LSI First Round: What to Watch

<p>The Les Schwab Invitational kicks off on Thursday and there will be plenty of things to watch for in the first round. Here's a look at some of the things to pay attention to.</p> <p><strong>Border Battle</strong></p> <p>Less than 1.5 miles separates Grant and Central Catholic and the two schools actually have had students transfer between them through the years - in fact, basketball-wise SataiVior Ayilola would be a good example. Both teams will run and shoot, utilize their depth, and put pressure on the basketball defensively.  Even with the game kicking off early at 9 am, it should be a high-scoring affair and look for big games from the likes of Grant's senior trio of <strong>Erik Fraser</strong>, <strong>Emanuel Steward</strong>, and <strong>Tai Warner</strong> and Central Catholic's <strong>DeRay Seamster</strong>, <strong>Darius Gakwasi</strong>, and rising big man <strong>Luke Johnson</strong>.</p> <p><strong>Highest Scoring Game</strong></p> <p>While Grant and Central Catholic should have plenty of scoring, expect Barlow vs. Churchill to really pile on the points. Both teams aren't afraid to run in the least and you can expect this one to have plenty of up-and-down action. Barlow will fire away from three behind the senior duo of <strong>Jesse White</strong> and <strong>Evan Inglesby</strong> while Churchill will try to get into transition and finish behind <strong>Brian Goracke</strong> and <strong>Kaelan O'Neil</strong>.  If one or even both teams crack 100 it wouldn't be a complete surprise.</p> <p><strong>Top Individual Matchup</strong></p> <p>Pretty obvious that Crater playing Clackamas in the first round wasn't an accident as it will feature the top two players in the state in the Class of 2021 going head to head in <strong>Nate Bittle</strong> and <strong>Ben Gregg</strong>. While the two may not necessarily guard each other all the time, you can bet they will face off quite a bit in this game - really the first time they will have played directly against one another in a real game. Coming into the tournament Gregg is a little banged up having sat out the second half in his last game against Mountainside, but the hope is that he'll be fully healthy for this matchup.</p> <p><strong>Best Chance at an Upset over a Visiting Team?</strong></p> <p>Wilsonville over Eastside Catholic would be a popular selection = after all, the Wildcats really pushed Rancho Catholic in the Capitol City Classic and #1 recruit Evan Mobley was playing in the game. Senior <strong>Dakota Reber</strong> is playing on another level right now and <strong>Gabe Reichle</strong> and <strong>Keegan Shivers</strong> are providing plenty of support. Wilsonville will be able to match Eastside Catholic offensively, the key will be if they can handle them on the defensive end, especially inside against <strong>JT Tuimoloau</strong>.</p> <p><strong>Best Chance at a Major Upset over a visiting Team?</strong></p> <p>If an LSI pool existed if you really wanted to pick a Cinderella you might go with Lake Oswego over Bishop Gorman. You can bet that head coach Marshall Cho will have his team fired up and very prepared to play and he has likely already watched hours of game tape. Bishop Gorman is banged up (the word is Stanford signee Noah Taitz will be out) and is coming off a loss in the Tarkanian Classic. Granted the odds aren't high and the Lakers have struggled to score at times this season but don't completely count them out.</p>