Solon 78 @ Brunswick 65 Recap

<p>A marquee GCC contest between Solon and Brunswick unsurprisingly brought a lot of points in a fast-paced contest. Neither team plays a natural big man at all in their line-ups and like to shoot a lot of 3-pointers. After a early run sparked by 10 first quarter points from [player_tooltip player_id="1041446" first="Marquis" last="Barnett"], Solon made their push in the second. A 30 point quarter for the Comets, fueled by [player_tooltip player_id="805195" first="Marcus" last="Steele"] with 19 first half points gave Solon a slight halftime advantage. In the second half it was more of the same, both teams racing up and down the court but the Comets built upon their lead. Solon did an excellent job in the third quarter of turning over the Blue Devils complimentary pieces, leading to fast-break layups. Jimmie Williams missed a couple easy shots in the first quarter, but ended the night with 13 points thanks to some timely shooting after the Comets broke traps made by Brunswick’s defense. In the end, Brunswick didn’t have enough athletes to force Solon to turn the ball over and the Comets left Brunswick a double-digit winner in just their second game of the season. Here were the top performers from the contest.</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="809614" first="Sam" last="Marbury"], 6’4 SF Solon 2022: Maybe it’s the hair, or maybe it was the fact that Marbury was the tallest player who saw the floor, but he looks taller than the 6’4 he’s listed on Solon’s roster. Marbury does an excellent job of moving off the ball and found himself in advantageous positions underneath the basket numerous times throughout this contest. When Marbury can catch the ball around the paint and use his impressive footwork and size to shoot around the basket, it’s usually money. Marbury also has a little bit of a funky jumper but he knocked down a couple 3-pointers and shot a very high percentage of free-throws. Marbury should be at the top of the lists for D2 programs when they start recruiting class of 2022 prospects and should get some interest from D1 programs as well.</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="805195" first="Marcus" last="Steele"], 6’0 PG Solon 2021: Steele was phenomenal in this contest, doing everything you’d want out of a senior point guard. Steele has some explosiveness in his legs and uses that to finish around the basket in a variety of ways. He can go off one or two feet and can hang in the air or use the floater as a weapon. Steele also buried two deep 3-pointers when his momentum was going towards the basket. If he continues to score the ball at this high of efficiency, Solon will be scoring a lot of points this season. Steele should be receiving looks from many small-college programs looking for a point guard who’s comfortable playing in a fast-paced system.</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="1041446" first="Marquis" last="Barnett"], 6’3 PG Brunswick: Barnett had a complete scoring performance on Tuesday evening, exploding for over 30 points in the loss. Barnett came out firing from long distance with a couple first quarter 3-pointers. Barnett has the burst to get around defenders at the 3-point line to get to the basket. Barnett also used his height advantage against other guards to get some post touches which he turned into either layups or free-throws. Barnett should be receiving plenty of scholarship interest right now as he’s sorta flown under the radar.</p>