10 Best: Day One of Wossman’s tournament
Let’s mix up the 10 Best format for game coverage a little bit. Today was the first day of the Belton/Williams Classic hosted by Wossman, a three-day tournament featuring nine teams. Before we get to the best of the opening…
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Continue ReadingLet’s mix up the 10 Best format for game coverage a little bit. Today was the first day of the Belton/Williams Classic hosted by Wossman, a three-day tournament featuring nine teams. Before we get to the best of the opening day’s four games, let me list the results and the next game for all of the teams involved at the bottom.
Thursday’s results: Wossman 86, Texas High (Texarkana) 58; West Ouachita 70, Vision Academy 56; New Iberia 52, West Monroe 43; Ouachita 72, Richwood 58. (Ruston had a first-round bye.)
MVP – Wossman guard Peanut Turpin. This had to be one of Wossman’s most impressive showings of the young season and this guy played a big part of it: he had to have tallied at least six steals and seemed to always have a hand in Wossman’s transition game that led to so many buckets, even if he wasn’t the one finishing the layup.
Play of the day – Jay Head’s putback dunk. Ouachita’s star forward scored the first points of the game in style: on a missed jumper, he streaked down the right side of the lane undetected, skied up and glided through the air for a pretty impressive putback slam. Little did we know it was just the beginning for a game filled with offensive fireworks.
Best defensive performance – Ouachita guard Paul King. Richwood’s guards got the Ram offense going as the game went on, but it was almost never done by the guy King was guarding. He defended with a ton of energy and I only saw him out of position once. Incredibly well done, especially for a sophomore in a game that was getting mighty chippy as it wore on: it would’ve been easy for a sophomore to lose mental focus in the face of physicality and make some mental mistakes.
Best catch-and-shoot guy – Richwood’s Joseph Smith. In the interest of full disclosure, he was knocking down his 3’s even when he wasn’t in a catch-and-shoot situation. He was probably the most consistent shooter on the floor and those shots brought Richwood within striking distance of Ouachita’s lead once or twice in the second half.
Best rebounder – The bigs in the Ouachita-Richwood game, so Ouachita’s Jay Head and Richwood’s Geor’Quarius Spivey. Both guys made impacts in other areas, but it became obvious as the game wore on that the key rebounds always seemed to end up in the hands of these guys.
Best under-the-radar player – West Monroe forward Jordan Jacson. West Monroe doesn’t have much bulk in the lane; now, that could be temporary, since the football team is playing the state championship game this weekend and the basketball team could get a couple of big guys back from that in short order. None of that helps the Rebels in this tournament, but Jacson performed admirably in the post. Jimmie Orange is going to command most the attention as a returning prominent scorer, but Jacson playing the way he did today unlocks many things for this team.
Best final nail in the coffin – Six uninterrupted free throws. How does one get such a luxury, you ask? Three technical fouls. The chippy nature of the game clearly had more of an impact on Richwood’s psyche than Ouachita’s, and the mental discipline wore away as the game went on. It was a four-point game when those three technicals were committed in the final minutes of the game; the Rams never threatened the lead after that.
Best aspect of the environment – An unexpected light show. When Wossman was introducing its starting lineup, the gym lights were turning off and on, creating the high-school version of the spotlight kind of introductions you see at some college/NBA games. Here’s the problem: the lights continued to act up throughout the first quarter. It was kind of funny, really, because play never stopped: a forward could come down with a rebound, then the lights would go out, but there would still be enough light for him to pivot, find a guard and kick it out to him to bring it across the time line for an offensive possession. It was wild.
Best spotted in the gym – The Northwestern State coaching staff. The Demon coaches were likely primarily there to spend some more time with their signee, Wossman guard C.J. Jones, but there were several players there worthy of consideration to round out the Demons’ Class of 2017 if they so desired.
Best story to watch going forward – The physicality in this tournament. The Wossman-Texas High and Richwood-Ouachita games were quite physical affairs; assuming that holds true in the coming days, one of these teams is going to have to bring some serious muscle every night to win this tournament.
Schedule
Friday, 4 p.m., consolation bracket: Texas High vs. Vision Academy.
Friday, 5:15 p.m., consolation bracket: West Monroe vs. Richwood.
Friday, 6:30 p.m., championship bracket: Wossman vs. Ruston.
Friday, 7:45 p.m., championship semifinals: New Iberia vs. Ouachita.
Saturday, 2:45 p.m., championship semifinals:West Ouachita vs. Wossman/Ruston winner.