Julian Sectional Semis: Recaps and Scouting Reports

<p>As a head coach of Julian I’m privileged to host one of the better sectionals in the state in my own gym. So instead of fighting traffic to go see games it nice to have the better teams come to me.  Here were the results of the two Semifinal games. </p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Longwood v Phillips </strong></p> <p>In a conference rematch that Phillips won earlier this season this game was completely different. Longwood jumped out to an early 13 - 2 lead with threes from [player_tooltip player_id="1295557" first="Terrance" last="Jones"] and Deqwon Hargrove to give them some breathing room out the gate. Midway through the first Phillips guard Jahiem Savage made some key steals and plays at the rim to cut that big lead to four in the game. After a missed layup from Phillips that could have gotten the lead to 2 points it turned into a route for Longwood as Jones added more threes to open the game back up. In the second half Longwood looked inside to Biondre Patton who made several plays inside to keep them ahead to close the game. </p> <p>Final  - Longwood 63 Phillips 42</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong><u>Scouting report </u></strong></p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1295557" first="Terrance" last="Jones"] (Longwood)  2022</strong></p> <p>The smooth scoring guard who normally makes his mark getting to the rim off drives was able to make shots from beyond the arch. Jones hit 3 three pointers early in the game to give his team a big lead. Later on he drove to the rim a few times and was fouled. He finished with 14 points and a handful of assists.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Deqwon Hargrove (Longwood) 2022</strong></p> <p>Deqwon is a sparkplug guard who is savvy enough to get in the lane and make plays at the rim for himself and others. Hargrove was other guy who made several shots from three in this one. Keeping Phillips at bay every time they made a run. </p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Jahiem Savage (Phillips) 2023</strong></p> <p>Savage was the lone bright spot in a game that was basically over in the second quarter.  Jahiem is very aggressive and athletic guard who made plays through contact. At 6’3 he has a decent handle that gets him to the rack and with a strong upper body he finishes well. At times when the lead got to out of hand Savage made some surges to keep the score respectable.  </p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Leo vs Chicago U-High</strong></p> <p>The second semifinal was also a rematch from earlier in the season in which Leo won by two. From the tip off of this game it was never close as Leo got a huge lift from it’s all conference guard [player_tooltip player_id="1371072" first="Jakeem" last="Cole"]. He started off the game with a quick 13 points. U-High couldn’t get their footing right as Leo guards put tons of pressure on the ball handlers which caused many turnovers.  By halftime it was a 26 point deficit.  In the second half [player_tooltip player_id="1215291" first="Tyler" last="Smith"] added some more heat to the fire by hitting a couple three pointers himself as well as hitting athletic guard [player_tooltip player_id="1049103" first="Austin" last="Ford"] a couple times in transition. [player_tooltip player_id="1295608" first="Cam" last="Cleveland"] does what he does best which is make shots when Leo needs them the most. U-High was able to get a little lift from [player_tooltip player_id="1210389" first="Zach" last="Smith"] and [player_tooltip player_id="1049053" first="Ryan" last="Duncan"] both players made shots when the Maroons were able to get ball movement in the half court.  But by the 4th quarter the game was out of reach and Leo would rest its players and move on to the Sectional Championship game on Friday.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong><u>Scouting Report</u></strong></p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1371072" first="Jakeem" last="Cole"] (Leo) 2023</strong></p> <p>Cole started the game on fire. Scoring 13 points of the Lions first 17 points before the first mandatory mask timeout.  Jakeem did a great job at moving without the ball as he scored off a hard slashing cut to the rim at first. Later he spaced well off the ball into the corner where he knocked two threes down. As the game progressed Cole showed his PG skills moving the ball to set up guys for easier buckets. Jakeem led all scorers with 23 points.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1215291" first="Tyler" last="Smith"] (Leo) 2023</strong></p> <p>Smith was a terror on the defensive side forcing turnovers left and right. He turned several steals into transition buckets for teammates.  On the offensive side he knocked down a pair of threes as well as hit a few crafty layups in the process. </p> <p>Tyler finished with 10 points, 6 boards, and 6 assists. </p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1210389" first="Zach" last="Smith"] (U-High)</strong></p> <p>Smith started the game with a three and wouldn’t score much until middle of the second quarter.  Zach filled it up with some pull up jump shots. He got to the rim and was fouled a few times but they didn’t call it. Smith finished with 13 points </p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1049053" first="Ryan" last="Duncan"] (UHigh) 2022</strong></p> <p>Ryan didn’t have his typical shooting night. He was constantly hassled throughout the game. He was forced to taking really tough shots in the second half. He hit couple shots late in the game. Finished with 12 points and several rebounds.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>Looking to have a great Sectional Championship game on Friday night between Longwood and Leo. Expect a fast paced with high energy game with tons of plays being made on both sides. </p>