3 takeaways from the FACS Crusaders’ win over TRA
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FACS protected home court Tuesday night, defeating Tipton-Rosemark Academy, 67-52, behind a strong second half from junior forward Daniel Egbuniwe. Here are my takeaways from the game. Kobe Wilkes Kobe Wilkes 6'0" | PG FACS | 2022 State TN and…
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Continue ReadingFACS protected home court Tuesday night, defeating Tipton-Rosemark Academy, 67-52, behind a strong second half from junior forward Daniel Egbuniwe.
Here are my takeaways from the game.
Kobe Wilkes Kobe Wilkes 6'0" | PG FACS | 2022 State TN and Corey Savage Corey Savage 6'0" | SG FACS | 2022 State TN got nice looks
FACS has solid guard play and for most of the game, the Rebels didn’t stop the Crusaders’ penetration. Whether senior guard Josh Ward or junior guard TJ Thomas was penetrating to the basket, both players made the right pass to the corner to Wilkes and Savage for uncontested 3-point attempts. Now, Savage didn’t have a good shooting night. He missed more than he should have, but Savage did make two from the corner. Wilkes made four 3s in the first half and all of them were big. His fourth 3 put FACS back up double-digits in the second quarter after TRA had cut its deficit to single digits.
Wilkes scored all of his 14 points in the first half. Savage made one shot – a 3-pointer – in the second half to finish the night with 10.
Ward and Thomas didn’t force a lot of shots. They didn’t need to. They were smart enough to keep making the right pass.
Daniel Egbuniwe Daniel Egbuniwe 6'6" | SF FACS | 2022 State TN is the name
The junior forward led the Crusaders with 24 Tuesday night, with more than half of them coming in the second half. Egbuniwe’s highlight of the night came off a pass fake that led to a one-handed dunk to ignite the home crowd. The dunk also signified the type of night the 6-foot-7 forward was having, while sharing the court with South Alabama commit Alex Anderson.
Egbuniwe took shots within the offense, went to set screens at the top when he needed to and occasionally was the team’s ball handler when the play was designed for him to be. Egbuniwe is a smart, patient and unselfish basketball player. He was the winning team’s best player Tuesday night.
Crusaders’ defense focused on Anderson and Byrd
TRA’s Anderson is one hell of a player. There’s no doubting that. But on Tuesday night, FACS swarmed over Anderson each time he positioned himself on the block or started driving to the basket from the baseline. Egbuniwe contested some of Anderson’s shots at the rim. Junior Tyler Byrd Tyler Byrd 6'3" | SF Tipton-Rosemark Academy | 2022 State TN , a train no one wants to get in front of, didn’t live in the lane like he has been doing all season.
Byrd was forced to take some outside jump shots. Anderson took more than usual.
Both players love to live in the lane. The home team did what it could to keep them outside the paint.
Anderson finished with 16. Byrd added 11. I don’t expect Anderson nor Byrd to have low-scoring performances when these two teams meet again.
I just expect a battle for four full quarters.