North Catholic Tip Off Tournament Analysis

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The HS Hoops season in Pennsylvania kicked off this weekend with a host of showcases across the state. We took in the North Catholic Showcase outside of Pittsburgh, where four top teams from the Great Northeast gathered to test themselves.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Takeaways By Team</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Imani Christian(1-1)</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A still young Saints team went at two of the top teams in the region, beating Msgr. Scanlan from NYC and losing to defending state champions Devon Prep.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>[player_tooltip player_id='1188606' first='Alier' last='Maluk']</em> is as advertised. The 6'10” sophomore can bang in the post, put the ball on the floor, break defenders down off the dribble and is a menace on defense. He reminds us of current Rutgers center Cliff Omoruyi in his early Roselle Catholic days. <strong>Virgil Hall</strong>, a 6'9" junior, also is a D1 prospect and an agile big. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The guard additions of <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1621402' first='RJ' last='SLEDGE']</strong> and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1188604' first='Dame' last='Givner']</strong> allow Imani to compete at the top level. These two backcourt leaders transferring in gives Imani three capable ballhandlers in the backcourt, along with <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1147707' first='Bez' last='Abdul']</strong>.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>It's Class A State Title or bust.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>North Catholic(1-1)</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A guard heavy, maybe a bit undersized North Catholic squad makes up for it with intense on ball defense, full court pressure the entire game and the ability to simply run bodies and wear opponents down. They're led by three college guards:<strong> [player_tooltip player_id='1186069' first='Andrew' last='Maddalon']</strong> is a well built senior who can finish at the rim and facilitate,<strong> [player_tooltip player_id='1186070' first='Max' last='Rottman']</strong> can shoot from the outside and also play within the offense and junior <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1188004' first='Max' last='Hurray']</strong> may be the best overall player of the lot.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Devon Prep(2-0)</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The defending state champions look the part of repeat contenders. The backcourt duo of D1 prospects <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1178095' first='Jacen' last='Holloway']</strong>(Army) and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1116055' first='Lucas' last='Orchard']</strong>(Monmouth offer) are going to be a lot to handle but the supporting cast, led by junior guard <strong>Ty Mischock</strong> and sophomore <strong>Shane Doyle</strong>, is more than capable of getting the job done with them.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Msgr. Scanlan(NY)(0-2)</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Scanlan took a long ride to get here and looked a bit tired and out of sync the entire time. Their frontcourt players battled and 6'5” junior guard <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1396001' first='Nasir' last='Rodriguez']</strong> is as advertised. He's already earned half a dozen D1 offers and expect that number to double, if not triple, by this time next year. Their backcourt was a touch shaky with handling pressure and facilitating. We'll be back in New Jersey for Christmas and will try to see them back in the Big Apple.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Win Of The Weekend:</strong> <em>North Catholic 85-71 over Scanlan.</em> It's not every day that you can be a suburban Pittsburgh school and claim a marquee win over an out-of-area team such as New York City Catholic League power Msgr. Scanlan. Hurray had 30 to lead the way, while Rodriguez kept Scanlan involved with 29.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Player Of The Showcase: </strong><em>[player_tooltip player_id='1116055' first='Lucas' last='Orchard'], Devon Prep.</em> He was fantastic the whole way through and is a highly underrecruited player. “Steal” type of kid.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->