BSN Sports Showcase – Foothills Christian 69, Windward 59
San Diego teams got their chance to prove their mettle against some of the top teams in Southern California Dec. 14 at the BSN Sports Showcase. Carlsbad High played host to eight games, beginning with the 9:30 a.m. tilt between…
Access all of Prep Hoops
Continue reading this article and more.
Continue ReadingSan Diego teams got their chance to prove their mettle against some of the top teams in Southern California Dec. 14 at the BSN Sports Showcase.
Carlsbad High played host to eight games, beginning with the 9:30 a.m. tilt between San Diego and Brea Olinda and culminating with an instant classic between Capistrano Valley and Poway, which needed a 50-foot buzzer beater to decide the outcome.
We will continue our game-by-game analysis of the event by looking at key takeaways from Foothills Christian’s victory over highly-ranked Windward.
Foothill’s balance on display
The Knights had four players in double figures in the win, highlighted by Nico Meza’s 25 points, but beyond the scoring balance was the competitive balance of the Knights starting five. There’s more to this team than Yale signee Yassine Gharram. 6-3 sophomore Jaden Lebel is coming into his own, as is Meza (more about his performance later), and even though they’re undersized in most of their big matchups, Derrien Carter-Hollinger and Jalai O’Keith are winning many of their matchups on both ends.
Windward a different team without Wright
The game lost some of its pre-event luster when it was announced before game time that Windward’s 6-9 sophomore star Kijani Wright was out with the flu. And it was clear that for most of the game, Windward stumbled without it’s anchor in the post. 6-4 senior post Marcus Joseph (a highly touted defensive end prospect) played solid minutes in Wright’s absence.
Nico Meza steps up
Meza entered the game with a reputation as a very good spot-up shooter, but showed improved play attacking closeouts and finishing straight line drives off of ball fakes in the win. As he continues to improve scoring from midrange and off of drives, he makes Foothills Christian’s offense that much more dangerous.
Devin Tillis a D1 prospect
The most impressive individual performance of the game came from Tillis, a 6-6 wing forward who comes into the game with a handful of D2 offers and interest from several D1s. Why those D1s haven’t offered is a mystery. Sure, he isn’t a leaper and isn’t the fleetest of foot, but his productivity, IQ, understanding of angles, perimeter shooting and scoring from midrange are hard to ignore. His 30-point effort kept the Wildcats afloat. At the next level, I could see him as a ball-handling four man who creates mismatches due to his size vs guards and skill vs bigs. Think Georges Niang.
O’Keith, Carter Hollinger key defense
As mentioned earlier, Foothills doesn’t have great size. It’s tallest player – O’Keith – is listed at 6-6 but is on the slender side. But he and Carter-Hollinger – a 6-5 wing – create mismatch for bigs who have to guard them on the perimeter. O’Keith does it by stretching the floor with his perimeter shooting, Carter-Hollinger by attacking the basket and finishing through contact. And both are excellent on-ball and help-side defenders, which neutralizes the bigger teams’ size advantage.