Five Best: Davenport Central (69) vs. Rock Island, IL (57)
Ray Miller had 13 points, seven rebounds, seven assists, two blocks and two steals for Central Davenport Central 69, Rock Island 57 Davenport Central clinched the Genesis Shootout win for Iowa with an impressive 69-57 win over Rock Island on…
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Continue ReadingDavenport Central 69, Rock Island 57
Davenport Central clinched the Genesis Shootout win for Iowa with an impressive 69-57 win over Rock Island on Saturday night. The Blue Devils shot 59.2% from the floor and forced 20 Rock Island turnovers in the victory.
In control pretty much from the beginning, Central took the lead with 3:34 left in the first quarter and never trailed the rest of the way, leading by as much as 26 in the fourth quarter.
The Blue Devils put together the most impressive performance of the Shootout, providing highlights on both ends of the floor.
Central (5-1) was led by Tirique Randolph, who had 17 points. Nathan Tyson came off the bench and had 16 points and 10 assists. Ray Miller had 13 points, seven rebounds, seven assists and a slew of highlights, and Tyrique Vesey added 11 for Central.
Scoring
Team | 1Q | 2Q | 3Q | 4Q | F |
Davenport Central | 17 | 16 | 20 | 16 | 69 |
Rock Island | 12 | 15 | 6 | 24 | 57 |
Davenport Central: Tirique Randolph 17, Nathan Tyson 16, Ray Miller 13, Tyrique Vesey 11, Zach Taylor 6, Cole Montgomery 4, RayShawn Bourrage 2
Rock Island: Jacob Ellis 12, Jerry Hacker 11, Jay Richardson 7, JaMir Price 7, Cory Freeman 5, Randy Tucker 4, Justin Randle 3, Bobby Stewart 3, Alek Jacobs 2, Aaron Crose 2, Ben Ellis 1
MVP: Nathan Tyson
You could give this honor to either Tyson or Ray Miller, as both were fantastic. We’ll give the nod to Tyson, who came off the bench to score 16 points, knocking down four 3s. Oh, we also dished out 10 assists and didn’t turn the ball over.
Play of the game: Ray Miller
Take your pick of any highlight reel play that the human highlight reel provided. It could be one of his four different dunks (lefty in transition, righty in transition, two handed putback over two people or alley-oop). Or maybe his huge block where he came out of nowhere and swat the air out of the ball. He provided plenty of highlights on both ends of the floor. My personal favorite was the putback.
Best offensive performance: Nathan Tyson
Tyson was sensational off the bench for Central, scoring 16 points on 6-7 shooting (4-5 3P) and dishing out 10 assists. He came into the game averaging 6.8 points and shooting only 14.3% from the arc (2-14). He destroyed those numbers, taking each shot in rhythm and getting into a nice groove early on. Perhaps the best part? His ten assists were accompanied with no turnovers.
Best defensive performance: Zach Taylor and Tyrique Vesey
Both Taylor and Vesey were excellent on the defensive end for the Blue Devils. Taylor is a big body in the paint who made life difficult for Rock Island, using his big frame to stymy the Rocks. He stands his ground, does a nice job not leaving his feet and had good defensive positioning a large chunk of the time. Vesey excelled on the perimeter, getting into the ball handlers jersey and making them turn way more than they wanted to. He came away with five steals on the night.
Story to watch moving forward: Can Central play with the same intensity night-in, night-out?
If the Blue Devils can play with the same type of urgency on the defensive end every night, they’ll be tough to beat. The defense fuels their transition game, where they are deadly.