EDC Showdown: #4 Red River vs. Horace

17 points, 4-6 FT’s, 1 triple. His 3-point shot looked effortless. Fish could give teams problems later in the year if he keeps banging down low and every once in awhile sneaks out for a few 3-point shots. I liked the looks of his post moves and how he finished them with a soft kiss off the glass. One of his go-to moves is the spin. He uses this when attacking and on one occasion he finished it with righty finger roll. He showed good anticipation when intercepting a pass. Carvin really stood out in the second half with his offensive rebounding effort. At one point, Carvin grabbed the rebound, turned his back, spun, and scored with a soft baby hook. Another time, he grabbed a rebound when sandwiched between two roughriders and drew a foul on the put back. He missed the 2nd FT but followed his shot, grabbed the ball, and scored on his own missed free throw. Fish had a nice game and he proved that he can play with the BIG boys. I am expecting Mr. Fish to keep improving and to have a high quality junior season.

8 points, 2 triples. His first triple came from the right wing and his second was from way out on the volleyball line. This 9th grader has DEEP shooting range. It does not look like he is forcing the shot either, Evanson makes it looks easy. I like his ball skills and he seems like a heady player out there. The youngster even took a charge! There are not many 9th graders that are willing to step into a varsity game, hold their ground, and take one for the team. Carter is a youngster that I want to see play again. I know he has big shooting ability as he knocked down 6 triples in a single game earlier in the season.

7 points, 1/1 FT’s. It was easy to see that Siffoi his a quick athlete. He certainly has potential and is a player to keep tabs on. Mike showed a sweet stepback move that created a ton of separation and his finished it with a 17-foot jumper.

12 points, 2/2 FT’s, 2 triples. Brady “Mr. Cool” is a lefty with a super-smooth stroke. His first triple came from the right wing and his second came from beyond college range. His shot is soft and his follow through is something to write home about. He is not just a 3pt shooter. Mr. Cool showed a clever shot fake, slashed to his right and put up floater that bounced around and fell through. Westphal has shooters touch! He had another nice shot fake that led into a mid-range pull-up. He showed hustle when grabbing an O-board and sticking it in for a score. He also dove on the floor for loose ball. I like that he did not hesitate to give up his body in hope of gaining an extra possession for his team. The Hawks took the L but Westphal did some nice things and had a formidable showing.

21 points and 3 triples. “The Red River Rifle” cashed in from deep for 9 points. I have said this many times, but Kraft has a pure stroke that is silky smooth. Every time it leaves his hands it looks like it going in. Zach was beating the first line of the defense all night and was it seemed like he was in the paint whenever he wanted to be. His floater/runner was noteworthy and has to be one of the best in the state when it comes to scoring with the floater game. When slashing, Kraft scored many baskets at the rim, his long arms allow Zach to finish around or over defenders. I liked the fact that he posted up. He realized that he had a mismatch and went to the block for a good look. Kraft looked as clever as a fox when he faked a hand-back, fooled the D and went in for a score. Zach is an elite guard in Class A and he has the Roughriders playing like one of the best teams in ND.

25 points, 3/3 FT’s. “Reis Mode” was very tough and he showed again why he is likely the leading contender for Senior Athlete of The Year in the EDC after 4 games. Rowekamp started the scoring with a 15 foot jumper. Shortly after he showed fancy footwork with a transition score at the rim. Throughout the night, Reis scored with athleticism and strength at the rim. He is a better finisher than I realized and has some finesse/bendability that I had not seen before. Do not get me wrong, he is a powerful athlete, that was evident with his 2-handed WHAM in transition. Reis also scored with a 5 foot floater and I love how he uses his body to protect the ball on the way to the rim. He did not just score. Rowekamp created TO’s and dropped some nice dimes. He penetrated deep into the lane, drew help and dished a sweet pass to Byron for a score. He also had a mid-air touch pass to Parks for a basket. Lastly, Reis was a stingy and lockdown defender last night. If I am a guard from an opposing team, I am going into the game hoping that Reis is not matched up on me. Rowekamp has started the season with a BANG and you should expect that type of high-level play to continue.

14 points 2/3 FT’s. Parks does not look like a 10th grader, he looks like a senior. There are freshman in college that wish they had Parks size. He did all his scoring at the basket in this game. His strength was on display with three AND1 buckets. He scored in transition and off an O-board put back. When he grabbed that O-board, it looked more like he was ripping away candy from a baby. Parks is an intriguing player with his size, athleticism, slashing, and aggressiveness. I could see him being an X-factor for the Roughriders in many games this season.

6 points. His length and long arms could not be matched by Horace. This was evident when Carter scored on a BLOB tip in. I like how he caught high and finished high on that play. Byron also scored with a layup after contact in the first half. His 3rd bucket came when Rowekamp penetrated, drew Byron’s defender, dished, and Bryon put in the easy score. He will be a key player for the Roughriders this season. RR did not really need his size against the Hawks but that will come as the season moves on.

2 points but the way Rowekamp and Kraft were going tonight, they did not need Logan to score. On a BLOB, Arason was the in-bounder and he threw a beautiful lob touch pass to the front of the rim for an Byron score. You do not see BIG men like Arason take the ball out in a situation like that, and you rarely see a pass like that from someone Logan’s size. He also showed off a great spin move in transition for a score. He looked more like a fleet-footed wing than one of the best throwers in ND for T&F.