Five Takeaways: St. Frances vs Loyola
Last night, St. Frances hosted MIAA/BCL foe Loyola and honored their six seniors prior to the game. Five of those seniors in Rajeir Jones, Jason Murphy, Chad Brown, Tayquan Busby, and Emanuel Balogun played the bulk of the minutes, helping…
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Continue ReadingLast night, St. Frances hosted MIAA/BCL foe Loyola and honored their six seniors prior to the game. Five of those seniors in Rajeir Jones, Jason Murphy, Chad Brown, Tayquan Busby, and Emanuel Balogun played the bulk of the minutes, helping lead their team to a 54-44 win. The final score was not an indication of how the game went. The Panthers held a lead of 15 or more for a large part of this game. With the win, St. Frances improves to 27-4 overall while Loyola falls to 17-10.
Here are our takeaways:
Rajeir Jones leads the way
It was only right for the Chicago State commit to take control of this one on the night the seniors were recognized. The 6-foot-3 guard had it going from deep, nailing four three’s on his way to a team-high 15 points. Jones filled the role of the point guard considering he was the strongest ball handler of the group of seniors and did a nice job pushing the pace. Once the normal starting point guard in junior Ace Baldwin checked in, Jones found many open shots come his way on the wing.
Loyola had no answer for Jamal West
It is now evident that not many teams in the area have an answer for Jamal West. The 6-foot-5 wing/forward plays harder than anyone you’ll find no matter the situation. He has the motor to grab a defensive board, outlet the ball ahead to a guard and sprint the lane to open himself for dunk. West finished with 14 points on the evening and scored in just about every way possible.
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Hepting and Moore lead Loyola
Senior guard Conner Hepting and sophomore guard Jordan Moore led the Dons with 12 and 11 points respectively. Moore played a big role simply because of his athleticism. The Dons don’t have many players who can create off the dribble, but Moore has the quickness and skill to handle pressure well. Hepting came on at the end. Despite missing a few open lay ups in transition that would’ve helped the Dons cut the lead to six, he played hard throughout and was effective at drawing fouls and getting to the free-throw line.
St. Frances pressure was overwhelming
Loyola lacks athleticism and play making at the guard position, so St. Frances’ constant ball pressure and surprising traps didn’t bode well for them. It results in plenty of steals and fast break opportunities for the Panthers (see Jordan Toles‘ breakaway dunk following this paragraph). Loyola isn’t the only team that has struggled against their pressure, though. St. Frances has been locked in on the defensive end for the past few weeks. If they can keep the same mentality, they will be extremely difficult to beat.
https://twitter.com/ColbyGHoops/status/1094032955591323651
Looking ahead
St. Frances will be favored in the rest of the games on their schedule. None will be more important than the game at Mt. St. Joe this Friday. The Gaels went into the Panthers’ gym earlier this year and won 74-63. St. Frances is determined to redeem themselves from their only conference loss of the season. Following that game, the MIAA and BCL playoffs begin. Basketball is about to get reeeeeeally fun.