Five Takeaways: TCIS Semifinals
I made the trip down to the Hampton Roads area for two tremendous TCIS semifinal games that were played at Hampton Roads Academy. In the first game it was the 4 seed Bishop Sullivan upsetting the 1 seed Cape Henry…
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Continue ReadingI made the trip down to the Hampton Roads area for two tremendous TCIS semifinal games that were played at Hampton Roads Academy. In the first game it was the 4 seed Bishop Sullivan upsetting the 1 seed Cape Henry Collegiate, 61-60 which was also Cape Henry’s first TCIS loss of the year. In the second game it was the 7 seed Norfolk Academy upsetting the 3 seed Steward, with a score of 54-51. On Saturday afternoon Bishop Sullivan and Norfolk Academy will square off to see who takes home the TCIS championship trophy. Norfolk Academy is the defending champion.
Shawn Walker Leads Bishop Sullivan
It was the best performance I have ever seen from the 2019 Siena commit. Finishing with 27 points he led a hungry Bishop Sullivan team in the upset win over the 1 seed Cape Henry Collegiate. Walker’s best play of the game when he caught the ball right below the free throw line, took one dribble and finished with a one handed jam, that got the crowd to their feet. However, the most important points came when he drew a foul with .1 seconds left when his team was down one, went to the free throw line and knocked down both free throws comfortably to lead Bishop Sullivan to the TCIS championship game.
Kenan Sarvan Shines On Offense And Defense
Sarvan shot lights out for Bishop Sullivan finishing 4 of 5 from deep. It did not matter if a defender was right in his face or if Kenan was off balance, he was getting the shot up and it was going in. For a big man he can pass the ball well and had a nice behind the back pass in transition that led to an assist and bucket for Sullivan. He defender well in the post too finishing with 3 blocks. St. Joe’s has a good shooter coming into the program
Dajour Rucker Shows Why He Is TCIS Player Of The Year
For the second year in a row, Rucker was named the TCIS regular season player of the year. Tonight he finished with 22 points and scored the ball in a variety ways. He has always had good range on his shot and he showed that again tonight. He was switching directions tonight when attacking the rim and had two impressive reverse layups on Kenan Sarvan. He also hauled in 9 rebounds for the Dolphins as he is not afraid to get physical in the post. Marshall is getting a winner and a guy that goes out and expects to win night in and night out.
Mark Williams vs Efton Reid
In a highly anticipated matchup between two of the best bigs in the country, it was well worth the hype.
I will start with Mark Williams who led his Norfolk Academy team in a three point win. Williams finished with 13 points, 11 rebounds and 4 blocks. It was one of the hardest playing games that I have seen Mark play as he took this game more personal and demanded the ball in the 4th quarter when it was a tight game. Steward would double team him a lot and his passing out of the double team was very impressive. He got the ball out quick once the double team got to him and that was crucial for Academy. He moved well with the ball at the top of the key and hit some big time free throws at the end of the game to secure the win for the Bulldogs.
Efton Reid had 15 points for Steward and 8 rebounds. Efton caused Mark to travel twice with the ball but I did not see the motor with Efton like I did with Mark. I really liked Efton’s footwork and boxed out well on Mark. Efton definitely used his body better and pushed his weight into Mark to open space for his teammates around the rim.
Isaiah Simmons Keeps Steward In The Game
Steward got off to a horrible start in the game and found themselves down 17-2 early on in the 1st quarter. Simmons was there to save the Spartans though and led them in not letting the game turn into a blowout. He played hard the entire game finishing with 15 points and really pushed the pace well for Steward. He has good handles and really ran the offense well. He applied good pressure on the ball and caused a few turnovers which led to a few easy transition buckets for himself. The 2021 guard showed a lot of promise when his team was under pressure.