All-Ohio High School Showcase (Gahanna): Lengthy Standouts

Brandon Little

December 2, 2019 @ 04:00 AM

The All-Ohio showcase was a nice weekend tip-off event to high school basketball for Central Ohio and beyond. This event showcased talent across the board and quite a few good teams. In particular, a lot of size was on display, which we will take a look at below! Desmond Watson (2021) | 6-4 F | DeSales Watson was the best player we was able to see from the few games we were able to catch. The junior is truly one of the overlooked players in the area and that could change this season. Was tough inside all game long, scoring a ton in the lane. Had plenty of looks at the rim, as well as short floaters and leaners. Used his pivot foot well to get the defender moving and got to the hoop. Dominant 39 point showing for the DeSales hooper. Crashed the boards and had plenty of put backs from pure effort plays. Rayvon Griffith (2023) | 6-4 W | Cincinnati Taft In my first viewing of the highly touted freshman, he lived up to the hype that comes with his name. Griffith played with awareness, stealing and inbounds pass and racing for an easy bucket. Crashed the boards with quick hops and length that is unmatched by man. Showed off a little low-post scoring, as well as shooting the three off the catch. Looked comfortable out there against Richmond Heights, a team with athletic defenders. Josiah Harris (2022) | 6-6 PF | Richmond Heights Harris had his way against Taft despite this loss, simply because they didn’t have a good matchup for him. Was a force inside all game, including a slight poster dunk off of a gather. Showed post scoring moves from the low block, using his footwork to his advantage. Crashed the boards, often just out muscling the other team. Tyrese Hughey (2021) | 6-7 PF | Thomas Worthington Hughey had quite a few bang outs at the rim as he was able to get behind the St. Ignatius defense and get open looks at the rim. Stretched the floor with a smooth 15-foot jumper and worked the boards on the defensive end, not allowing many second chance opportunities. Showed some versatility on the defensive end as well with his matchup abilities. Things came easy with his new team in their first game of the season. Henry Raynor (2021) | 6-6 PF | St. Ignatius Wow, to say the least... Raynor was impressive against Thomas Worthington and a tough matchup. Raynor used the face up to his advantage and took opposing defenders off the bounce to the hoop, finishing with his off hand. The junior has a rather quick step for his size and it creates a knack for getting to the rim. Used a left handed near-hook in the paint that was virtually not guard-able. Also, a drop step finish was a common theme as the 6-6 big uses good footwork combined with a soft touch to get what he wants at the rim.