Havoc in the Heartland: Mike’s Saturday AM Standouts
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The Havoc in the Heartland brought the Prep Hoops Circuit to Indianapolis, Indiana for an action packed day of basketball. I started my morning and early afternoon at Fishers High School, in this article I’ll break down some standouts from…
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Continue ReadingThe Havoc in the Heartland brought the Prep Hoops Circuit to Indianapolis, Indiana for an action packed day of basketball. I started my morning and early afternoon at Fishers High School, in this article I’ll break down some standouts from the action I caught.
I wasn’t even planning on watching a game with Booher but every time I looked over at the court next to me, it was Booher making shots and having a big impact for his team. An impressive shooter from the outside, Booher has a quick release and his teammates found him open consistently throughout the morning game that they cruised to victory. Getting easy buckets is the recipe for a blowout win and Booher was pushing the pace after defensive rebounds and forcing the defense to stop the ball, if they didn’t, he’d take advantage with easy layups. In the half-court, Booher was running around constantly, looking to either create space to fire away from long range or cut to the basket for an easy layup.
In the most competitive game I’ve seen this weekend, Calahan brought Team Takeoff back from a sizeable deficit to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat on Saturday morning. An efficient scoring outing, Calahan was making it rain from the outside and the quick guard was tough to contain. This is nothing new to Calahan, who had six 20+ point games as a Junior for Dayton Belmont. I was also impressed by his ability to ice the game from the free throw line once his team took the lead late in the game. The ability to close out wins is so important and Calahan did just that for his team. Unsigned senior Cedric Dillard Jr also shined for Team Takeoff. Dillard is a force on the interior and made his physical presence known with blocked shots and rebounds at both ends.
Dalton Kruger
Dalton Kruger
Kruger and Royalty Hoops were a fun squad to watch as the highlight of my morning session might’ve been when Kruger threw it off the backboard to his teammate for an alley-oop slam dunk on the fast break. That was one of a handful of assists Kruger threw to his teammates in a blowout victory. As a scorer, Kruger was lighting it up from downtown with 3-pointers from all over the court. He was also efficient from the free throw line and made a smart backdoor cut when the defense overplayed him for a layup.
Hopson Elite Vs R4L was a nice Ohio Vs Ohio battle taking place this weekend and a great opportunity to see two of the best Ohio teams the Prep Hoops Circuit has to offer. It was Brown dominating for Hopson Elite as they got the victory in a highly competitive contest. Brown was knocking down jumpers in a variety of ways, getting kick-outs, spot-ups, pull-ups and step-backs in a big-time perimeter shooting display. Defensively, Brown had a smart back tap steal where he leaked out and was fouled in transition. His toughest bucket of the game came when he drove to the paint, spun, and finished off two feet. Impressive game by Brown and Hopson Elite showed good resiliency to fight back from a deficit throughout most of the game.
Highlights
A player who has gotten a lot of buzz on the circuit, this was my first opportunity to scout Abib. A late bloomer, Abib scored just eight varsity points as a Junior. Watching him now, you’d assume he was a major contributor with the skill set that he has. At 6’7, Abib can really put the ball on the floor and attack off the bounce with really fluid ball handling for a prospect his size. A dangerous shooter from the outside, Abib can connect on triples if you leave him alone. Still a major project, needing major work in the weight room and simply more high-level reps. I think Abib is a prospect that if put in the right small college system and a patient coaching staff, could be an all-conference contributor as an upperclassman.