Week 1 Spotlight

<p><em>I know I am not alone in saying that I felt great disappointment when the limited attendance restrictions were announced in our state. I was finally going to trade my apartment’s four walls, for a different set o-f four walls for a few hours each week. Woohoo! It hasn’t worked out like I had hoped, but live streaming has provided an opportunity to watch many more games than I would have by attending them.</em></p> <p><em> After gathering my notes on this week, I realized I watched too many games, and I have too many notes to share with you in a clean, organized way. So, I have decided to dump all my random observations into a weekly post titled ’Week __ Spotlight.’ I don’t promise any consistency in its theme, or pattern to its contents, but it will more fun because of it (I’m hoping). </em></p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="956875" first="Daniel" last="Tobiloba"] decides game versus Albia</strong></p> <p>In the first game of the Iowa high school basketball season, Grand View Christian defeated Albia 69-56. [player_tooltip player_id="962674" first="Manny" last="Hammonds"] scored a game-high 32 points, but the sophomore center was what turned the game in the Thunder’s favor with his rim protection and rebounding. Entering halftime, Albia only trailed by a point. They were patient on offense and able to get some good looks. They moved the ball and turned the defense over. Albia chose to pull out Drew Chance in hopes that Tobiloba would evacuate the paint. This worked in spots, and they did most of their damage while Tobiloba was on the bench in foul trouble. However, the patience Albia had in the first half began to wane after the break. Tobiloba completely locked down the paint, discouraging opponents from even looking at the rim as they drove. He finished the night with 23 rebounds and 4 blocks. Albia manufactured good looks for most of the day, but needed a better shooting performance to overcome the lack of interior scoring. Shooting 33% from the field and 9% from three won’t win you many games.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Storm Lake trio impresses</strong></p> <p>The Tornadoes finished the week 2-0, and I was able to catch their first game of the season against Denison-Schleswig. [player_tooltip player_id="964867" first="Jamuo" last="Gatwech"] is a dynamic player who got penetration whenever he pleased. He elongates his strides and varies his pace, holding on to the ball as long as possible. Playing this way tends to distract defenders and cause them to mistime their movements. Jamuo used these advantages to create easy drop-offs to teammates.</p> <p>Notice how he draws the eyes of multiple defenders and gifts Sam Slight the easiest bucket of his life. </p> <p>https://youtu.be/sXuDyaIvVow</p> <p>He pushed the tempo all night, and accumulated 10 assists. He then followed that up with an 8 assist performance against Sioux City North. </p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="784984" first="Luth" last="Dak"] added in 12 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 blocks in Storm Lake’s first contest, and showed impressive versatility. He has the ability to grab a rebound or corral a block, and start the break himself.</p> <p>https://youtu.be/g4NRSrihALU</p> <p>And look how hard he runs the floor on this backboard alley-oop from Gatwech.</p> <p>https://youtu.be/T5vzetHWsgU</p> <p>He struggles defending on the perimeter because his feet can get crossed and his hips too open, but it’s difficult for a lot of bigs to get into a great stance. He did recover well after being beat in space, and throughout the game he figured out how to defend the three effectively without making himself vulnerable to the drive.</p> <p>The leading scorer for the Tornadoes, Sam Slight, does a little bit of everything for this team. He isn’t an exceptional finisher at the basket, but he attacks closeouts well and is excellent off the ball. With Gatwech distracting defenders, and Sam Slight’s constant movement, it’s a recipe for easy baskets. His efforts in the rebounding department paid off big time this week, too, securing 24 of them in two games, also good for the team lead.</p> <p><strong>Wapello’s team defense finishes off Hillcrest Academy</strong></p> <p>The [player_tooltip player_id="962646" first="Maddox" last="Griffin"], Trenton Murray, and Tade Parsons backcourt created issues for the Hillcrest offense. [player_tooltip player_id="964859" first="Eli" last="Ours"] had a fantastic game, but the rest of the team was unable to get clean looks off against Wapello. Their zone was on a string. They rarely overextended themselves, they did a terrific job of taking defensive gambles at the right time. If those gambles failed, they had reinforcements ready to clean up the mess. The length and speed of Wapello was too much in the end for Hillcrest to overcome and suffered a 53-42 defeat.</p>