt their games to what will best help the Knights win and they will be more than ready to work their way to and through the 3A tournament.
Sadi No Longer a Surprise
Last year, George Sadi was an energy guy off of the bench. This season, the 5-foot-10 junior guard has emerged as a superstar starter. Things really came to a head for him at the LSI 8 when he exploded for 42 points against Westview and he hasn’t really come down since then. Sadi impressed with his strength, athleticism, and motor, and offensively he hit threes and converted tough baskets inside on drives and in transition. Defensively, he was all over the place and was a critical cog in the Knights pressure defense. We caught up with Sadi after the game and will have an update posted soon.
Nelson a Stat Sheet Stuffer
When we saw senior Kadeem Nelson play at the LSI 8, he seemed to be fairly focused on shooting from long range. Against Riverdale, it was much different. Nelson was more honed in on making the right play not just for himself but for others, distributing it to shooters against the zone (six assists), hitting the boards hard (11 rebounds), and using his length to disrupt in De la Salle North’s defensive pressure. Oh, and by the way, the 6-foot-3 wing also ended up scoring 15 points with most of the points in the mid-range on in.
Pelz a Post Performer
There was some early foul trouble and a dismal performance from the free throw line (2-for-8) didn’t help. But when Clayton Pelz got things going for Riverdale, he was extremely hard to stop down low. The 6-foot-9 senior has one spot where he feels extremely comfortable, the right post where he has a tough turnaround or face-up shot off the glass. But Pelz showed some variety by hitting a running hook shot from the left shot on one possession. While his range does seem a bit limited, he did move fairly well both in sets and running up and down the court. Pelz ended up with 16 points on 7-for-11 shooting from the field.
Riverdale Should Bounce Back
The Mavericks came into the game with a 7-2 record and a top ten power rating, so they were hardly chopped liver. De la Salle wans’t a great matchup but Riverdale has size with Pelz down low and shooters on the outside such as juniors Jackson Grimes and Ethan Hill to be competitive with most teams in the new Lewis & Clark League. Hill in particular did well against the Knights by showing a good touch both from three-point range and on mid-range pull-ups and ended up with 12 points.