Five Takeaways: DeMatha vs Gonzaga

<p>On Friday night, <strong>Gonzaga</strong> handed<strong> DeMatha</strong> their first loss in conference play in a sold out gym with coaches from <strong>Georgetown</strong>, <strong>Hartford</strong>, <strong>Clemson</strong> and <strong>Butler</strong> in attendance. The game went back and forth all night but in the 4th quarter it was the Eagles who took over the game and won by a final score of 65-58. Below are five takeaways from the game.</p> <p><strong>Stute Takes Over In The 4th</strong></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">This was the second consecutive game this week where <strong>2020 Myles Stute</strong> has impressed me a lot. He has been very active on the boards and a lot of that is because of his size and athleticism. He can rise up to the rim to grab rebounds on either side of the ball. However, last night it was his shooting that was phenomenal. He had 18 points which included three triples and two of those came back to back in the 4th quarter which helped separate Gonzaga from DeMatha. <strong>Clemson</strong> was in for him last night.</span></p> <p><strong>Earl Timberlake Continues To Score At A High Level</strong></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The 2020 junior finished with 20 points including four three-pointers. He does not have the prettiest shot as there is not a lot of arc to it but his jumper has become more and more consistent and adds another strong aspect to his game. He has a strong body which allows him to attack and finish at the rim even if defenders on him but if he keeps up this shooting, Timberlake will soon have the total package on offense. </span></p> <p><strong>2020 Chuck Harris Knows His Role</strong></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Chuck Harris is a guy that might fly under the radar on Steve Turner’s bunch. He isn’t going to amaze you right away but he does everything a true point guard needs to do. He knows the offense and what to call out, he can distribute the ball to his teammates, he has the ability to get to the rim, he can finish in transition and he has shown he can shoot from deep. Harris has a game that most mid major and some high major coaches would love to have in their program and that is why head coach <strong>LaVall Jordan</strong> and an assistant were courtside for Harris last night.</span></p> <p><strong>The Jahmir Young Injury Hurt The Stags</strong></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">2019 <strong>Charlotte</strong> pledge Jahmir Young went down with an ankle injury right before halftime and did not return to the game. Young is another guy similar to Chuck Harris that might fly under the radar but this time for DeMatha. Young is a veteran point guard and does everything right for Mike Jones and with not having him in the second half, you could tell DeMatha was a tad bit rattled as they did not have their true point guard on the floor.</span></p> <p><strong>Moving Forward</strong></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Wow, I did not think I would be typing this next statement but… with the loss for DeMatha, they will now be playing Paul VI on Sunday for maybe what could be for the WCAC regular season championship. They both have one loss in conference play so this is setting up to be a great game and it will be interesting to monitor the status on 2019 point guard, Jahmir Young. For Gonzaga, nobody in the conference is playing better than them right now. They are now winners of 10 straight games and are absolutely on fire when it matters.</span></p>