Ridgewood Live Event: Teddy's Sunday Notebook (Part 1)

Here’s a notebook from the games I covered Sunday at Ridgewood   There’s Another Exciting Point Guard to Watch at St. Viator The sophomore point guard duo of [player_tooltip player_id="1385289" first="Josiah" last="Calvin"] and [player_tooltip player_id="1385294" first="Joey" last="Hernandez"] are the guards most people talk about on this roster. But there’s a new guard I watched who absolutely killed the competition. Thats senior [player_tooltip player_id="1215317" first="Eli" last="Aldana"]. Against Lane, Aldana hit a shot at the buzzer to secure the win. The game I watched closer was against Longwood directly after. Longwood was the better team at the beginning. They moved the ball well and created nice scoring opportunities all over the floor. They led 10-4 at one point. The best thing Viator had going was scoring inside. They have tons of guards who like to take the ball inside. It was Aldana who took control of this offense early. He’s got a smooth floater and can score from anywhere. [player_tooltip player_id="1385289" first="Josiah" last="Calvin"] began the second half with a block off the glass in transition. Aldana continued a solid scoring effort with a midrange jumper baseline and two more 3-pointers. A turnaround fadeaway by Aldana tied the game, and a 3 gave them the lead. The teams went back and forth for a little while. Then Aldana scored his 20th point with a midrange jumper baseline to give them a 39-37 lead. However, Viator would lose 42-41. Playing again right away always makes things tough. Aldana scored 21.   [player_tooltip player_id="1215289" first="Mekhi" last="Lowery"] Leads a Full Team Effort for Oswego East There’s a ton to like about Oswego East. They rolled over Oak Park in their first game, as everyone was contributing and playing team basketball. Their second game against Libertyville was the game I watched closely. 2023 F [player_tooltip player_id="1215289" first="Mekhi" last="Lowery"] is their leader. He started the game with an inside score and a block in the paint. He also showed off his ability to stretch the floor and get his teammates involved with three assists later in the first half. His long arms allowed him to grab tough rebounds, and he chased after every loose ball in his area. He was an absolute monster on the glass Lowery’s ability to play as a point-forward is what makes him stand out the most. I counted at least 7 or 8 assists by middle of the 2nd half. Guard [player_tooltip player_id="1157349" first="Jehvion" last="Starwood"] had some nice plays with a dunk in transition and a 3-pointer to tie the game late in the first half. His off-ball movement allowed him to find more scoring opportunities in the 2nd half. Hit a three and scored a tough layup in transition to start. Lowry found him cutting to the rim for two more easy points. Another Player, Guard [player_tooltip player_id="939075" first="Bryce" last="Shoto"]. Made some terrific plays. He’s a super crafty point guard capable of breaking off defenders and scoring with ease. Mekhi Lowry made some clutch plays late in their game against Libertyville to seal the win. He got a second-chance bucket down low and hit a three to extend the lead late. On defense, he got on the floor and forced a jump ball, while also forcing a couple more tough shots. Oswego East won 48-44.   There’s Talent all over the Floor for Curie: Beat Down St. Pats There was a lot on display for Curie and St. Pats in this game. I should note out that Curie 2024 PG [player_tooltip player_id="1157211" first="Carlos" last="Harris"] has a much stronger build than before. He boxed out well and crashed the boards more often. He hit two jump shots early and found an assist in transition. Curie 2023 F [player_tooltip player_id="1148119" first="Jeremy" last="Harrington"] was very active down low. He made two early buckets by creating space and making a run towards the basket. He also snagged some tough rebounds on both ends. Harrington extended his range with a mid-range shot and 3 pointer. He then found Sherod Dent open in the corner for a wide open triple. Dent, another 2023 forward, did a terrific job of creating space and converting easy buckets for Curie. He moved well in the paint and stretch the floor out for two 3-pointers. But the shamrocks were right in this game. St. Pats 2023 F [player_tooltip player_id="1279768" first="Andrew" last="Ayeni"] has lots of upper body strength and displayed a ton of explosiveness against Curie. He scored 10 first half points and was super active on the glass. He the ball up very quickly and even had a midrange jumper. He opened the 2nd half with a block down low, and found another basket filling a hole in the paint. 2025 PG [player_tooltip player_id="1385287" first="EJ" last="Breland"] showed a ton of Confidence shooting the ball for Pats. He’s afraid to let if fly from anywhere and hit two long-range triples. He thought about several deep shots all game. But knew when to pass the ball and look for different opportunities. Curie would eventually win the game. Harrington and Dent each scored double-figures. St. Pats F [player_tooltip player_id="1279768" first="Andrew" last="Ayeni"] finished with 15 points.   Evanston, Proviso East Play Tough Defense Evanston made the big plays early as [player_tooltip player_id="1279759" first="Hunter" last="Duncan"] opened the game with a lob to Josh Thomas for a monster and-one slam. He then made a nice feed in transition and heavily contested a fast break layup on defense. Evanston led 15-4 early with Duncan leading the way. His ability to get past perimeter defenders with the ball gave him five quick points from the paint. 2023 F [player_tooltip player_id="1215286" first="Prince" last="Adams"] made an athletic play too with a putback slam midway through the opening half. He followed it up. With an alley-oop finish in transition. Defense was surely a priority too for the Wildkits. Along with Duncan, [player_tooltip player_id="1215286" first="Prince" last="Adams"] and [player_tooltip player_id="1385296" first="Yaris" last="Irby"] stripped opponents and forced difficult shots of their own. Adams’s long arms surely came in handy, as he had two big blocks to start the 2nd half. He got another block down low and had two more from behind the arc later on. He surely put on a block party. But Proviso East would bounce back and tie the game with stellar defense. [player_tooltip player_id="1048386" first="Jaloni" last="Johnson"] and JD Rush led the way. [player_tooltip player_id="1048386" first="Jaloni" last="Johnson"] was great at attacking the basket, and found lots of buckets through traffic. He hit a free throw to give East a late lead, before a put-back finish by Adams gave Evanston the lead again. But a technical foul allowed Proviso east to tie the game in the final seconds. Proviso East was fouled behind the arc with 2 seconds left. They made two free throws to give the Pirates the 30-29 win.