Top Early Week Senior Performers

<p>Monday and Tuesday brought more sectional action in Southwest Ohio as I checked out action in 3 games in 2 days. This piece will focus on the 2022s that impressed as the underclassmen will be covered in a different piece.</p> <p><strong>Pierce Baulerle</strong> (Franklin) 6-foot-3 PF</p> <p>Baulerle played like he had something to prove in the Wildcats win against Northmont. While undersized for a PF, Baulerle showed his drive and determination was enough to overpower the younger Bolts on the blocks. Baulerle was impactful in more ways than not as he took charges and grabbed boards consistently against the athletic Bolts. Not known for his scoring, Baulerle finished with 17 points in the win.</p> <p><strong>Brandon Pooler</strong> (Northmont) 6-foot-0 SG</p> <p>Pooler put the Bolts into this Sectional matchup after hitting the game winner to beat Miamisburg in their previous game. Even in the loss to Franklin, Pooler showed he can be a solid perimeter shooter and definitely forced Franklin go to their zone defense to help contain him. Pooler’s confidence and mechanics are crisp which helps his case to be one of the GWOC’s better shooters. His toughness and scrappiness on the defensive end helped create some issues for Franklin’s guards as they struggled to keep their composure against Pooler and his defensive pressure.</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="921793" first="Anthony" last="Johnson"]</strong> (Fairmont) 6-foot-0 PG</p> <p>Another Fairmont game and another strong showing for Johnson in a dominating win against Stebbins. His midrange shot is quick and as consistent as you are going to find in the GWOC. Johnson has shown his ability to facilitate when he’s not filling up the stat sheet with his scoring numbers which makes him a dangerous guard. His ability to keep this up will go a long way in seeing how far Fairmont goes this postseason.</p> <p><strong>Sam Feldman</strong> (Springboro) 6-foot-4 SF</p> <p>I would argue Feldman had one of the toughest assignments in the games I watched as he was defended by Beavercreek’s rim protector <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1195101" first="Gabe" last="Phillips"]</strong> (2022). Even with a bigger defender, Feldman put his head down and showed willingness to attack Phillips off the drive. The shots weren’t falling for him on the night but this opened opportunities for teammate <strong>RJ Greer</strong> and others to get shots off on the perimeter. Feldman has great leadership traits and will take his talents to the University of Findlay next year as a QB.</p>