Five Intriguing Prospects: Boys’ Latin vs Mount St. Joseph
Last night on the campus of Boys’ Latin, the Lakers and the Gaels of Mount St. Joe faced off in what would turn out to be an overtime thriller. When it was all said and done, Boys’ Latin reigned victorious…
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Continue ReadingLast night on the campus of Boys’ Latin, the Lakers and the Gaels of Mount St. Joe faced off in what would turn out to be an overtime thriller. When it was all said and done, Boys’ Latin reigned victorious by a final score of 66-63. It took some late game heroics from their leading scorer to extend the game and eventually give them time to secure the victory and improve to 4-6 overall and 3-2 in MIAA league play. In the loss, the Gaels fall to 10-3 overall and 3-2 in league play.
Here, we’ll take a look at five intriguing prospects from this game.
Lorenzo Donadio | 6’3 | Boys’ Latin ’20
Donadio was fantastic in last night’s game as indicated by his game-high 35 points. None of his baskets were bigger than the pull-up three that he hit from eight feet beyond the arc as time expired to extend the game into overtime. It was my first time getting to see Donadio live and he impressed me with the way he gets his buckets. There’s nothing complicated about his game. He plays within Coach Rees’ dribble hand-off heavy offense and reacts off whatever coverage the defense throws his way. If his man is trailing, he heads straight to the cup. If they try and go under the hand-off, he can step back and drill a three. Even when his defender fights back to get in front of him, Donadio uses one or two dribbles to create a shot in the mid-range or floaters in the paint. It’s clear that this offense suits his skill set perfectly and the freedom in which he’s allowed to be a decision-maker is what made Boys’ Latin so successful.
Jason Edokpayi | 6’7 | Mount St. Joe ’20
The Gael’s held a distinct advantage inside with their height in comparison to the Lakers and they made that evident immediately with Fairfield commit Jason Edokpayi. They worked that advantage early and often. Edokpayi scored 11 points in the first quarter, eight of which came from dump down passes after he had successfully sealed his man below the basket. He followed his inside buckets up with a nice three-pointer that forced the defense to start accounting for him at all three levels. In the second half, the Gael guards weren’t looking at him as much, so he found other ways to get the ball by hounding the offensive glass and getting fouled. Edokpayi was perfect from the free-throw stripe, going eight-for-eight on the night.
Kendall Walker | 6’0 | Boys’ Latin ’20
Walker made a ton of tough-minded plays last night on both ends of the floor. He and Donadio were the leading scorer for the Lakers as the 6-foot guard finished with 16 points. Walker made great reads with the ball on hand-offs and ball-screens to free himself up around the rim or for a mid-range shot. In transition, Walker was quick but not in a hurry. If the defense allowed him to gather into a 12-to-15 foot jumper, he made them pay. When the defender stepped up, Walker would use a little hesitation dribble to blow by him and lay the ball in. Walker’s toughness is critical for an already undersized Laker team. His mindset sets the tone for the rest of his teammates to live up to.
Sean Carr | 6’5 | Mount St. Joe ’21
Carr started the game off on Donadio, but took turns guarding multiple players throughout the night. For his size, it’s a testament to his versatility on that end of the floor. Boys’ Latin’s offense usually gives opposing bigs fits because of the constant movement on the perimeter. I liked the energy from Carr in that regard and his willingness to crash the glass with aggression. There were a few calls made against Carr that were questionable to say the least. Pile that on along with the constant taunting from the Laker fans and usually players will crumble. Carr stayed mentally tough and stayed focused on his assignment. He also did a nice job of finishing his looks around the rim and converting on all six of his free-throws as he recorded 12 points on the night.
Tyler Brelsford | 6’3 | Mount St. Joe ’20
Aside from his one three-pointer that he made early on, Brelsford was nonexistent in the first half. The second half was a different story as the George Washington commit started to be more aggressive off the bounce. He made it a point of getting to the rim and drawing fouls. Six of his 10 second half points came from the free-throw line. Because of his ability to shoot from the outside, his defender is on high alert whenever he has the ball on the perimeter, but Brelsford had no intentions of shooting from distance. Multiple times, he would get his defender off balance with a behind the back dribble, utilize a pump fake and jump into said defender to force the refs into blowing their whistle.