Minneapolis Southwest 78 Simley 56: Five Things to Know

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Southwest Lakers won their 17th game of the season this afternoon knocking off the Simley Spartans 78-56. Here are five things to know.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>One. Laker Full Control</strong>. This game was never in doubt. Southwest had an 8-0 lead, an 11-2 lead, and pretty much a 15+ point lead throughout the game. Why? Experience, depth and talent. Senior [player_tooltip player_id='1226376' first='Caden' last='Sullivan'] and junior [player_tooltip player_id='1297887' first='Liam' last='Farniok'] are experienced and too talented for Simley to defend plus Southwest was bigger at just about ever spot including up front which is why 6'5 junior [player_tooltip player_id='1434981' first='Mason' last='Dean'] was a factor with his nine boards and nine points. At one point I counted that Southwest had 15-4 and 27-10 rebounding advantages as they were getting offensive boards relentlessly. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Two. Farniok &amp; Sullivan</strong>. My thoughts on Liam and Caden are still quite similar to the last viewing: Liam is a massive number producer that possession by possession produces something for his team and it may be points (a lot of them usually), a board, he took on the challenge of defending Simley's best guy, or it could be a simple screen or loose ball grab. Caden like I said previously is a better prospect than I realized, he is a better prospect than most others realized and I don't want this to be an excuse but he really does look taller and more skilled than when I saw him all summer. [player_tooltip player_id='1226376' first='Caden' last='Sullivan'] has a chance to seriously blossom into a really nice college prospect, his best days are way ahead of him. [player_tooltip player_id='1297887' first='Liam' last='Farniok'] had 25 points and 11 rebounds on 10 of 21 shooting with four threes, Sullivan had 14 points and eight assists. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>And at the half, Liam and Caden both had 13 points on 5 of 8 shooting with each making an And1 foul shot and two threes. Don't see that much.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Three. Zach is Coming Along</strong>. We have spoke of this before but [player_tooltip player_id='1288738' first='Zach' last='Jacobson'] of Simley is such an interesting story. He has grown a foot since his first day of high school, he's dealt with broken bones and an ACL tear immediately after getting to the point where he was good enough for the varsity level as a good player, and he is just now able to play a full game without needing too much rest. He's had several 20+ scoring games and had a great first half today scoring 11 against Farniok. Zach hit three threes and had a dunk although he seemed to tweak the knee after the dunk. Scored 18 points and while I have tried to avoid this part of it because he is his own player, he is the son of Sam Jacobson and when Zach explodes for that two foot leap, you can see some of his father in him. Very cool to watch and when he is in college playing basketball and he is fully healthy, good things could really happen. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Four. 8th Grader</strong>. Simley guard Tre Lovelace is an 8th grader that was brought up in mid-January and has flashed promise. The 22 point game against Hastings was our first viewing of him and he had another three scores today that really caught the eye. His control of the ball and his creative flare in small spaces has some special qualities to it. Just like every guard at his age you really have to see how he develops physically over the next 2-3 years to really know what kind of prospect he will be but at the very least we can see that Tre has some special qualities that will lead to a 4.5 year varsity career. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Five. Southwest Depth</strong>. I really like how Southwest plays as a unit and everybody plays within their role. Credit to the coaches and the experienced players that play so well together. They all seem to know that Caden is the playmaker, Farniok is the finisher, [player_tooltip player_id='1434981' first='Mason' last='Dean'] gets things done around the basket, [player_tooltip player_id='1288821' first='Dillon' last='Engen'] is the handler/creator, Nelson is the rebounder, screener, defender, Miles Woods comes off the bench to do the dirty work, and Oliver Shors is the ball pressure guy and secondary ball handler. I really like how well they fit together. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->