Augustine’s Analysis: 4A State Championship
As expected, Shadow Mountain made it to the state championship. With that said, it was a bumpy road once again as Salpointe gave them all that they could handle. While Salpointe won’t get to play them in the state championship…
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Continue ReadingAs expected, Shadow Mountain made it to the state championship. With that said, it was a bumpy road once again as Salpointe gave them all that they could handle. While Salpointe won’t get to play them in the state championship for the 3rd year in a row due to being on the same side of the bracket, the match-up between Deer Valley and Shadow Mountain should be intriguing.
Deer Valley was the other most feasible team to see Shadow in the state title, and they were fortunate enough to be on the other side of the bracket. A well coached team with a lot of talent should make this game quite intriguing.
Augustine’s Analysis: Deer Valley
1. Bulldog Mentality – Johnny Diaz is a bulldog. Play and simple. He plays the game with a lot of confidence and emotion. While Deer Valley enters the game as a heavy underdog, anyone who has seen Diaz play knows that Deer Valley is never an underdog with him on the floor.
He rises to the occasion and is not afraid of anyone, regardless of skill set or media rankings. He has invested his time on the floor and trusts that he can compete with anyone. Not will be no different. Expect Diaz to do whatever he can to keep this one competitive and give Deer Valley a shot. He is the real deal.
2. Cumulative Length – Deer Valley is a well built time with plenty of length. Brandon Savage stands at 6’8, Jalen and Jaret Allen are both at 6’5, and Malcolm Jackson is 6’4.
Between these four, Deer Valley is able to do a lot of things on the defensive end of the floor. They are lengthy and athletic which also makes them versatile on the offensive end of the floor.
Shadow Mountain has lengthy and athleticism that is comparable. However, the versatility is a huge part of what makes Deer Valley dangerous.
3. Balance – While Diaz runs the show, this team has a plethora of playmakers. One guy who has not been mentioned in this article yet is Jackson Leyba. Leyba is a crafty guard who competes at a high level. His ability to win 50/50 balls is huge for this team. He is a competitor and a key contributor.
Further, Jackson, Savage, and Allen are all capable of scoring the basketball at a high level. This team is loaded with talent.
Augustine’s Analysis: Shadow Mountain
1. Guards – Jaelen House and Jovan Blacksher are incredible. Nothing else needs to be said. These two play with a lot of passion and enthusiasm. In addition to bringing effort and energy, they both execute at a high level.
They harass opposing guards and make it nearly impossible for opposing guards to operate. Further, they know that they can gamble and pressure as they have athletes behind them that will rotate.
Offensively, these two are playmakers who make those around them better. It is very helpful that those around them are already very good.
2. Depth – This team has some of the best prospects in the nation on the squad. They are extremely skilled and have more talent than the vast majority of the teams in the nation.
House and Blacksher are household names at this point. However, Jalen Williams was vital to the team winning last night verse Salpointe. He is versatile and athletic. Moreover, he was able to utilize his rip through moves and get to the paint seemingly at will.
Shemar Morrow and DeVante Cobbs are also key contributors who are extremely skilled. Cobbs might have made the play of the year with his blocked shot late in the game last night as well.
3. Defense – While it is not your typical packline defense that holds opponents to under 40 points, this team is really good at what they do on the defensive end of the floor.
They fly around the court and utilize their athleticism in a way that makes them challenging to play against. Opposing teams will score due to the amount of activity and trapping.
However, they will get their turnovers that will lead to easy buckets and blowouts. It will be vital for Deer Valley that they limit turnovers and get good shots every possession. That was the key to Salpointe’s success last night as they only had 8 turnovers in the game.