East Coast Bump: Standout Underclassmen
Last night inside the UMBC Event Center, history would be made. Two Baltimore teams in St. Frances and Baltimore Polytechnic Institute took down two top-5 teams in the country in Oak Hill and IMG. Prior to the two prime time…
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Continue ReadingLast night inside the UMBC Event Center, history would be made. Two Baltimore teams in St. Frances and Baltimore Polytechnic Institute took down two top-5 teams in the country in Oak Hill and IMG. Prior to the two prime time games, Rock Creek Christian Academy and New Hope Academy faced off.
The results:
Rock Creek Christian 73 New Hope 67
St. Frances 80 Oak Hill 61
Poly 62 IMG 60
Since I already released the standout seniors from this event, we’ll classify ‘underclassmen’ as freshmen-juniors for the purpose of this article.
Khyrie Staten | 6’2 | St. Frances ’21
All season long, Staten has proved himself on big stages against nationally ranked teams. Yesterday may have been the performance that captured most attention though as he poured in 20 points in St. Frances’ win over Oak Hill. The 6-foot-2 guard connected on two three’s in the first half that forced Oak Hill to be aware of Staten’s presence at all times. Still, he broke free in transition or utilized one-dribble pull up following aggressive close outs and converted. When you look at Staten, he may not look the part, but time and time again he’s proven that theory wrong. Staten competed at an extremely high level and effectively shut down K.K. Robinson, an Arkansas commit.
Moussa Diabate | 6’10 | IMG
Diabate presents size and elite length at 6-foot-10. What surprised me was how nimble he was with his movement and the comfort he has when handling the ball for short stints. Any time Diabate got in the vicinity of the rim, he finished with a dunk. It was in transition that Diabate was particularly unstoppable. Once he gets momentum, his athleticism and length allow him to jump from beyond the painted area to finish slams. The junior wing finished with 14 points in the loss to Poly.
Kwame Evans | 6’9 | Poly ’23
It was incredible to watch Evans compete with such highly-touted players only as a freshman. Not only did he hold his own, Evans stood out like it was just another game. The 6-foot-9 lefty compiled 16 points and was critical in Poly spreading the floor offensively with his outside shooting ability. Evans’ height didn’t allow the long defenders to disrupt his release as he connected on three three’s for the game. This type of performance against this team on such a big stage should only plant the seed for greatness ahead for Evans.
Julian Reese | 6’9 | St. Frances ’21
Reese made a statement with his performance in the win over Oak Hill. The 6-foot-9 forward chipped in with 11 points, five rebounds and was a crucial shot-blocking presence throughout with five blocks. In the early goings, Reese converted on a three and a shot from about 17-feet out on the baseline which forced the Oak Hill bigs to extend out and guard him. Reese proceeded to then move inside where he drew a shooting foul and was on the finishing end of an Ace Baldwin no-look dish. As he set a tone early with his offense, Reese did the same on the defensive end by putting together back-to-back possessions of blocking shot attempts. From that point on, almost every shot around the rim was with hesitation if Reese was anywhere in sight. That presence immensely impacted the game.
Jaylen Hall | 6’2 | New Hope ’22
Hall was letting it fly with accuracy yesterday in their loss to Rock Creek Christian. The 6-foot-2 sniper connected on four three’s on his way to 16 points. All of his looks were on catch-and-shoot situations where Hall effectively found open windows in the defense and got his feet set quickly as the pass was in flight. He also had a couple of nice drives to the bucket. Two where he finished and one where he drew a foul and knocked down both free-throws.
Jarace Walker | 6’7 | IMG
Walker’s body continues to fill into his already impressive 6-foot-7 frame. He showed some improvement on his jumper off of one or two dribbles to go with his handle on the ball. None of his eight points were more impressive than this one-handed dunk he threw down that caught everyone’s attention:
Former @thepybl star Jerace Walker with the PUNISHER for @IMGABasketball pic.twitter.com/lu9iejfeLm
— Capitol Hoops (@CapitolHoops) February 9, 2020