Kyler’s Sectional Evaluations: 3/1

<p>We are locked in for the State Playoffs and it starts this week with Sectionals. It is time to recap this week and look at what our exciting prospects did last night in the opening round games.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="774740" first="Isaiah" last="Davis"] – 6’9 2022 PF -Zionsville (Huntington signee): The senior for Zionsville played with so much heart this game. Was scoring at all three levels and was one of the main "go to" options for the Eagles when their main scoring option, [player_tooltip player_id="868255" first="Logan" last="Imes"], was struggling. In case you have not seen Davis play, he is one of the best Indiana power forwards at stretching the floor and hitting the long ball, as he did multiple times here in the upset loss vs Noblesville. He finished with an unofficial 20 pts to end his career wearing a Zionsville uniform. Huntington is getting a power forward that could come in an make an immediate impact.    </p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="868244" first="Nick" last="Richart"] – 6’8 2023 PF - Zionsville: Switching over to other part of Zionsville’s dominate frontcourt duo, the big man Richart had himself as solid game as well. The thing that Richart did so well here was cleaning up the glass and on the offensive end providing easy second chance points off misses. As far as big men prospects go in the state of Indiana, I would put Richart as arguably the best when it comes to footwork and finishing around the rim with his soft touch. He has been a consistent stock-riser during the majority of his high school career and I am expecting his recruitment to really take off the coming summer. As far as improvements, would like to see him add more strength and quickness and perhaps expand his offensive game beyond the paint.   </p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="868230" first="Preston" last="Roberts"] – 6’5 2023 SF - Noblesville: The explosive wing started off real slow here in the first half before absolutely going off in the second half. Once the second half got going, Zionsville really struggled to contain Roberts in the paint, where he seems to be at his best the few times I have seen him. He was excellent on the drive and uses his sneaky athleticism to make plays on both ends. He finished with 15 pts and his play in the second half was arguably the biggest factor from keeping Zionsville to get back in this one. Big summer coming up where you could see him add more offers to go along with his Coastal Carolina one.      </p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="1042494" first="Luke" last="Almodovar"] – 6’2 2023 SG - Noblesville: As far as the 2023 class goes, Almodovar is easily one of the most athletic and crafty shooting guards that we have here in the state. Was very active on both ends here and seemed to always be moving on and off the ball. Fished very well around the rim and one of the best plays I saw out of both opening round games was his jump stop, up and under move once the defender was in the air. For a guard his size, he rebounds very well also. Finished with an unofficial 14 pts.     </p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="1297052" first="Jalen" last="Haralson"] – 6’6 2025 PG - Fishers: The freshman phenom had himself another big game here. Started off a little slow before picking up the pace on both ends. Starting to notice that he is at his best on the fast break in transition. Once he is around the rim, he is tough to stop. Even though he is easily one of the more skilled freshman we have seen in a long time, he is a freshman however, and I thought there were times where he made some mistakes and passed up on some shots he should have taken. Already has high majors recruiting him and the offseason is where you are going to see him take that next step. He finished with 19 pts.     </p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="1158186" first="Braden" last="Smith"] – 6’0 2022 PG - Westfield (Purdue signee): Out of the four teams in the two games that I watched last night, there was not a better player than Smith and honestly, he might have been the best player in the state. He was locked in from the start making play after play after play on the offensive end. At the half, he had already had 20 pts and finished with 28 when the final buzzer sounded. There is arguably not a player that is more important to an Indiana high school than what Smith is to Westfield. This is the type of game the Shamrocks needed from him to get the upset win over Fishers and that is what they got. He is continuing to show why he deserves Mr. Basketball.    </p>