10 Best: Riverton Parke vs. North Putnam
One of the few matchups on Monday night, we saw two struggling teams go head-to-head and it be a pretty good battle. Riverton Parke and North Putnam traded blows with the final score being knotted at the end of regulation. It took overtime to find a winner as Riverton Parke came out on top 63-61 behind Jonathon Virostko’s 24 points. View the complete stats here:
MVP – Jonathon Virostko | 2019 | 6’1 SG
Virostko scored 24 points in the game with most of those coming in the second half. He was able to easily drive and penetrate with no real fight from North Putnam. He scored all but six of his points in the lane and only turned the ball over one time. It was a big game from the guy they needed a big game from
Best offensive player – Avery Briddick | 2018 | 6’1 SG
Briddick was the other guy who scored at will for Riverton Parke. He too was able to penetrate into the lane whenever he wanted to. Every shot that he made from the field came from inside the paint as he was able to showcase a really good dribble drive game.
Best defensive player – James Duncan | 2019 | 5’9 SG
For being such a small player, Duncan can really defend pretty well. He had a couple steals but more importantly he had a ton of deflections and got his hand on a lot of balls. He made it tough for the opposing team tonight.
Best bench player – Ryan Steelsmith | 2019 | 6’1 F
Steelsmith was a guy who came off the bench and made an impact right away. His energy was top notch and he was running around trying to make plays for Riverton Parke. He scored four points and also had a steal. A guy who gave good minutes off the bench.
Best shooter – Caleb Duncan | 2018 | 5’11 SG
Not known as a shooter, Duncan got hot in this one. He went 7/9 from deep and scored a team high 24 points. He needs to work on his free throw shooting as he was just 1/5 from the line but other than that he was knocking them down left and right.
Best raw player – Treyton Smith | 2018 | 5’10 PG
Smith is a guy who is almost identical to Eron Gordon, but much worse. Smith flashed potential his freshman year but hasn’t improved much if at all in that time. He’s a really good passer but really inconsistent when it comes to shooting. Needs to be able to select shots better and not be as flashy if he wants to play in college.
Best guy I didn’t know before – Andrew Pickel | 2019 | 6’6 PF
Pickel is a 6’6 forward who can shoot it a bit and it just a little slow to adjust to plays. He needs to create a set of post moves and be able to control himself when he gets the ball inside. Other than that, he’s a project who could play in college, just needs work.
Best rebounder – Treyton Smith | 2018 | 5’10 PG
From the guard spot, Smith rebounds the ball really well. He crashes the boards hard and gets all of the rebounds he gets his hands on. He had eight in this one and probably was in position to get a couple more.
Best play – Pickel ties it to send it to overtime
With three seconds left, Smith threw Pickel a perfect pass which Pickel threw up and in to tie it and send it to overtime. It got the home crowd excited and gave some momentum to North Putnam.
Best storyline – Who will have a better record at the end of the season?
I’ll go with North Putnam. Both teams aren’t good but North Putnam was missing their best player tonight. They also have an easier schedule than Riverton Parke which will help them immensely. Both teams records won’t be indicative of their talent level.