Five Takeaways: Beechcroft at Pickerington North
Pickerington North protected their home floor and the Ohio Capital Conference’s perfect record in The Challenge, beating Beechcroft 67-55 last night. It was Beechcroft’s first loss of the season, as the Columbus City League favorites couldn’t match up with Pick North’s size.
Now, let’s look at what we learned from the highly-anticipated primetime event.
Jerome Hunter goes over 1,000 points
Late in the second quarter, the future Hoosier stole the ball and flew to the other end for a one-hand dunk. It was number 1,000 for his career in the scoring column, and two of 28 for the night. As the game went on, Hunter took advantage of Beechcroft’s soft spot in the zone by getting fouled in the paint. He was more aggressive from outside than usual, often pulling up from 3-point range in the first half.
The #20 spot is too low for Jelani Simmons
Simmons, a 6’6” future Youngstown State wing, will continue his rise up our 2018 rankings when we update them for the last time after the season. Defenders are biting more at his stop and start attacking style because of an improved jumper. He makes up a ton of ground on the drive, as his long strides put defenders in vulnerable spots.
We underestimated Jack Sawyer
In the preseason, we wrote a lot about Pickerington North’s chances as a Division I State Champion. But, we didn’t account for Sawyer enough. His rebounding ability and brute strength in the paint is an integral part of Pick North’s upside as a contender. He finished with just seven points last night but kept their frontcourt fresh with legs and wore out the Beechcroft front line.
Working in Ross Ryan
Ryan played his first game for the Panthers after transferring from Centerburg in the offseason. With the 6’10” forward back in the rotation, they’re just a Corey Baker return from being at full strength.
Last night told us that Ryan’s role is yet to be determined for the Panthers. He played sparingly, as head coach Jason Bates gave far more minutes to guys like Sawyer and Red Potts. As the season goes on, a frontcourt rotation that involves him more could raise their ceiling.
State Champion contenders?
Beechcroft came into the game ranked #1 in our Division II Power Rankings. A zone defense didn’t give us the more accurate evaluation of their team, as they usually play man-to-man. Even so, they look like a viable team in the postseason. Division II Regionals in Columbus will be tough with teams like Eastmoor Academy in their way, but Beechcroft’s length, speed, and grit will be hard to handle. Also, not many teams have a defender like Jerome Hunter to throw on Jelani Simmons.
Pick North, on the other hand, showed how taxing their rotation of forwards will be for opponents. They have two skilled 6’10” players who can protect the rim and create shots on post-ups, and we’ve already touched on Sawyer and Hunter’s impact. When they’re adamant on getting the ball inside, it’ll be tough to contain them.