Forum Tip-Off Classic: Eric’s Takeaways
With the day complete at Southport High School, we being our look at all that happened. There were six games in total with tons of talent from around the state. We break it down here with my top takeaways from the Forum Tip-Off Classic.
Castle vs. Southport – The biggest takeaway from this game was the improvement of Brevin Jefferson. He went 4/5 from distance and was really good in all other areas. He wasn’t a shooter a year ago but if this is going to be something moving forward then his upside is really high. He’s also grown to 6’2 making him really difficult to stay in front of. Still a true point guard but now scoring the ball in new ways.
Culver Academies vs. Lawrence North – Trey Galloway was impressive but Lawrence North’s depth showed through. Culver looks the par of a great team in 3A and against a team with less pressure and depth, they will be really good. They almost won that game with Brittain-Watts and Hittle having bad games. For Lawrence North, they have to play better. That is back-to-back iffy performances, they just got lucky today.
Hamilton Southeastern vs. Center Grove – This was the best game of the day to this point. It was back and forth and went into overtime. The takeaway here is that both teams are really that good. Center Grove has a game changer in Trayce Jackson-Davis but Hamilton Southeastern just keeps finding ways to win. HSE has a ton of pieces but they have always had talent. Finding ways to win is a good trait to have to finally make a deep run this year.
McCutcheon vs. Indianapolis Tindley – The biggest takeaway for this game was how much McCutcheon needs to get everyone involved. The second half of the game was much different from the first. They were passing the ball and getting open looks. If Phinisee has to do everything, they aren’t going to win a lot of games. Koby McNeely and Rowen Farrell are capable shooters but need those open looks. That is the key to their long term success.
Pickerington North (OH) vs. South Bend Riley – This game was really fun to watch but the biggest takeaway was the performance of Shamar Dillard. The 6’5 wing hasn’t yet put on a performance where you saw it all work, until this game. His jumper was stellar and he was more active in around the rim getting second chance points. His perimeter jumper is key because he already does so many things away from the ball, but shooting will give his offense much more legitimacy.
Fort Wayne North vs. New Albany – While this was the one game we didn’t think would be a blowout, we did walk away thinking that Romeo is going to try and be given every opportunity to grab the career all-time scoring mark in Indiana. It is a ways away for him, still. However, he’s going to need to have a lot more games like this where he drops 40+ and New Albany is going to have to make a run at the State Title. They showed they have the team to win it but can’t have many more games like they did against Floyd Central the night before.
PHOTO: Jared Rigdon