Max’s Mid-Week Standouts (Week 7)

<p>Mid-way through the week I’ve had the chance to watch St. Paul Como Park vs St. Paul Washington, Columbia Heights vs DeLaSalle, and Irondale vs Park of Cottage Grove. These are seven prospects who stood out!</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="958715" first="Pharrel" last="Payne"] (6’9 2022 C, Park of Cottage Grove)- </strong>This was easily the most dominant display from a post player that I’ve seen this season, as the Minnesota commit put up 36 points and 10 rebounds in a win for Park. To put it simply, Pharrel was unstoppable in the paint. If he caught the ball on the block, Irondale was either going to give up two points, or a wide open three by sending a triple team his way. A lot of the times he was able to turn and score before the extra defenders could even get to him, showing great touch finishing through contact. Really like how he establishes position on the block and is able to move with his defender pinned on his back while the ball rotates on the perimeter. Defensively he blocked and altered so many shots around the rim, and was a key part in holding Irondale to just 13 second half points.</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1284156" first="Jency" last="Davis"] (5’8 2024 G, Columbia Heights)- </strong>Outside of the two minutes when Jency was out with an injury, Columbia Heights’ bench saw less than 30 seconds of playing time. That means that the sophomore guard is taking on a big role already as a trusted ball handler. He put up an impressive 12 points and 6 assists in the win over DeLaSalle, using his quickness and shifty handle to beat his initial defender off the dribble, and getting into dangerous spots to create for his teammates. Jency was excellent at looking off defenders before slipping the ball right past them to one of his forwards for a good look at the rim. And just when you thought he could only create for others, Jency hit a tough mid-range jumper and a reverse lay-up late in the game that allowed his team to pull away for the win.</p> <p><strong>Amir Plair (6’4 2022 F, St. Paul Como Park)- </strong>Amir started off Monday night on fire, as he put up 12 points in just 3-4 minutes to start the game. The bouncy and long forward is still pretty raw, but showed a lot of potential on both ends of the floor, and that also translated to production in a win for his team. Amir was dangerous in the mid-range as he can elevate off the catch to get shots up over the top of defenders, although he does the bulk of his damage around the rim. He runs the floor so hard, leading to his signature high flying dunks in transition. Plair is an impressive athlete off both one or two feet. In the half-court he excels with quick cuts off the ball, or scrapping for offensive rebounds and using his quick second bounce to go right back up. On the defensive end he hedges screens hard to disrupt ball handlers, and has the versatility to guard a variety of positions. Finished with 22 points on 11-16 shooting in the win.</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="958777" first="Kyle" last="Johnson"] (6’1 2022 G, DeLaSalle)- </strong>Kyle has put together a couple of strong performances over the past two games I’ve seen, and on Tuesday night he got off to a hot start. Johnson drained back to back threes, and drew a charge on the other end of the floor helping his team get off to an 8-0 lead. One thing you’ll notice when watching Kyle play is that he rarely has to dribble to score. That’s because he’s so active moving without the ball defensively, and will always have his hands and feet ready to quickly get off a shot when a teammate finds him. On the other end of the floor he’s a grinder defending on the ball, and it seems like every game he’s able to slide into position to take a charge or two. Scored 16 points and grabbed 6 boards against Columbia Heights.</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="958742" first="Terrence" last="Brown"] (6’ 2022 PG, Columbia Heights)- </strong>Yes, he did turn it over more than usual, but you can’t deny the impact that Terrence made on Tuesday night. The stat-line itself is impressive at 22 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, and 6 steals, and he produced those numbers in a variety of ways. Defensively I thought he moved his feet well to stick with some quick guards, and really made an impact getting a hand in to disrupt drives, or jumping passing lanes to get out in transition. Once in the open floor he had some tough finishes going straight into contact. I also got to see how improved he is as a shooter, as Terrence knocked down 2-4 shots from three, and mixed in some tough pull-up shots from mid-range. With Columbia Heights losing a good amount of scoring from last season’s team, Terrence has really stepped up and shown he can score at all three levels while using his improved length/athleticism to make plays defensively.</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="958678" first="Evan" last="Bearth"] (6’4 2022 SF, Park of Cottage Grove)- </strong>Park was actually trailing at halftime, but Evan quickly put the game away with a scoring flurry to kick off the second. Two quick threes and a transition lay-up were part of a run that firmly put Park in the lead early in the second half. At 6’4 he’s a difficult matchup at the high school level, because most teams don’t have a guy his size to throw on him, when you consider that Park starts 6’9 and 6’6 in the frontcourt. Because of that Evan has the opportunity to make plays shooting over smaller defenders, or getting to the rim and using his frame to finish over them. Evan ended the game with 19 points including 5 triples.</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1213072" first="Obinna" last="Izuora"] (6’2 2022 G, Irondale)- </strong>Irondale is a team that’s been a bit better than many expected this year, as they’re off to a 7-4 start with a win over CDH. Their experienced group of guards is a big reason for that start. Last night it was [player_tooltip player_id="1213072" first="Obinna" last="Izuora"] who stepped up with a big game. Izuora finished with a team high 17 points, and was fearless attacking the basket against the Park size. He’s a solid athlete with some length, and that allowed him to hang in the air to convert on some tough finishes. Showed a bit of wiggle off the dribble as well, knocking down a tough step-back three from the corner in the first half. He’s now scored 17+ in four of Irondale’s last five games. </p>