Seton LaSalle vs Steel Valley Players To Watch

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Friday Night Prep Hoops PA took in the big 3A battle between Seton LaSalle and Steel Valley. Steel Valley surged to a 35-15 lead after a quarter but had to hold on to claim the victory, with Seton cutting it to 4 points before surviving 73-65. Who stood out?</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1395937' first='Cruce' last='Brookins']</strong> | 6'2" | G | Steel Valley</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Pitt Football commit went off for 40 points in a variety of ways. He drove to the rim. He pulled up in the mid range. He hit shots from deep. He took advantage of every open look he had and let it rip with a soft touch on his shot as he carried the Ironmen on his back in the final three quarters to score the key road win. If Brookins wanted to, he could easily be a scholarship basketball player at the collegiate level. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1395834' first='Makhai' last='Valentine'] </strong>| 6'3" | G | Steel Valley</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Valentine may have been under his normal 40ppg, but he did his damage early and in a big way. A confident shooter who elevates above defenders and can hit from deep with serious accuracy, Valentine scored 19 of his 25 points in the first quarter and took advantage of a mismatch defensively. He was slowed in the remainder of the game by Spratt and some double teams from the Rebels but in just 8 minutes showed why he's one of the top seniors in the WPIAL. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1116023' first='Connor' last='Spratt']</strong> | 6'2" | G | Seton LaSalle </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Spratt put the Rebels on his back as they attempted to erase that 20 point first quarter deficit. He scored in a variety of ways, hitting shots from deep and weaving his way through defenders on his way to a stellar 37 point output. There wasn't anything Steel Valley could do to slow him down on Friday night. Spratt, like Valentine, is one of the most under-recruited players in the Commonwealth. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Hayden Merchant</strong> | 6'5" | G | Seton LaSalle 2024</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Merchant chipped in with 10 points and took on a defensive role along the perimeter to use his length to try and slow down Brookins and Valentine and was able to hold his own on both ends of the floor throughout the evening. He got into a little bit of foul trouble in the fourth and that impacted Seton's attempt at a comeback. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Luke Masua</strong> | 6'3" | F | Seton LaSalle</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Masua was able to hit the boards confidently and both ends and also chipped in with 9 points. Defensively, he was placed in the middle of the Seton zone to try and impede drives to the hole by Brookins and Valentine. He's effective at screening and rolling to the rim to create easy points for himself or teammate off the dish. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->