Noblesville Holiday Tournament: Day 1 Recap
The annual Noblesville Holiday Tournament brought in some of the state’s more interesting teams with Andrean, Chesterton, Crown Point, New Albany, and others for one of the better events of the holiday season. Here is our breakdown for the day.
Game 1: Andrean vs. Columbus North
This was a game that started pretty quickly as Columbus North got ahead early on the back of Blake Barker and Nick Schiavello who showed their shooting ability quickly. However, Andrean’s Kyle Ross kept it close, showing some range int he first quarter. But as the game grew on, Andrean continued to fall further and further behind until Columbus North’s Reese Harmon went right at them in the final quarter and put them over the edge for a 62-52 win over Andrean.
Game MVP:
#11 Blake Barker – 6’0 PG 2021 – Columbus North (IN)
**15 points, 4 assists against Andrean (IN)**
Barker is a big, strong lead guard who kind of set the tone for the game with his aggressive nature. Loved to create contact and showed some toughness. Ball handling was pretty good and has the strength to defend the ball well. He’s got a solid jumper and hit a trio of threes off the catch. At times, his shot has a little too much wrist in it and you can see him miss by an odd amount. However, it’s fairly consistent. He’s also a guy that I thought balanced out his scoring and passing game. Wasn’t so set on just scoring and made plays to set his guys up.
Game 2: Noblesville vs. Northridge
In the second game of the day, it was different that what you would have thought from the get go. With Noblesville playing Northridge, you probably bet the under but this game came with a barrage of threes and ended up being so close that regulation wasn’t able to be enough. On the back of Jackson Erekson and his six threes, Northridge was able to stay in the lead for part of the game before Noblesville came back firing. The momentum of the game stayed in favor of Noblesville and they were able to squeak out a win, 71-66.
Game MVP:
#23 Zack Johnson – 6’2 SG 2019 – Noblesville (IN)
**27 points, 6 rebounds against Northridge (IN)**
Zack is a solid guard who seemed to pick it up in the second half after a rough start. Johnson has good size and some strength and got it going from three as he knocked down a handful of threes off the catch. He’s a lefty who was pretty inconsistent from the free throw line and will need to straighten that out. But, he is a plenty capable shooter from distance and can play on the ball enough to help. Solid two-guard for a small school program.
Game 3: New Albany vs. Crown Point
In a very competitive competition, New Albany was looking to show what they could do following the Romeo Langford era and they did just that as Julien Hunter and Derrick Stevenson led the Bulldogs to a 60-57 win. Crown Point stayed in it all game and Sam Snodgrass and Elias Gerodemos were both impressive but they just came up short in the final minutes.
Game MVP:
#11 Derrick Stevenson – 6’2 SG 2019 – New Albany (IN)
**21 points, 3 rebounds against Crown Point (IN)**
Derrick is a really tough guard with great size and some driving ability. Was tremendous going at the rim and was pretty consistent doing it all game long. He showed quite a bit of creativity and enough handles to prove his ability to play on the ball isn’t too far off. He had a couple floaters mixed in with a handful of transition points. He can be a guy that gives you versatility because he’s big enough to switch 1 through 3.
Game 4: Lawrence Central vs. Chesterton
In what was billed as the best game of the day, Lawrence Central came out and dominated early behind some hot shooting by Nijel Pack and D’Andre Davis. Those two hit a bunch of threes early and got out to a sizable lead nearing 20 before halftime. In the second half, Chesterton seemed to slow their progress but the depth of Lawrence Central was just too much as they wore down and Lawrence Central advanced, 66-41.
Game MVP:
#14 D’Andre Davis – 6’5 SF 2020 – Lawrence Central (IN)
**22 points, 6 rebounds, 4 steals against Chesterton (IN)**
Davis continues to look more and more like the player that committed to a Big Ten school. The 2020 prospect was great in this game showing off all of his skills including a pair of pull-up jumpers from behind the arc. He was a bit better defensively, showing off his length and quickness more. He has great size and looks like he is using it more, at least defensively. Davis was pretty great all game long and seems to be stepping up at a time when LC needs to improve.