Best of the Midwest: Saturday Recap
Games I saw 8:00 a.m.: The day started off with Iowa Pump n Run’s 16U team taking on Wisconsin Swish. The game was back-and-forth throughout, with neither team ever gaining too much distance. Swish held a 10-point lead late in…
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Continue ReadingGames I saw
8:00 a.m.: The day started off with Iowa Pump n Run’s 16U team taking on Wisconsin Swish. The game was back-and-forth throughout, with neither team ever gaining too much distance. Swish held a 10-point lead late in the first half, but Pump was able to close the half on an 11-0 run to take a 28-27 lead into the break. The second half was more of the same, back-and-forth. With Swish holding a 59-58 lead, Pump decided to play for one with about 30 seconds left. A Logan Hoffman missed three led to a Nicholas Leopold offensive rebound and putback with 6.2 seconds to play, giving Pump a 60-59 win, as Swish’s final shot attempt didn’t drop. Pump was led by Zach Seaman’s 19 points, and Logan Hoffman added 15.
9:05 a.m.: A massive game from Ryan Van Wyk paced Shoot It Academy’s 17U team to a rout of Minnesota Lace Up, 85-57. Van Wyk scored 30 points in the win, Drew Pringle added 19 and Levi Jungling had 16. The Shoot It group, which is made up entirely of either Pella or Pella Christian players, is a ton of fun to watch. I tweeted that it’s exactly like watching Pella, and it is. They push the pace, are highly aggressive defensively, always attacking the rim and they are incredibly unselfish. This would be the first of two blowout wins on the day for Shoot It.
10:10 a.m.: This matchup between Iowa Wolves 16U and Nebraska Express United was close for a bit in the first half, until the Wolves closed the half on a 24-10 run over the final 5:00, taking a 51-29 lead into the break. It looked as though the Wolves were going to cruise to a win, but Express United opened the second half on a big 19-5 run to trim the lead to 8. The Wolves righted the ship and opened the margin back up, eventually winning by a mercy-rule margin of 83-62. They were led by John Herrick, who scored 23 points. Cade Mortiz had 16 and Tyler Cooney added 15.
11:15 a.m.: Another 16U game followed, with All-Iowa Attack taking on Illinois Attack. This game was close throughout, with both teams struggling to score at times. All-Iowa Attack got plenty of open looks but the shots just weren’t falling in this contest. Nonetheless, they had a chance to win the game, trailing 52-51 with 5.0 to play. A nice set out of a timeout got Jake Anderson to the rim, but his layup just rolled off the rim, giving Illinois Attack the one-point victory. All-Iowa Attack was led by Blake Clark, who had 14 points.
12:20 p.m.: Back to 17U action after the noon hour, and it would be 17U games the rest of the way. In this one, All-Iowa Attack was in control throughout the game against Minnesota Crossfire, holding a 38-24 lead at the half, and eventually winning 56-44. Not much drama here, as Attack was never in trouble. Jailen Billings led Attack with 13 points, Collin Hill added 10 and Austin Roetman had 9. I did learn that Jailen Billings has transferred to Sioux City East (formerly Sioux City North). That’s a nice addition for the Black Raiders.
1:25 p.m.: Back to seeing Shoot It Academy, and as I mentioned earlier, this one was a blowout as well. They beat Real Athletics Rosbie 58-28, in a game that was never competitive. Ryan Van Wyk led them again with 15 points, while Julian Vierson added 12, and Levi Jungling and Nick Finney had 10 points each. Shoot It cruised through their pool today.
2:30 p.m.: In what was probably the most entertaining game of the day, Iowa Dynasty’s 17U team overcame a huge deficit to comeback and stun Real Athletics House. Real Athletics led by as many as 21 points in the first half, and had a 19-point (42-23) lead at the half. The second half started much like the first half, and it appeared as though Dynasty would get run off the court. Then, a defensive switch to a 1-3-1 zone altered everything. Dynasty slowly chipped away as the offense came alive behind a defense that was forcing turnovers left and right. A three-pointer from Jake Eilers gave Dynasty a 65-64 lead with 2:00 to play, a lead they wouldn’t give up again. Dynasty won the second half 50-24 en route to a 73-66 win. Marshawn Yarbrough led Dynasty with 16 points, Max Smith-Drahos had 13, Jake Eilers had 12 and Chuck Johnson added 11.
