Man-to-Man: Riverdale-Blackman
In a hot, muggy gym on the northwest side of Murfreesboro, Blackman Blaze (17-0) rolled over Riverdale (15-2), 58-49.
With both teams playing man-to-man defense personal battles took on a heightened nature. Who won the individual battles?
Maliek McAllister (Riverdale) vs. Jordan Burchfield (Blackman)
EDGE: Maliek McAllister
Built like a lindebacker, McAllister showed off his outside shooting touch Tuesday night. The hulking wing scored 16 points in a foul-shortened effort. With him on the floor in the second quarter, maybe Blackman doesn’t establish a halftime lead.
McAllister is so important defensively for Riverdale. The two taller starters (Cobb, Siren) don’t stick their noses in the fight quite like Maliek. With McAllister sitting Blackman chopped up the Riverdale interior D.
Jordan Burchfield scored 9 points on 3-3 shooting from the outside.
Nathan Nelson (Blackman) vs. Elijah Cobb (Riverdale)
EDGE: Nathan Nelson
Of all the Blaze, Nelson played the closest to his best game ever. Shockingly he outplayed Elijah Cobb (PrepHoopsTN #21) and clearly impacted the game more deeply.
2018 Nathan Nelson playing with all the confidence in the world. 3 falls. @BLAZE_HOOPS leads 48-35 early 4Q.
— Prep Hoops Tennessee (@PrepHoopsTN) January 10, 2018
“He is our energy guy,” said Brandon Thomas. The senior wing finished with 10 points and erupted late in the third quarter.
Haha, Nathan Nelson (@BLAZE_HOOPS ) with the dunk of his life. @tgthepg pushed the long reb and created a 2-on-1. Nelson took a gigantic step and pounded home a two-handed stuff. 43-28 Blackman up. 1:55 3Q
— Prep Hoops Tennessee (@PrepHoopsTN) January 10, 2018
Brandon Thomas vs. Braden Siren
EDGE: Brandon Thomas.
Braden Siren’s 6-foot-9 body definitely intimidates some big men in central Tennessee. Senior Brandon Thomas is not one of them. The rugged, crafty Thomas actually pulled Siren out away from the basket early.
The plan for Blackman clearly was to explore Thomas’ outside touch while exploiting the subpar mobility of the Class of 2019 center Siren (#37 in PHT 2019 rankings).
It worked.
Brandon Thomas finished with 19 points, but buried three three-pointers in the first half. They really set the tone along with the penetration of Trenton Gibson.
Siren’s best play came in the first half. Showing a glimpse of what can be Braden drop-stepped and lifted assertively to the backboard. He earned the and1. Tougnhness will always be question for Braden, only because the junior lacks obvious upper body strength. Like most bigs he is still growing in to his body.
Siren showed off the toughness on several occasions Tuesday night. With added strength he should be a college basketball player.
Rashaad Thompson (Riverdale) vs. Trenton Gibson (Blackman)
EDGE: Trenton Gibson by a landslide.
Thompson continues to be a really nice prospect. And he probably had the quickness over Gibson, but not by much. Gibson’s court awareness glistened.
Gibson didn’t guard Thompson most of the game. Strategically, Blackman assigned Trenton Gibson to Elijah Cobb. The plan was probably to shut down a really talented wing and frankly TG did just that. Cobb finished with just six points.
Trenton Gibson pushed the basketball and expertly identified the weak spot in Riverdale’s transition defense each time. Gibson’s passing and grit created the separation needed and ultimately affirmed his intentions to win the game.
He scored 16 points.
Rashaad Thompson’s duty is not scoring necessarily. He finished with 10 points, but more importantly Thompson needs to set up the gifted wings and feed Siren. Gibson was not defending Thompson much, so he found opportunities to create.
With more experience the junior should be able to create bigger problems. Too often Riverdale rotated the basketball around the perimeter instead of probing and kicking. The most success in the paint came on the rare Thompson or Cobb slash.
There should be more of this from a broadly-talented Riverdale Warrior team.
Deron Perry (Riverdale) vs. Gabriel Martin (Blackman)
EDGE: Push.
Deron did ignite his Warriors in the fourth quarter. His energy and hunger for the hoops gave a little kick in the butt to a overly casual Riverdale offense.
While Perry touched the ball more and appeared to be more integral to the Riverdale attack his efficiency was poor. Perry has had
Perry’s late block on Trenton Gibson was only outdone by Perry’s ferocious roar and flex immediately afterward.
If Gabriel Martin (a nice HS player) ever earns a push with Riverdale’s frequent high-scorer, the Warriors will lose every time these two teams play.