Four standouts from Lynwood’s playoff win against Serra

<p>LYNWOOD — The CIF Southern Section Division 2A playoffs kicked off on Wednesday with an array of must-see games. One of them was a rematch between the San Gabriel Valley League champions Lynwood Knights and the Gardena Serra Cavaliers. The two met earlier in the season back in December when Lynwood won by a close 73–71 final score.</p> <p>The sequel matchup delivered as expected. In the end, Lynwood pulled away with a nail-biting 53–50 win to advance to the second round of the playoffs. In a game filled with high-intensity sequences and exhilarating basketball, there were four key players who stood out the most.</p> <p><strong>2021 guard <a href="https://prephoops.com/player/christian-johnson-2/">[player_tooltip player_id="839205" first="Christian" last="Johnson"]</a> - Lynwood</strong></p> <p>Watching Christian “Bam” Johnson for the second time this season, the 2021 guard impressed even more on offense. </p> <p>Fresh off of his double-double showing against Dominguez in the league clincher last week, Johnson led the way once again in the playoff duel against Serra. He recorded 21 points, four rebounds and five assists in a polished offensive performance.</p> <p>Johnson was the primary ball-handler for Lynwood. He ran the offensive sets and played the role of a combo guard. His ability to find teammates in open space created shots. The guard also took matters into his own hands scoring-wise with a plethora of wide-open shots.</p> <p>Johnson’s thorough understanding of how to run an offense was on full display — a key reason why Lynwood secured the win. For instance, in an early offensive possession, Johnson called for a high pick-and-roll with 2020 forward Jordan Brown. Once Brown set the high screen, Johnson rolled to his right and nailed the open jumper with ease.</p> <p>The 2021 guard sure has the knack to carry an offense in critical situations.</p> <p><strong>2022 guard <a href="https://prephoops.com/player/jeremy-dent-smith/">[player_tooltip player_id="748747" first="Jeremy" last="Dent-Smith"]</a> - Serra</strong></p> <p>If Serra had any chance of completing the upset win against Lynwood, they were going to need the absolute best from <a href="https://prephoops.com/player/jeremy-dent-smith/">[player_tooltip player_id="748747" first="Jeremy" last="Dent-Smith"]</a> on offense. Unfortunately, the 2022 guard did not have his usual sharpshooting performance. Still, he showed several glimpses of how well he can orchestrate offensive sets.</p> <p>Dent-Smith’s success scoring-wise revolved around his ability to attack the painted area. He managed to complete several successful sequences where due to his dribbles into the paint, he dragged multiple Lynwood defenders towards him and left teammates like 2020 guard [player_tooltip player_id="942353" first="Kristopher" last="Sweet"] and 2022 guard [player_tooltip player_id="974671" first="Khamani" last="Nelson"] open on the corners for uncontested jump shots. His unselfish knack to dish out passes to the corner opened up the offense for Serra.</p> <p>If there is one aspect of his play that could use a few tweaks and adjustments, it is his struggles to consistently create his own high percentage shot. Dent-Smith had several sequences where he was unable to create space away from his closest defender. Thus, he was often left with taking contested shots against heavy pressure from the Lynwood defense. Once the 6’0” guard establishes a go-to move to create initial space for a high percentage shot, there will be no stopping him.</p> <p>But taking into account that he is a sophomore, the sky’s the limit for this talented guard.</p> <p><strong>2020 guard <a href="https://prephoops.com/player/jaren-johnson/">[player_tooltip player_id="557517" first="Jaren" last="Johnson"]</a> - Lynwood</strong></p> <p>The focus for <a href="https://prephoops.com/player/jaren-johnson/">[player_tooltip player_id="557517" first="Jaren" last="Johnson"]</a> in this contest was not on offense; each Lynwood player can attest to his offensive prowess. Instead, the main component of his play that proved to be the x-factor revolved around his work on defense.</p> <p>Heading into the game, Johnson had a couple of questions to answer. Was he going to be able to defend against Serra’s multitude of guards on isolation possessions? Were defensive lapses going to cost him to a great extent?</p> <p>In the biggest game of the season, the senior exemplified just how well of a defender he is. In short, with Johnson on the floor, Serra struggled to facilitate any easy offensive possessions. He was heavily active in tracking his opponent on man-to-man defensive sets. In isolation sequences, Johnson’s quick hands and will to use his length to spring up and contest the opponent’s shot caused constant havoc for Serra. More importantly, he displayed tremendous effort to fight for loose balls and corral in rebounds, which he recorded eight of.</p> <p>While the current unsigned 2020 guard also chipped in with a double-digit scoring showing, it was his physicality on the defensive end that made the difference in the game. Without his assertiveness to negate Serra’s game plan of driving to the rim for easy buckets, Lynwood would have been the one going home.</p> <p><strong>2020 guard <a href="https://prephoops.com/player/dominic-woods/">[player_tooltip player_id="745426" first="Dominic" last="Woods"]</a> - Serra</strong></p> <p>While much of the offensive focus for Serra centered on <a href="https://prephoops.com/player/jeremy-dent-smith/">[player_tooltip player_id="748747" first="Jeremy" last="Dent-Smith"]</a>, there was also a clear eye on 2020 guard <a href="https://prephoops.com/player/dominic-woods/">[player_tooltip player_id="745426" first="Dominic" last="Woods"]</a>.</p> <p>The 6’4” was nearly as active on the offensive side of the ball as Dent-Smith. However, he simply did not have his best shooting night. But as was the case with Dent-Smith, there were several positives to take away from Woods’ showing.</p> <p>For one, the guard displayed his capability as a spot-up shooter. In Serra offensive possessions where the ball was moving but not too much avail for a shot-creating result, Woods found ways to take shots at will. He wound up drilling several key shots, including his late 4th quarter 3-point shot that instilled hope for Serra on a possible comeback. While his shot selection may come up to question at times, there is no denying his confidence on the offensive side of his game.</p> <p>Next up for Lynwood is a second-round playoff matchup against Sonora. The Knights will be underdogs in this one, but if the Johnson duo can lead the team to an upset win, they very well will have the attention of many more coaches and scouts within the Division 2A rank.</p>