Totino-Grace 76 Osseo 53 – The Rundown
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Totino-Grace vs Osseo was one of the headline games of Monday night. Prep Hoops gives you a quick run down of some of the things that caught our eye. Photo: Alex Conover Prep Hoops MN The first player to catch…
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Continue ReadingTotino-Grace vs Osseo was one of the headline games of Monday night. Prep Hoops gives you a quick run down of some of the things that caught our eye.
The first player to catch my eye in this game was Tommy Humphries Tommy Humphries 6'5" | SF Totino-Grace | 2023 State #283 Nation MN , a 6-foot-4 sophomore guard from Totino-Grace. Early in the game his man challenged him five steps above the foul line so Humphries beat that player middle using both his quickness and strength, and then crossed over into a pull-up jumper while the defender’s footwork went from chase to sudden stop and wasn’t able to keep up with Humphries. By the time the defender changed directions Tommy was already into his lift. Tommy later had a bigger defender on him but it didn’t matter, Tommy went by that defender to the right as well but once to the basket, Humphries used an up fake to lift his man off the floor and then he extended into an And1 score. Impressive early bucket creation.
How did Joshua Ola-Joseph Joshua Ola-Joseph 6'6" | SF Osseo | 2022 State #166 Nation MN , a 6-foot-6 junior wing from Osseo, respond from his 30 point, five three point make night? His first basket was stepping off the screen at the right angle clearing his man so Josh could step back and catch. Josh then confidently made a triple while the defender scrambled to get around the screen. It was good to see that three-point shooting carry from Friday night into Monday night. Ola-Joseph then followed that by a run out catching and scoring at the rim over the length of a 6-foot-8 nationally ranked Eagle player. Ola-Joseph had words for his opponent after this play.
Shooting at a high percentage. We’ve spoken about what kind of premium that is. How about a guy that can step back off the ball screen, catch, and hit a three from 23 feet while one defender communicates to the other to hedge hard over the top. The defense boxed Donald Ferguson, a 6-foot-1 junior shooting guard from Osseo, in pretty well but it’s hard to step all the way out to the sideline to get a hand up so Ferguson drained the attempt with that A+ jumper.
Tottino-Grace took an early first half lead when point guard DJ Akpati DJ Akpati 6'0" | PG Totino-Grace | 2021 State MN , a 6-foot-1 point guard from TG, was matched-up with a slower defender and first took that player baseline for an attack. That attack and kick hockey assist was followed by that same defender trying to defend DJ full court so Akpati hesitated and then attacked hard right. Akpati got to the middle and then physically controlled that defender for a leading pass to Patrick Bach for a dunk.
The guy doing some of everything? That’s CJ O’Hara CJ O’Hara 6'4" | SF Park Center | 2023 State #285 Nation MN , a 6-foot-3 guard from Totino-Grace. He’s the talent picked out to chase the top Osseo shooter. He’s the player that had the Eagle’s first put-back score of the game. He’s the talent that made the extra pass for the team’s first three and O’Hara is the player that caught in transition and quickly moved the ball to a teammate for an open floor score. And later in the first half CJ collected another o-board and attacked hard left into a step-back make. O’Hara, the hard working do-it-all producer.
The late half production for the Eagles was from nationally ranked Demarion Watson Demarion Watson 6'8" | SF Totino-Grace | 2022 State #150 Nation MN , a 6-foot-8 wing from Totino-Grace. Demarion’s help over block of the Osseo Center was followed by a three from Demarion the other way. A couple minutes later Demarion erased another Osseo shot attempt with a second block in a help down situation and then sprinted the floor for a contested basket at the rim. Contest Demarion at the rim with a guard or wing? That’s nearly an impossible task with his quick bounce off the floor and extending length. Moments later his third swat was in another help situation only this time Watson-Saulsberry blocked a low post attempt.
Another point guard in this game that turned hard right past his man for scoring production was Tyirece Waits, a 6-foot-1 point guard from Osseo. Waits opened the second half with a bursting step turning to the rim keeping his man on his hip and moments later dropped a gorgeous bounce pass leading Ola-Joseph for a two hand Rodney Williams like finish. A minute later an Eagle over played the passing lane top high so Waits caught and attacked right again scoring a one hander floater over the out-stretched arms of 6-foot-6 Eagle forward Devin Burger Devin Burger 6'6" | SF Totino Grace | 2021 State MN .
Down the stretch is usually when a team hears from Taison Chatman Taison Chatman 6'4" | PG Totino Grace | 2023 State #35 Nation MN , a 6-foot-3 guard from Totino-Grace, the most. Playing lead guard Taison went left forcing a bigger defender to step over with him and then turned it back attacking hard right forcing that bigger forward into instant chase and extend the arm to grab, mode. Taison then burst to the rim to extend with a one hand kiss over the arms of three defenders. Back the other way Taison blocked the shot of a reserve Oriole and that set up a Humphries push to an O’Hara And1 finish in transition. Chatman then followed that with a one dribble attack left that moved the defense an allowed Watson-Saulsberry both the time to get open, and the space to catch and hit another triple.
Biggest players down the stretch? Basketball in Bullet Points and these are all Eagle scores earning the lead and extending it to double digits:
- Akpati three off a dribble pitch from Humphries
- Watson-Sauslberry with his third three of the game off a baseline in-bounds play
- Humphries creating some type of turnover off the in-bound pass
- Chatman steal to a sprinting Burger for a lay-in
- Akpati beating his man again and this time setting up a backdoor cut to Demarion who dunked over the player that was talking trash to him earlier so he sent the words back.
- Devin Burger Devin Burger 6'6" | SF Totino Grace | 2021 State MN with an attacking spin move pass to a cutting O’Hara.
- Chatman with the filthy in and out quick separation move into a three followed by a dunk, then another three, and an attacking pull-up. His 10-0 personal scoring run was the final stamp on the victory.
Top Prospects in the Game
After watching this contest I would go with the following as a top ten prospect rank for players in this game regardless of class:
- Taison Chatman Taison Chatman 6'4" | PG Totino Grace | 2023 State #35 Nation MN (20pt)
- Demarion Watson Demarion Watson 6'8" | SF Totino-Grace | 2022 State #150 Nation MN (16pt)
- Tommy Humphries Tommy Humphries 6'5" | SF Totino-Grace | 2023 State #283 Nation MN (8pts)
- Joshua Ola-Joseph Joshua Ola-Joseph 6'6" | SF Osseo | 2022 State #166 Nation MN (18pts)
- CJ O’Hara CJ O’Hara 6'4" | SF Park Center | 2023 State #285 Nation MN (12pts)
- Patrick Bath (8pts)
- Donald Ferguson (5pts)
- Tyirece Waits (8pts)
- Benard Omooria Benard Omooria 6'2" | CG Osseo | 2022 State MN (5pts)
- Blessed Barhayiga Blessed Barhayiga 6'9" | C Osseo | 2022 State MN (9pts)
- DJ Akpati DJ Akpati 6'0" | PG Totino-Grace | 2021 State MN (3pt)
- Devin Burger Devin Burger 6'6" | SF Totino Grace | 2021 State MN (8pt)