Regional Review: Class of 2019
Yesterday I once again spent time watching a lot of film and was able to see seven of the 32 Regional Semi-Final games. Below is a look at nine Seniors who I thought played well in what I was able…
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Continue ReadingYesterday I once again spent time watching a lot of film and was able to see seven of the 32 Regional Semi-Final games. Below is a look at nine Seniors who I thought played well in what I was able to see. While these aren’t all of the Seniors who played yesterday, they are the ones who stood out to me during those seven games.
Noah Applegate, 6-5 F, Penn H.S. (Hillsdale)
Noah has had an outstanding career, and because of his play yesterday, Penn has advanced to the Semi-State round. Noah is a strong, vertically athletic forward who plays with a good motor and some toughness. He can be physical on the interior, post smaller defenders on occasion, and he rebounds it well. But he also possesses a really nice jump-shot that is almost automatic in the mid-post, while also being consistent around the perimeter. At the high school level, he can defend multiple types of forwards and even some posts, but he could stand to get a little quicker to defend the perimeter at the next level.
Sydney Curry, 6-8 F/C, Fort Wayne Northrop H.S. (Miami-Ohio)
Sydney has put together a really nice Senior season at Northrop after spending his first three years at Bishop Luers High School and Horizon Christian Academy…both also in Fort Wayne. Sydney is a thick / strong and physical interior player. He likes to seek contact and control the paint, but he also has some length, soft hands, and a nice touch around the basket. He even pulled out a “Sky Hook” during what I watched. When he was younger, he almost settled too much for jumpers, and he can be effective facing the basket to about 15-feet, but he’s a back-to-the-basket kid more than anything right now because he can just dominate most of his peers down low.
Rylan Detling, 6-7 F/C, Frankton H.S.
It was just 12 days ago that Rylan was rushed to the hospital for emergency appendectomy surgery. He missed the Eagles’ first two Sectional games before returning for the Sectional Championship Game on Saturday, March 2nd. Yesterday he looked like nothing had happened at all. He plays a big role on this team as he can post solidly inside, but he also plays around the perimeter and does a nice job in their screen & role offense. He has length, he moves North / South well, and he looks a little stronger this year. He also possesses a nice face-up jumper to about 15-feet. As far as I know, he remains uncommitted, but that could change very quickly.
Kayden Key, 6-1 G, Frankton H.S. (Olivet Nazarene)
Kayden has been the heart and soul of this team the last couple of years, and he is now just 24 points away from 1700 for his career. Kayden is a strong, physical, and aggressive scorer. He is a capable perimeter shooter, but he’s best when he’s attacking the basket, as he can finish through contact or earn repeated trips to the free throw line. He has very good ball skills and can play point guard at times, something he did more of last season, but he’s such a good scorer for them, that they’ve played him off the ball more this year. Frankton will need a big outing from Kayden next Saturday against Andrean, as they have a very solid backcourt as well.
Nelson Mbongo, 6-5 F, West Lafayette H.S.
Nelson is a tremendously long, and extremely bouncy forward, and he typically plays with a really good motor. He moves around the floor fairly effortlessly, and he can make athletic plays other guys just can’t. Positionally, he has been transitioning from an interior player to a perimeter player for the last couple of years, and yesterday his handle looked much-improved. He still probably needs to be more of a threat shooting it outside, but he is good attacking the basket and finishing at the rim above defenders. Still, though, when he wants a basket, he tends to find himself around the paint, and he just uses his athleticism to give him the advantage in the post down low.
JeVon Morris, 6-2 G, Munster H.S.
Munster could not find any rhythm much of the game against Northridge, but JeVon was the one kid who I thought played consistently well for them. He is a long, fluid, and smooth combo guard who glides by defenders with ease. He can act as the primary ball-handler and run offense like a point guard, and he can play off the ball, use screens to get shots, or create his own shots off the bounce. I was really impressed with how much stronger and more confident he looked offensively, and defensively he does a nice job both on the ball and one pass away creating deflections. I think he’s a kid who is still very undervalued by colleges.
John Michael Mulloy, 6-9 F/C, Carmel H.S. (Butler)
John Michael has always been a skillful big, but in the past he preferred to play almost exclusively facing the basket. Now, he looks much stronger and a lot more confident around the paint, as he is seeking out contact and doing a nice job of using feel to make post moves inside. He’s still very left-hand dominant, so that will need to be ironed out by next year, but he has good hands, length, and nice touch at all levels on the floor. He’s essentially a pick-and-pop ‘5’ who moves around the floor well. I think he’ll be a welcomed addition at Butler, because he’s just different and a lot more mobile and skillful than their current bigs.
Karsten Windlan, 5-11 G, Carmel H.S.
Use whichever cliché word you’d like with Karsten…tough-nosed, blue-collared, gritty, even ornery…and you’ll be pretty spot-on with his play. He is a tough kid, he plays with a great motor, and he always competes. Karsten possesses good length, he’s a fluid athlete in most directions, and he has a versatile skillset. He can handle the ball and run offense on occasion, but he’s so dynamic offensively, that he’s better coming off screens because he reads defense well and can attack the basket hard, create scores off the bounce, or knock down open jumpers when in rhythm…whatever the defense gives him. I really like how he has approached the game these last two seasons.
Amiri Young, 5-9 G, Hammond H.S.
Of all the games and players I saw yesterday, I felt like Amiri was probably the most entertaining. After a modest 14-7 regular season, Hammond snuck up on people, beating Griffith & Gary West Side in the Sectional, and turning an 8-point deficit into a 24-point win against West Lafayette yesterday. Amiri was a big part of that, as he was their leading scorer this year at just over 18 points per game. He is wiry strong, very quick, and he plays with a lot of passion and grit. He is a capable shooter with range beyond the arc, but he also gets into gaps and can attack the basket and finish against size. He has the ball skills to play point, but I think he’s more of a scorer than anything.
Header photo of Karsten Windlan of Carmel High School; photo courtesy of prephoops.com. Photo of Sydney Curry courtesy of journalgazette.net. Photo of Nelson Mbongo courtesy of his own Twitter account.