Charlie Hughes Showcase – Ramsey’s Friday Notebook

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Day one of the 2023 IBCA/IHSAA Charlie Hughes Showcase has officially come and gone. We had plenty of college coaches in the gym, several high-level games, and a number of noteworthy individual performances. We will be back for a full day of basketball tomorrow, but for now let's dive in to a recap of the four rounds of games played on Friday night at Carmel High School.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Fishers Asserts Their Dominance Right Away</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Fishers Tigers, who we at Prep Hoops Indiana ranked #1 in our "Way Too Early Class 4A Rankings", sure lived up to the billing on Friday afternoon. To start things off, Huntington commit [player_tooltip player_id='1578471' first='Taden' last='Metzger'] got hot from three-point range knocking in a couple of shots in transition from well beyond the arc. Then, 5-star guard [player_tooltip player_id='1297052' first='Jalen' last='Haralson'] started to dominant with his dynamic playmaking ability at 6'7". There just isn't much opposing defenses can do when he works downhill to the rim and Plainfield learned that first hand in this one.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>For the Quakers, 6'6" rising sophomore wing [player_tooltip player_id='1561513' first='Noah' last='Smith'] was a bright spot at times showing off his perimeter skill. He has a very fluid jump shot and will see his ability to score off the bounce continue to grow as he gets stronger. 6'6" rising senior wing/forward [player_tooltip player_id='1578369' first='Collin' last='Schmidt'] knocked in some tough mid-range jump shots as well and classmate [player_tooltip player_id='1384422' first='Eli' last='Ellis'] got hot from three-point range late. However, it was no answer for Fishers as they ran away with a 79-48 victory.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Roncalli Holds on in Triple Overtime Against New Castle</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>You can't say enough about how [player_tooltip player_id='1945635' first='Drew' last='Kegerreis'] played for Roncalli in this one. The 6'3" rising senior has really started to make a name for himself as an elite shooter, but his game is more than just scoring from the perimeter. Kegerreis is very athletic, creates for himself off of the dribble, and then elevates over the defense to knock in his jump shot from any spot on the floor. There were several Division II and Division III coaches in attendance watching him play.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>As for New Castle, they have some very intriguing young talent. 6'3" rising junior wing [player_tooltip player_id='2053675' first='Landon' last='Thompson'] impressed as a left-handed playmaker, Additionally, 5'10" rising sophomore point guard [player_tooltip player_id='1561071' first='Mason' last='Miller'] showed that he could "next up" for the Trojans. Tough little guard that made some three-point shots and finished at the end of his drives.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Roncalli escaped with an exciting 64-62 win in the third overtime period.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Lawrence North Makes a Statement</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>This was as dominant of a performance as you could ask for against the defending Class 4A State Runner-Up. The Wildcats backcourt is going to be really hard for opponents to deal with this season. Rising senior guard [player_tooltip player_id='1275769' first='Myles' last='Baker'] poured in seven three-pointers on his way to a team-high 24 points while rising junior point guard [player_tooltip player_id='1296979' first='Azavier' last='Robinson'] added 21 points. Rising senior shooter [player_tooltip player_id='1158217' first='Miles' last='Good'] chipped in another 16 points for Lawrence North. They would cruise to a 95-68 victory over Kokomo.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In front of Bruce Pearl, Tom Izzo, Bill Self, plus assistants from Indiana, Michigan, and Duke, 5-star center [player_tooltip player_id='1363488' first='Flory' last='Bidunga'] certainly did his part for Kokomo. However, there just wasn't enough help to keep up with the firepower that Lawrence North threw at them. The 6'9" big man finished with 19 points while attacking triple teams for most of the contest. Rising junior point guard [player_tooltip player_id='1381461' first='Zion' last='Bellamy'] connected on four three-pointers for 12 points for the Wildkats.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Quick Hitters</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:list --> <ul><!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Rising seniors [player_tooltip player_id='1578457' first='Quentin' last='Hesse'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1287890' first='Noah' last='Lovan'] were excellent to cap off the night in a for Providence over Greenfield-Central. Hesse is a big time shooting threat from the perimeter while Lovan is a bigger guard with crafty playmaking skills and excellent defensive instincts.</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --></ul> <!-- /wp:list --> <!-- wp:list --> <ul><!-- wp:list-item --> <li>It wasn't Greenfield-Central's night, but rising junior [player_tooltip player_id='1296984' first='Braylon' last='Mullins'] had a bunch of college stick around to see him in the late game. Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo, Ball State head coach Michael Lewis, Southern Indiana head coach Stan Gouard, plus assistants from Indiana, Kent State, and many others were in attendance to watch the 6'5" athletic scorer.</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --></ul> <!-- /wp:list --> <!-- wp:list --> <ul><!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Fishers rising senior Kennan Garner picked up his first offer from Huntington after a strong Friday night. The versatile 6'6" forward likely has many more of those in his future.</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --></ul> <!-- /wp:list --> <!-- wp:list --> <ul><!-- wp:list-item --> <li>I continue to really like the up-and-coming talent at Gary West Side. I watched bits and pieces, including the exciting ending, of their 64-61 win over Woodlan on Friday night. [player_tooltip player_id='1560995' first='Reggie' last='Hinton'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1560969' first='Tyler' last='Crews'], two highly ranked rising sophomores, get a lot of the headlines and rightfully so. However, it was rising junior [player_tooltip player_id='2053673' first='Derek' last='Collins'] who stood out a lot in this one as a long, athletic, 6'3" wing. Then, rising sophomore guard [player_tooltip player_id='1560970' first='Julian' last='Holmes'] called game with a three-pointer on the left wing to win.</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --></ul> <!-- /wp:list -->