Jordan vs Glencoe-Silver Lake: 5 Things to Know

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In an excellent opening night game, Jordan outlasted GSL for an 81-77 victory on opening night. Here are the Prep Hoops Takeaways from the game. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>One. Jordan Adjusted Better</strong>. Both teams were scoring but I thought Jordan did the better job of changing things up defensively to win the game. The help they sent at [player_tooltip player_id='1284132' first='Eli' last='Ehrke'] forcing the GLS star to shoot 8 of 19 was key. Ehrke had to take some early shots, had to take some contested shots, had to shoot over multiples at the rim, it was key. Jordan had trouble stopping Ehrke from second chances but they had bodies on him. Also, [player_tooltip player_id='962268' first='Sawyer' last='Kaczmarek'] was scorching but in the final 8-9 minutes of the game Jordan had players chasing and denying Sawyer, and his touches were limited late which also played a big part. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Two. Afton Koch</strong>. I love all the things that Koch did for his team. He's the type of high school player at 6'1 with strength that can just be plugged in somewhere. Strong enough to board, to play some post D, to attack and use his strength to finish, but versatile and skilled enough to hit a jumper, handle the ball some, and make the right pass consistently. Really enjoyed watching the many contributions of this senior and he did it playing with a lot of effort. Finished the game with 20 points, eight rebounds, and four assists making 8 of 11 shot attempts.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Three. Jordan was Deeper</strong>. This somewhat goes without saying considering the Hubmen are a Class AAA school and GSL is a Class AA school (601 kids at Jordan HS, 482 at GSL) but Jordan was the deeper team as their fourth and fifth starters as well as their 6th Man gave them an edge. Senior big Carter Runge had 6 points and 7 boards, junior Seth Noyes scored 11 points, Mack Schmidt didn't have quite the game he usually will but he was solid, Jack Olson was good, and there were others. GSL got big contributions from their top three guys but the rest of their team took only 13 shot attempts. Jordan's non top three options took 31 shots. Major difference. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Four. Tough start for GSL</strong>. As I sit here on Saturday morning I am seeing that 7th ranked Maple River beat GSL 77-40 last night meaning the Panther are 0-2. Maple River on the second night of a back to back this early in the season is very tough so I'm not going to look at that score too deep, but GSL is 0-2 to start the year. That won't last. Junior Joshua Fiecke had 17 points on 8 of 12 shooting and he's an athletic 6'3 forward that finished with strength and agility around the rim. He also had a dunk that caught me off guard. Ehrke had 19 points, 10 rebounds, and five assists and his talent is pretty clear, but Jordan made it tough. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Five. Sawyer for 31</strong>! [player_tooltip player_id='962268' first='Sawyer' last='Kaczmarek'] scored 31 points for GSL and did so making 11 of 22 shots, 5 of 6 foul shots and four threes. Love his shooting touch, really liked the shots he took, and seven of those baskets were scored in transition after forcing turnovers, or attacking the defense when they over contested his potential attempts at the arc. Smart player with a really nice touch. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Underclassmen Report</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1560769' first='Ethan' last='Sonju'] of GSL (5'9 freshman). Ethan had an assist and a couple boards, we saw the ball handling skills and he showed some feel. Actually played at some key times late but was not quite ready for this level of play down the stretch, but he will be sooner than later. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Jackson Birchem of Jordan (6'2 sophomore). Birchem is another Jordan role player that played a key part in his team winning. Birchem scored three times in five shot attempts, grabbed four rebounds, and moved the ball for two assists. I was really impressed with his all around game and think he is going to quickly get an increased role if he keeps playing like this. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->