Class 4A Final Four: Parkville vs Eleanor Roosevelt Standouts

Last night on the campus of North Point High School, a classic took place as No. 1 Parkville took their undefeated record in to the game to face a tough No. 4 seeded Eleanor Roosevelt squad. In a game that included endless momentum swings, Eleanor Roosevelt made key plays down the stretch to escape with a 59-57 victory and earn a spot in the Class 4A state title game where they’ll face Winston Churchill on Saturday evening. Let’s take a look at the standouts from this thriller. <a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2021/07/Payne-Jaylin-Head-Shot.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-1241149" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2021/07/Payne-Jaylin-Head-Shot-300x200.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="200" /></a> [player_tooltip player_id="1277426" first="Jaylin" last="Payne"] | Eleanor Roosevelt ’22 Payne made his presence early on by using his size, length and athleticism at 6-foot-7 to establish a strong inside game for the Raiders. He took advantage of catches on the block where he’d bang his way to the rim for tough buckets, face up from 10-to-12 feet and attack off the dribble or be the beneficiary of driving guards delivering dump-off passes to him in the dunker’s spot. Payne had the most important sequence of the game as ’22 [player_tooltip player_id="904678" first="Ifanieye" last="Lewis"] drove and delivered a crisp pass to Payne on the baseline where he rose over the contesting Parkville for a two-handed dunk to give Roosevelt the lead. The following possession, Payne executed a perfect show on a ball-screen where he used his length to poke the ball free from the Parkville guard to put together a major defensive stop with less than 30 seconds left. Payne led the Raiders with 16 points. <a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2021/03/Screen-Shot-2021-03-10-at-1.48.26-AM.png"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-1147695" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2021/03/Screen-Shot-2021-03-10-at-1.48.26-AM-300x226.png" alt="" width="300" height="226" /></a> [player_tooltip player_id="904678" first="Ifanieye" last="Lewis"] | Eleanor Roosevelt ’22 Simply put, Lewis is a fun watch. He’s a lead guard who is the definition of a strap-up defender. He takes pride in making every single movement difficult for his matchup and his active hands played an important role in methodically wearing Parkville down throughout the course of the game. His playmaking, shiftiness with the ball and competitiveness all were crucial in Roosevelt bouncing back from being down by 10 points in the third quarter. Lewis finished with nine points, but it felt as if he controlled this game much more than his box score stats would indicate <a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2021/12/Nick-Jones-3.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-1348155" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2021/12/Nick-Jones-3-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" /></a> [player_tooltip player_id="1277437" first="Dorian" last="Jones"] | Parkville ’22 Jones showed why he was the Baltimore County Player of the Year with his performance last night as he finished with a team-high 16 points. After a slow start where Parkville found themselves down eight in the first half of the first quarter, Jones began to figure out the the best way to attack the Roosevelt trapping press was to put his head down and get to the rim as quickly as possible. For folks who are familiar with Jones, he doesn’t look as athletic as he truly is, so when he drives to the rim and get head-level with it, opposing bigs realize what they’re dealing with. On those drives Jones was inviting contact in the air and finishing through it. He got out in the open floor to throw down a one-handed dunk that ignited the Parkville faithful, had his routine above-the-rim block on the defensive end and did a good job of keeping the PG County Player of the Year [player_tooltip player_id="904687" first="James" last="Rice"] at bay. Foul trouble hindered Jones throughout, as that continues to be an area for improvement has he moves onto the college level. <a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2021/11/Emezi-Egeonu.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-1335713" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2021/11/Emezi-Egeonu-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" /></a> [player_tooltip player_id="1277446" first="Emezie" last="Egeonu"] | Parkville ’22 Egenou had a tough time dealing with Payne initially and was quickly brought to the bench, but after the first quarter it seemed as if he upped his energy and with that, his confidence as well. The 6-foot-6 forward used his frame to fend off Payne and other Roosevelt bigs to prevent second-chance opportunities and after gathering the rebound, chested the ball strongly as opposing guards tried to swipe the ball free. Roosevelt’s defense didn’t allow for many open three’s so much of Parkville’s attack came off drives and getting into the paint. Egeonu was active in making himself available in windows along the baseline for quick passes where he showcased dependable hands and a soft touch on his looks. The Susquehanna-bound big helped shift momentum after Roosevelt established an overwhelming physical presence inside throughout the first quarter. He finished with 12 points in the contest. [player_tooltip player_id="1277447" first="Carlos" last="Kinard"] | Eleanor Roosevelt ’22 Kinard was the floor-spacer for the Raiders, which helped present driving lanes for others to take advantage of in the half-court. He was far from a decoy though, as he was featured in many pindown screens, Iverson cuts or other actions that had potential to free him up for quick looks beyond the arc. On a couple of those occasions he made his defender pay for being a half-second late on the catch and showed his fluid shooting stroke by knocking down 2 triples and a nice mid-range pull-up after a quick sweep through. The 6-foot-3 guard contributed with 11 points in the win.