Five Intriguing Prospects: St. Frances vs Simeon
This past Saturday, the annual Windy City vs Charm City Showcase took place at St. Frances Academy. In the second of the two games, St. Frances faced off against Simeon. Coming into this one, St. Frances had plenty of marquee…
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Continue ReadingThis past Saturday, the annual Windy City vs Charm City Showcase took place at St. Frances Academy. In the second of the two games, St. Frances faced off against Simeon. Coming into this one, St. Frances had plenty of marquee wins to speak for their top-25 ranking. Simeon, a consistent powerhouse in Chicago, had struggled more than usual after losing a few key players from last year’s team. Still, Simeon put up quite a fight, but it wasn’t enough as St. Frances came away with the 70-65 win.
We will take a look at five intriguing prospects from this contest:
Ace Baldwin | St. Frances ’20
Baldwin led St. Frances with 25 points, 15 of which came in the second half. After putting down a couple of three’s in the first half, Baldwin made a concentrated effort to attack the basket in the second half. As a result, he visited the free-throw line frequently and converted on all 10 of his attempts. The 6-foot-1 guard always makes his impact felt in more than just the scoring column. Baldwin had complete control of the game in terms of pace for St. Frances. He set up teammates for open looks in a variety of ways and got his hands on many passes from Simeon players. You could tell in the second half, Baldwin decided to take the game over when Simeon made their push. His efforts ended up being too much.
Antonio Reeves | Simeon ’19
Reeves led all scorer in this one with 32 points. The 6-foot-4 guard came out firing from the tip and converted on three of his five total three-pointers in the first half. His 17 second-half points were key in bringing his team back to tie things up with less than three minutes to go in the game. The majority of Reeves’ shots came off of catch-and-shoot situations, but there were multiple occasions in transition where he stopped on a dime for a mid-range shot. He also rebounded well and was effective getting an early push, trying to catch the St. Frances defense scrambling while in transition.
Jordan Toles | St. Frances ’20
Toles followed Baldwin with 18 points in the win. The 6-foot-2 guard made two three’s, but had a handful of his usual buckets where he bullies his defender in the air and finishes through contact. A big development of Toles’ game has been his jumpshot. This time last year, this area of his game was a glaring weakness. It’s now to the point where as a defender, you have to do your best to contest it in hopes that he’ll miss. When he catches in rhythm from 12-18 feet, it’s becoming automatic when left open.
Jamal West | St. Frances ’20
West is an animal. There’s no other way to describe his game. His aggression that he plays with, especially when he is attacking the rim, is like no other. The 6-foot-5 forward finished with 16 points to back Toles and Baldwin. Aside from his alley-oop over a defender that came from Baldwin throwing off the glass, West’s most impressive scores were his three three-pointers. When he was at Dunbar last year, you never saw West even think about attempting a three. Even though it isn’t a staple in his game to this day, you can see the steady progression he is taking with his jumper. This is mandatory considering he’ll be playing a lot on the wing once he gets to college. As usual, he was a presence on the glass both offensively and defensively.
Watch ya head pic.twitter.com/i2qtUSoFBy
— Buttons (@baldwn410) January 20, 2019
Sincere Callwood | Simeon ’20
Other than Reeves, Simeon struggled to get any scoring from other players. Callwood was the closest with nine points, five of which came from the free-throw line. Where Callwood stood out was his effort and energy in which he attacked the glass. He did a nice job battling for early position on both ends to give him opportunities for rebounds. The 6-foot-6 forward also ran the floor well and found openings in the defense that resulted in easy lay ups.
Feature Photo Credit: Joey O’Dwyer