Top performers from Akron Classic Play By Play

<p>The Akron Classic hosted by Play By Play Camps was an opportunity to catch two games at the Canton Civic Center before the Ohio based teams focus on making a deep playoff run. In the first game Buchtel defeated Uniontown Lake in a blowout and in the second, Oak Hill Academy led by Akron native [player_tooltip player_id="1041394" first="Chris" last="Livingston"] handled a short-handed STVM squad 83-65. Here are breakdowns of the top performers from the event.</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="867954" first="Khoi" last="Thurmon"], 6’1 PG Buchtel 2023: Thurmon’s stock has continued to rise this season with Buchtel and showed out with another dominant performance. Thurmon plays with good pace and has nice change of speed with the ball in his hands. He wasn’t afraid to attack the zone defense that Lake tried to play and was finding teammates for easy looks all night. Thurmon has also improved his explosiveness as he has been throwing down dunks for the first time in games recently and got another one last night on the fast break. If Thurmon continues this upward trajectory, he will climb the rankings during the next update.</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="1392311" first="Camden" last="Horning"], 6’1 CG Uniontown Lake 2022: Lake came out of the gates firing with Horning and Sophomore [player_tooltip player_id="1392313" first="Chance" last="Casenhiser"] starting the game off strong from long range. Horning found open spots in the Buchtel defense and took advantage by making open jumpers when the ball found its way to him. Two of Horning’s 3-pointers were off screens from well executed plays by the Blue Streaks. This team exceeded preseason expectations in Federal League play and Horning will look to finish his career strong with a run in the state tournament.</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="1041394" first="Chris" last="Livingston"], 6’7 SF Oak Hill Academy (VA) 2022: Livingston was what most people came to see in his first game back in the 330 since deciding to leave Buchtel for the national powerhouse Oak Hill Academy. Livingston is an NBA caliber athlete and showed that off with a few breathtaking dunks. His explosiveness is really, really special. Livingston did do most of his damage on spot-up shots and transition opportunities, as Oak Hill killed the Irish by getting out on the break and scoring within 5 seconds of grabbing the rebound or steal.</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="867938" first="Lance" last="Hayes"], 6’3 SG STVM 2023: Hayes had the best performance out of anybody on this night by scoring what I would assume to be a career high 33 points for the Irish. Hayes is a special defensive prospect and made a handful of plays on that end, between steals, blocks and forcing Oak Hill ball handlers to uncomfortable positions. Hayes really didn’t get going offensively till the second half as he (and the rest of the Irish) were held in check for the first two quarters. Hayes started making more shots than I’ve ever seen before and despite 8-10 points coming in garbage time, his second half performance was still impressive. Playing without their senior leaders, it was Hayes who stepped up to keep the Irish somewhat competitive in the closing stages of the game.</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="867952" first="Darius" last="Stratford"], 6’8 C STVM 2023: I’ve always thought Stratford plays his best when opposed with another big man and that’s again what happened when Stratford met Duke commit [player_tooltip player_id="1387024" first="Christian" last="Reeves"]. Stratford drew two charges and grabbed probably over 10 rebounds in the contest. Offensively Stratford isn’t a guy you’ll throw the ball to on the block but he got a few putbacks and was active with screens as well. Both Stratford and Hayes were forced to lead in ways they haven’t been asked to do without [player_tooltip player_id="787627" first="Sencire" last="Harris"] and [player_tooltip player_id="809600" first="Ramar" last="Pryor"] and both players stepped up to the challenge.</p>