7 Standouts from Alter and Fairmont showdown

<p>In what some call “The Battle of Kettering”, the Alter Knights overcame a rough 1st quarter to beat the host Fairmont Firebirds 67-47. The Knights were paced by senior guard Brady Uhl with 23 points unofficially while Fairmont got 18 points unofficially from sophomore Keon Wright. During this game, 7 players impressed me with their play and are highlighted below.</p> <p>Jacob Connor (2022 #25)- While many sophomores were on display in this game, Connor was the most impressive overall as a prospect. Standing at 6’7, he is such a patient player on the offensive end and impressed me with his ball-handling and his ability to work the defense and change his speed and direction against full court pressure. His length on the defensive end really made things tough for Fairmont as they went against the Alter 2-3 zone. He has active hands and gets into passing lanes frequently which allows Alter to play aggressive in their defense.</p> <p>Jack Smith (2020)- Smith made an impact on both ends of the floor. His drive and hustle is fun to watch as he gets up and down the floor quickly and is one of the first players to get back on defense. He does the simple things well, including boxing out as well as his on-ball defense. On the offensive end, he showed me his ability to attack from different levels as he found success from behind the arc while also utilizing the dribble drive to get some points in the paint.</p> <p>Conor Stolly (2020 #35)- Stolly is one of my favorite prospects to watch and he again showed why he is such a strong weapon for the Knights. An elite rim protector, Stolly uses all of his 6’8 stature to not only block shots, but get defenses thinking if they want to even try to attack. While he did get some foul trouble in the 1st half, Stolly settled in and impressed me most with his range especially for a post player. He’s been a target for D2/NAIA programs and for good reason.</p> <p>Brady Uhl (2020 #143)- It took a little bit of time for Uhl to get much going on the offensive end, but he settled in during the 2nd half and ultimately led all scorers with 23 points in the win. Brady found most of his success on the dribble drive and utilized his physical stature bodying up against a smaller Fairmont lineup.</p> <p>Danye Lewis (2020)- I came in quite excited to see Lewis play as I highlighted him in my 2020 Dark Horse article with his athleticism and rebounding skill. While his athleticism did not disappoint, he did run into foul trouble which limited some of his minutes in the 2nd half. For a 6’0 player, he truly is one heck of a rebounder and showed his toughness and was not afraid to body up with the bigger Knights. Defensively, he has good court awareness and found his way over on the help side often which is always a positive outlook for me.</p> <p>Anthony Johnson (2022)- Johnson is very confident on the offensive end which was impressive since he is only a sophomore. He is a very patient guard and overall just looked very comfortable on the perimeter. He definitely has potential to be a future star for the Firebirds in their backcourt.</p> <p>Keon Wright (2022)- Wright was phenomenal as a shooter throughout the night, including knocking down 3 straight 3’s in the 4th quarter. Mainly a catch-and-shoot player, he led all scorers for the Firebirds with 18 unofficially and had a few hustle plays on the defensive end as well. The nice part of this youth for the Firebirds is the room for growth with experience early on. Wright can definitely benefit from this and reminded me of former Firebirds sharpshooter Jack Hendricks with his ability to get shots off and hit as many as he did.</p>