A Night at Mater Dei for #NikeX

Highly contested game.

Bishop Gorman of Las Vegas beat a very impressive JSerra Catholic basketball Team. JSerra Catholic Guard Johnnie Vasser had 21 very entertaining points in a losing effort to a very stacked Bishop Gorman team from Las Vegas.

I came away very impressed with Johnnie’s speed, leaping ability, and the ability to make the right decisions under pressure. Johnnie and the former Mater Dei Monarch Sophomore Center Jayce Johnson tried their best to control the game but Bishop Gorman “do it” all forward Chase Jeter(19 Pts,11 reb), Noah Robotham (17 pts) had different plans. Senior guard Obim Okeke who moonlights as a football player, had a good game as well. High riser junior forward Nick Blair entertained the crowd with spectacular dunks. Bishop Gorman roster is stacked with great players.

Standout scorers was Chase Jeter who scored 19 and Conner Pensivy that added 17 for Gorman. Johnnie Vassar scored 21 for Jserra. Final score

Bishop Gorman 68 JSerra Catholic 53

St. John Bosco(Bellflower) vs (5) Etiwanda

From the tip, this game showed the promise of being a great one. It did not disappoint. Both teams started off with crowd pleasing dunks. However it was the St. John Bosco crippling 2-3 defensive zone which really gave Etiwanda offense pains in the first quarter.

This game remained close in the second quarter. St. John Bosco did not help their attempt at a decent lead due to missing their first 5 shot attempts in the start of the 2nd quarter. One great game adjustment was that it appeared to me that Etiwanda planned was to attack St. John Bosco zone prior to setup. This tactic proved to be somewhat effective going in to the halftime break.

Etiwanda Jordan McLaughlin owned the second half. He finished the game with 32 points, which is pretty good if you add in the fact that he scored 30 in the second half. Jordan gave the perfect tutorial on how you can shoot a team out of a zone. Even with the very skilful shooting of Jordan Mclaughlin,

St. John Bosco kept it close with contributions from a handful of Players. Junior Guard, Tyler Dorsey, Senior Forward Daniel Hampton, and Sophomore Forward Vance Jackson all chipped in to keep St. John Bosco alive in the game. Jordan late 4th quarter, 3 pointer from the scorer’s table gave Etiwanda the lead but St. John Bosco battled back. Jordan converted on a contested floater that tied the game and sent it into overtime.

Overtime – Stubbornly, St. John Bosco stayed in their 2-3 Zone, ultimately given Jordan Mclaughlin the go ahead to continue to knock down the three balls, which gave the Etiwanda Eagles the victory. Kameron Edwards was the only other player from Etiwanda that scored in double figures, but more importantly he had 11 rebounds to end.

An impressive showing from St. John Bosco standout senior Daniel Hamilton who had 18 points and Tyler Dorsey who is a very impressive Junior guard chipped in with 15 points and 11 rebounds.

No. 5 Etiwanda 62, St. John Bosco (Bellflower) 53 (OT) (36)

Dematha(Hyattsville, Md.) vs (9) Westchester

I am still thinking about the memorable performance of Westchester standout Elijah Stewart. The kid can flat out play. It was many stars at this year Nike Extravaganza, but in my opinion, no one really stood out like this kid.

Initially, I evaluated Dematha as everyone else in the gym did during warm-up drills. It became known that the common sense strategy was to go down low every time on offense.

Dematha starting Center is Florida St signee Brock Ruble who is 6 foot 9 and weighs in at 330 pounds. On the opposite block stands a 6-7 PF Jaelin Grant, and a Forward Junior by the name of Thomas Bruce who is 6-8 and 185 pounds. The strategy of going into the biggies was evident in the first few minutes of the first quarter. Suprisingly, the obvious strategy did not bring any real advantages.

The Score was 9-12 Westchester lead at the end of the first quarter. Dematha started the game in a zone but was quickly shot out of it by Westchester Elijah Stewart.

By the second quarter it was known to all observers that it was no way Brock Ruble was signed to a basketball scholarship at Florida St. After investigation, it was said that he signed a football scholarship, which made perfect sense. However for a guy three hundred and thirty pounds, he wasn’t that bad on the eyes and probably is playing basketball to stay in shape which is not a bad idea being that size.

