Rapid Reaction: Newport Central Catholic at Frederick Douglass
Saturday afternoon I was able to make my first venture into the newest school in Lexington, Frederick Douglass. The school itself is impressive and the gym is very nice. The Thoroughbreds of Newport Central Catholic also got their first glimpse at the new school as they traveled down from northern Kentucky to play the Broncos. Here are some takeaways I had from the contest that Douglass won 78-62.
1. Douglass was at their best with Justin Mitchell handling the ball. The lone senior on the Douglass roster has been relegated to playing undersized post a lot this season because of there being so many small guards on the roster. In the first half, Mitchell converted two full court drives with finishes at the rim. In the second half, the offense ran at its best with Mitchell running the point.
2. Newport Central Catholic has the least talent in a long time. Drew MacDonald and Ben Weyer are long gone to college. Brendan Hall can’t do it all. To put it bluntly, the talent level at NCC is the lowest I’ve seen it since I started following them a few years ago and I’m not sure there is another wave of talent coming. After this season, NCC could be on a downhill slide for a few seasons.
2018 NCC Guard Brennan Hall3. Brennan Hall is a gifted scorer. Brennan has been a known commodity for several years now but due to the lack of talent around him, he has to score a lot of points for NCC to be competitive. He’s averaging almost 25 points per game and if he had made some more layups against Douglass he could have been above 30 for the game. Hall doesn’t get as much love as some of the other 2018 guards, but he is a good scorer who will find a college home and be a solid 4 year player at the D2 or NAIA level.
4. Douglass has a ton of young talent. As mentioned earlier, Mitchell is the only senior on the Bronco roster. Sophomores Amirion Joyce and Nathan Mack have the look of impact players while Juniors Skylar Hart and Rasaan Thompson are going to be solid contributors the rest of this season and into next year. Freshman DaShawn Jackson is going to be one of the top 2021 players in the city for the next 4 years and he’s already had several double figure scoring games this season.