St. Paul’s vs Harford Tech: Superlatives
There were plenty of games canceled this evening, which led to me to St. Paul’s as the Crusaders played host to Harford Tech for an interesting Maryland Private vs Harford County Public School matchup. St. Paul’s came out with the…
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Continue ReadingThere were plenty of games canceled this evening, which led to me to St. Paul’s as the Crusaders played host to Harford Tech for an interesting Maryland Private vs Harford County Public School matchup. St. Paul’s came out with the 65-33 win to improve to 5-6 on the season as Harford Tech dropped to 3-2 with the loss. Here are the 10 best prospects in various categories from the contest:
Best Prospect: Marquel Paschall | 6’0 | St. Paul’s ’25
When you break down the prospects on display from this one, Paschall supplies plenty of reason to be excited. He’s usually a dead-eye shooter from deep, but couldn’t get a rhythm established in the early going. Instead, he used his reputation as a marksman to his advantage attacking closeouts and getting to the rim. He also was consistently running the floor in transition where he finished a few contested layups through fouls. On his drives in the half court, Paschal did a good job of finished with either hand and shows good confidence considering he’s only a freshman. Paschall led the Crusaders with 13 points.
Best Scorer: Evan Buck | 6’0 | Harford Tech ’22
Buck led all scorers the the game with 15 points. The senior scored a bucket in just about every fashion. He made a three in the first quarter, finished at the rim in the open floor and made multiple pull-up jumpers from the mid-range.
Best Shooter: Nate Livingston | 6’2 | St. Paul’s ’23
Livingston nailed both of his three’s from the corner and really established himself as a floor spacer to aid the Crusaders off the bench. While Paschall is usually counted on as the outside shooting presence, Livingston stepped in at crucial momentum swings during the game and made up for the lack of outside shooting from everyone else.
Best Passer: Jeremiah Douglas | 6’1 | St. Paul’s ’24
Douglas put on a clinic in the open floor where he quickly received the outlet pass, got to the middle and led the charge of a fast break. It seemed like every possession that was in transition, he was hitting teammates in stride with chest or bounce passes to put them in position for easy looks. Douglas also made sound swing passes in the open floor to force the defensive rotation and located teammates in small windows.
Best Underclassman: Marquel Paschal | 6’0 | St. Paul’s ’25
It’s only right that Paschal gets this mention. Not only was he one of the better underclassmen in this game, but he caught my eye earlier this season when he connected on four three’s in a game against Loyola. He has the approach and confidence to become a nice name in the class locally if he continues on this trajectory.
Best Defender: Ernest Willor | 6’4 | St. Paul’s ’24
Willor was extremely valuable as a defender as he anchored St. Paul’s 2-3 zone. If he wasn’t breaking up passes in the middle, he was altering shots in the paint or cleaning up misses off the glass using his physical tendencies and frame to win position.
Best New Find: Evan Buck | 6’0 | Harford Tech ’22
Buck kept the Cobras close in the first half as they trailed by just seven points at the break. St. Paul’s turned up the defensive pressure to eventually go on a run, but it was Buck who was the most consistent threat for Harford Tech. He could emerge as a possible All Harford County candidate with steady production like he had last night.
Best Players Off The Bench:
Nate Livingston | 6’2 | St. Paul’s ’23
As stated earlier, Livingston came into the game and didn’t hesitate making his presence known from outside. Given the fact that St. Paul’s was having trouble finding their mark from deep early on, the two triples that he hit forced the defense to make a concerted effort to defend on the perimeter.
Eric Macharia | 6’2 | Harford Tech ’24
Macharia was aggressive coming into the game and freed himself up for a catch-and-shoot three early on, which he made. It would be his only make for the game, but Macharia’s wiggle off the bounce threw in a capable playmaker on the floor next to Buck. The sophomore has had some productive outings off the bench for the Cobras this season and it was good to see that even though he didn’t have a great scoring performance, he still found some ways to be effective.
Best Rebounder: Ernest Willor | 6’5 | St. Paul’s ’24
Willor was a presence from start to finish on the glass and helped St. Paul’s limit Harford Tech to one-shot possessions. He did a nice job of pursuing the ball at its peak and on a few occasions, initiated the break himself, which further speaks to his overall versatility.