Ten Best: Fort Wayne North vs. Homestead
Right away, you knew that Fort Wayne North came ready to play. However, after the first couple minutes you could also see that Homestead looked a little flustered. What ensued was a flurry of missed threes and airballs that put…
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Continue ReadingRight away, you knew that Fort Wayne North came ready to play. However, after the first couple minutes you could also see that Homestead looked a little flustered. What ensued was a flurry of missed threes and airballs that put Homestead behind early and they were never able to catch up. Fort Wayne North got out in front by as much as 20 and took it to them, advancing to the Regional Semifinal Final.
MVP: Jaylen Butz (FW North)
All season, Butz has been the guy, even more so than Brooks who is highly touted nationally. Butz has racked up double-doubles left and right and did it again today. He finished with 15 points and 17 rebounds and made his presence felt all game long. He was a big reason on the defensive end why Homestead wasn’t able to get clean looks.
Play of the Game: Keion Brooks (FW North)
The play of the game wasn’t a significant one but it was impressive regardless. Brooks went up for a rebound off a free throw. He grabbed it with one hand while fending off two other defenders. it was so seamless and impressive. It went unnoticed by most of the people in the gym but it was the kind of play that showed you how ridiculously talented Brooks is.
Best Offensive Performance: Juan Quarles (FW North)
Juan was great in this game and he was just a piece of the FW North attack. He did however, go 4/9 and 2/5 from three for 13 points as a third tier scoring option on this team. He played well and was shooting even better until the final few minutes. He is a big reason why this team is as deep as they are.
Best Defensive Performance: Keion Brooks (FW North)
While Butz did a lot of the rebounding work, it was Brooks on the perimeter with his length that altered so many shots. He had 8 rebounds himself and 3 blocked shots. He might have altered as many as 8 others. It was a great performance that took away Homestead’s biggest weapon, their perimeter shooting.
Best Guy Off The Bench: Davontae Kinnie (FW North)
Off the bench, Kinnie was really solid. He finished with 12 points and did it on just 3/6 shooting. He was clutch at the line hitting 6/8 while drawing 8 fouls in the game. His driving ability was massive because it put Homestead into foul trouble early and had Ferguson with 3 fouls in the first half.
Best Intangibles: Brandon Durnell (Homestead)
Durnell showed just how good he could be in this game as he was about the only guy worth much for Homestead. He was scoring inside and out as well as rebounding the ball pretty well. He’s pretty versatile and in this game, even against the high level athletes, he was able to make some plays. Think he could be a really good player once in college.
Best Under-The-Radar Performance: Parker Manges (Homestead)
With as bad as Homestead shot the ball, Manges should get some credit for just how hard he played. He was tough and gritty down to the final minute and was doing well for a while driving the ball. Nobody for Homestead could get anything to go down but he and Durnell kept Homestead in it just enough that it wasn’t a blowout.
Best Underclassmen: Keion Brooks Jr. (FW North)
There aren’t many players in the country better than Keion Brooks right now. He’s played so well this year with his combination of motor, athleticism, and skill, no one can stop him when he wants to get going. Defensively, he changed the game today even though his offense wasn’t crisp. Has the potential to become one of the Top 10 players in his class nationally.
Best Player College Coaches Need To Watch: Juan Quarles (FW North)
For some reason, college programs have kind of not recruited Quarles and that is a mistake. He’s got good size at 6’2 and he can really shoot the ball if given time. He can handle the ball as well and can help as a combo guard. Makes decent decisions but he’s shown the capability of dropping a ton of points in a game. DII level kid with ease.
Best Storyline Moving Forward: For Fort Wayne North, they will either get Carmel or McCutcheon. McCutcheon would be the worse matchup on paper with they way their defense has been playing this year. They wouldn’t be able to get into the lane near as easily and it would rely on them hitting more perimeter jumpers. If it is Carmel, they will have Sterling Brown back and it could make things interesting as Carmel tries to figure out how to gel back together.