3:35 p.m.: All-Iowa Attack Black 17U took on Wisconsin Rap here, in a game that was tight throughout. I don’t recall either team having a lead of much more than five throughout the game, and Rap had a 26-23 lead at the half. Joseph Lathrum had a big second half for Attack, helping them take a 38-36 lead with 6:20 to play. Big plays down the stretch from Rap’s Jordan Johnson were the difference, as his 3-pointer tied the game, and then he hit a pair of free throws to give the game it’s final margin, a 46-44 win for Wisconsin Rap. Joseph Lathrum led Attack Black with 13 points.
4:40 p.m.: A small B.A.M. 17U team, made up of players from the Waterloo area, took on Wisconsin Hoops Select in this time slot. Select had a 24-20 lead at the break, then Cael Lambe came out on fire in the second half for B.A.M., hitting four three-pointers in the half, and scoring 14 of his team-high 17 points in the final 16 minutes. He helped B.A.M. take a lead, then it was Marquas Gafeney who took it home. Gafeney scored nine of his 11 points in the final 3:00, including the game-winner with 13.5 seconds left (video below). B.A.M. held on to win 48-47. Cael Lambe led with 17 points, Marquas Gafeney had 11 and James Buls added 10.
17U: Marquas Gafeney gives B.A.M. the lead with 13.5 left. 48-47 B.A.M. #BOM pic.twitter.com/QTDQAk3yLw
— Tony Roe (@tonysroe) April 23, 2016
5:45 p.m.: Another impressive defensive effort in the second half helped carry Iowa Dynasty’s 17U team to another win in the final game of the night, beating Wisconsin Crusaders 65-57 after trailing 34-32 at the half. Naeem Smith made huge plays down the stretch for Dynasty, scoring, facilitating and making plays on the defensive end. He led Dynasty with 14 points. Max Smith-Drahos added 12 points and Marshawn Yarbrough had 11. The win for Dynasty gave them a 3-0 pool play record.
Top Performers
Taking a look at some of the top performances from Saturday’s action. During the week, I will also have full player evaluations, so this performance recaps will be brief.
6-4 F Ryan Van Wyk (Shoot It Academy 17U/Pella) — In a pair of viewings, Van Wyk averaged 22.5 points on the day, doing so efficiently. He’s always active, can score inside and out, and is a menace on the glass.
6-1 G Zachary Seaman (Iowa Pump n Run 16U/Iowa City Regina) — Seaman started off the morning with an impressive 19-point performance in Pump’s one-point win. He was in constant attack mode, routinely getting to the rim and setting the tone for Pump.
6-4 F Logan Hoffman (Iowa Pump n Run 16U/Tipton) — Hoffman helped Seaman set the tone in Pump’s opening win, scoring 15 points and controlling the glass throughout. A skilled forward capable of scoring inside and out, he flashed some great moments.
6-6 F Johnathan Herrick (Iowa Wolves 16U/Boone) — Herrick’s offensive versatility was on full display in the Wolves’ mercy-rule win. He scored 23 points, doing so in a variety of ways, in the win.
5-10 PG Jailen Billings (All-Iowa Attack 17U/Sioux City East) — The point guard has blazing speed, but his mid-range game was the real impressive portion of his 13 points in Attack’s win. He shot the ball better than I’ve ever seen him.
6-4 GF Jake Eilers (Iowa Dynasty 17U/Cedar Rapids Prairie) — The sharpshooting win made eight 3-pointers in Dynasty’s pair of Saturday wins.
6-2 G Marshawn Yarbrough (Iowa Dynasty 17U/Iowa City West) — Averaged 13.5 points in a pair of Dynasty wins, but most impressive was his impact on the defensive end. He was a menace at the top of Dynasty’s 1-3-1 zone that changed the game against Real Athletics. He got his hands on a number of passes, and was constantly attacking.
6-2 G Max Smith-Drahos (Iowa Dynasty 17U/Cedar Rapids Prairie) — Averaged 12.5 points in a pair of Dynasty wins. His constant attacking of the rim helped change momentum for Dynasty.
6-4 SG Cael Lambe (B.A.M. 17U/Union) — The lengthy wing’s shooting helped B.A.M. pull out a nice win. He made four second half 3-pointers, en route to scoring 14 of his team-high 17 points in the final 16 minutes.
Tomorrow’s schedule
You can find the schedule for tomorrow’s bracket play here.
My day will be starting again at 8:00 a.m., with a 17U Platinum Bracket game between a pair of Iowa teams, Shoot It Academy and All-Iowa Attack, then we’ll go from there.
Be sure to follow along at @tonysroe.