Charleston vs. Poplar Bluff: 10 Best
Charleston met Poplar Bluff in the third-place game of the SEMO Conference Tournament last Friday night at Sikeston. In the most competitive game of the night, Charleston came away with a 67-62 victory. Poplar Bluff played well despite being without…
Access all of Prep Hoops
Continue reading this article and more.
Continue ReadingCharleston met Poplar Bluff in the third-place game of the SEMO Conference Tournament last Friday night at Sikeston. In the most competitive game of the night, Charleston came away with a 67-62 victory. Poplar Bluff played well despite being without standout 2019 guard Marcedus Leech, who is still out with an ankle injury. Leech is one of the top shooting guards in the country in the 2019 Class.
Team Scouting:
Charleston: The young Bluejays have one of the top Class 3 teams in the state. They have good size and length and some talented young guards. Junior forward Mardareyon Clark led the way with 19 points while sophomore guard Latrell Porter added 17 points.
Poplar Bluff: The Mules have been getting along without the injured Leech for the past couple of weeks, but they do have two quality prospects in 6’6″ 2017 Willie Lucas and 6’3″ 2019 Dominique Hardimon. Poplar Bluff is a pretty athletic team that plays hard. They should be a real factor when Leech returns.
10 Best
MVP: Mardareyon Clark (Charleston): The 6’4″ post scored 19 points to lead the Bluejays. He is one of the most improved players in the Southeast region. He scored well in the post, but he has also improved as a ball handler and perimeter shooter.
Best Offensive Player: Willie Lucas (Poplar Bluff): The smooth 6’6″ forward scored a game-high 20 points. Lucas can really shoot it from 3-point range, but he was very aggressive in taking the ball to the basket and scoring in the post against Charleston.
Best Shooter: Latrell Porter (Charleston): The slender 6’1″ combo guard was cash money from 3-point range as he hit five of six from long distance, while finishing with 17 points. He also made several timely 3-pointers.
Top Match-Up: Mardareyon Clark vs. Willie Lucas – It was good to see both of these talented versatile combo forwards going against each other.
Best Intangibles: Nik Rowland (Poplar Bluff) – The 6’5″ sophomore scored five points off the bench, but he also did an excellent job of setting screens, playing good post defense and blocking out his man every time a shot was taken. A very solid and valuable player.
Mr. Hustle: Deaireus Anderson (Poplar Bluff) – The 5’10 senior guard finished with 13 points, but his hustle and high energy were most impressive. He was all over the place, diving for loose balls and grabbing offensive rebounds for buckets.
Top Underclassman Prospect (2019, 2020) – The obvious choice would be Marcedus Leech, but since he was out with an injury, we’ll go with 6’3″ sophomore Dominique Hardimon of Poplar Bluff. He is a high-motor combo forward who plays bigger than his actual size. He also attacks the rim off the dribble and plays through contact well.
Top Bench Player: Jeremy Tucker (Charleston) – A muscular 6’3″ junior who scored seven points off the bench. He displayed a nice shooting touch off the catch from 15 to 17 feet.