Elijah Stewart owned the second quarter. He rebounded, blocked shots and had several steals that led to fast breaks. However, Elijah shared the floor with Dematha star Senior Point Guard Corey Henson who was having a great first half as well. In the start of the 3rd quarter,

Dematha Freshman Shooting Guard D.J. Harvey scored the first two points for Dematha. It was apparent that Westchester made some critical half time adjustments to combat Dematha complex offensive schemes which mostly consistent of running Corey Henson off blind screens. Westchester started to jump out on the screens early to prevent Corey Henson from receiving a good and accurate pass. Westchester went into a bit of a funk, but a well-timed technical foul assessed to Westchester Coach Ed Azzam fired the Comets back up.

Debateable I know, but I truly believe this tech was clearly through design by the Coach to fire his guys up. The fourth quarter Senior Forward Nick Hamilton hit a crucial free throw to tie the game with 04.7 left.

Overtime – Turnovers plagued Westchester. It was the reason why Dematha won 61 to Westchester 56. Overall, a great game by the two opposing Guards. Westchester Guard Elijah Stewart (32 pts, 6 rebounds, 4 blocks) and Dematha Guard Corey Henson (33 pts, 6 rebounds). F

DeMatha (Hyattsville, Md.) 61, State No. 9 Westchester (Los Angeles) 56 (OT)

THE MAIN EVENT 

(1) Mater Dei(Santa Ana) vs Whitney Young

The prior games set the stage for this main event. Everyone wanted to see the nation number one recruit Jahlil Okafor. However, I was more excited to see Jserra transfer, shooting Guard Rex Pflueger. I thought, no way this kid would be as good as everyone said. My 6 year old son wanted to see his favorite player Stanley Johnson play as well. All three superstars did not disappoint.

I did leave feeling a little disappointed in Whitney Young Coach Tyrone Slaughter. In Jahlil Okafor, this Coach has in his possession, the best big man in the Nation. Coach Slaugher who is a fantastic coach did not make adjustments to allow Jahlil to catch clear passes. Mater Dei played a very tight 2-3 zone with the inferences on limiting Okafor touches in the paint. It worked! Okafor did not have a touch in the first 4 minutes of the game. His first shot came way of a sideways hook shoot that missed badly.

The Zone offense Whitney Young employed was a standard, run of the mill High/Low which consistent of Power Forward Paul White flashing to the high post of the zone, and either turning and shooting or first looking for Okafor who is opening in the low middle. This is not a bad offense considering Paul White is a great shooter from the hi-post. However, Okafor was not able to get adequate touches due to Sophomore Center standout M.J Cage who processes very long arms and was able to deflect most entry passes headed towards Okafor. Also, include the fact that Okafor was surrounded by a sea of Mater Dei players in the paint whenever he did open up middle this offense and ball entry was inadequate for such a talent and it gave little to no success.  You will think that a more complez zone offense will be available for such talent.

It was no adjustment on the part of Whitney Young Coaching staff. It was other options such as a flat zone offense which could have resulted in open looks, or maybe even a screen to post adjustment where M.J. Cage could have been screened to get Okafor a clean look. However no adjustments were made and that resulted in a loss. This is not “Monday Morning Quarterbacking” at all, it is simple “try and adjust” that Coaches do. It also dawned on me that for the Whitney Young Coaches and players, that they were actually playing after midnight per Chicago time, that might be a legit reason for being what seem to be a step slower in coaching adjustments as well.

My first real look at Rex Pflueger left me thinking that it is nothing that this kid cannot do. The word “Development” might be a bit underutilized around Mater Dei campus compared to most schools, but if this kid Rex, develops in the off season, I do not think it will be anyway that this kid will not be in the top 5 recruits next year. He is really special.

Miles Reynolds of Whitney Young impressed me with his toughness. He finished with 21 points. Okafor finished a night where he had to work for every single thing with (17 pts, 14 rebounds, and 2 blocks).

Jahlil did show signs of why he was deserving of the attention. He is pretty fluid to be 6-10/ 270 pounds. Stanley Johnson did not disappoint at all, he played great ending the night with (27 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assist, and 5 steals). Not bad for a night of work.

M.J. Cage held his own against Jahlil Okafor. Due to the nature of the 2-3 his job was made a little easier especially since no adjustments was made to free Jahlil up on the offensive side of the ball.

No. 1 Mater Dei (Santa Ana) 69, No. 6 Whitney Young (Chicago) 57