Lakota East Cruises Past Middletown
Lakota East hosted Middletown Tuesday night and cruised to their fifth straight win. Two early three’s from Jadon Coles and a couple early dunks from Nate Johnson and Alex Mangold set the tone for the rest of the game. The…
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Continue ReadingLakota East hosted Middletown Tuesday night and cruised to their fifth straight win. Two early three’s from Jadon Coles and a couple early dunks from Nate Johnson and Alex Mangold set the tone for the rest of the game. The Thunderhawk’s stars got hot early, and they never looked back.
Jadon Coles (16pts 2ast) was on fire Tuesday night. This kid can shoot and is heating up towards the tail-end of the season, something I’m sure his coaches and teammates are enjoying. He has scored double-digits in his last four games, shooting 8-10 from behind the arc in the last three. Being a Sophomore, this is a kid who will be on our radar going into the future. I have a feeling he will shoot up the rankings and start seeing college offers if he continues to improve.
Alex Mangold (13pts 4reb) was another hot hand in the victory Tuesday night. The Nova Southeastern commit continues to show signs of improvement. He had a nice dunk in transition early on in the game and also showed some good footwork in the post. Alex will be a key component heading into tournament time. Not too many teams have athletic bigs, and I believe that if he continues to work on his inside finishing when there’s contact, he will be able to help control the paint in tough games.
Nate Johnson (18pts 7ast 5reb 5stl) is ranked as high as he is for a reason. The junior guard can absolutely ball. He went 7-7 from the field, with his only miss of the night coming from the free-throw line where he shot 4-5. Something that impressed me about Nate was his ability to create opportunities for his teammates. With his size and athleticism, he was able to drive and kick the ball with effectiveness the entire night. He was also able to keep the defender’s honest by finishing at the rim himself. He has multiple D1 offers, and I am sure he will be getting more in the next year.
Lakota East currently sits at the top of the GMC, and it looks like the conference title will be coming down between them and Oak Hills, who is the only team to beat the Thunderhawks in league play. They will square off against Oak Hills again on Feb. 11 at 7:15 @ Lakota East High School in what could be the game that seals the title for them.