Severn vs Mt. St. Joseph Standouts

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>BCL/MIAA favorites Mt. St. Joseph staved off a late comeback attempt from the Severn School to push their record to 4-0 on the year. Most of their offensive production came from a senior duo of [player_tooltip player_id='1225259' first='Jordan' last='Brathwaite'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1280947' first='Tyonne' last='Farrell'], but their role players exceeded expectations this evening- especially from a defensive perspective. Severn continues to intrigue as a team that has the capability to knock off one of the area powerhouses on a night when the 3 pointers are falling. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1225259' first='Jordan' last='Brathwaite'] turned in the best performance I've seen from him in only his fourth regular season game in an MSJ uniform, 19p 10r 3s 2a 1b. We'll start with the scoring output. Brathwaite finished 3/5 from 3 and hit some tough looks from beyond the arc off the bounce or off of movement from pindowns- this has been an area of tremendous growth for him and accounts for a good bit of his value at the next level as an offensive player. But more importantly, he has taken tremendous strides as a vocal leader, directing traffic for a young MSJ team that will lean heavily on their senior duo of Brathwaite and Ty Farrell. Defensively he has improved as an on-ball defender but also off the ball, providing value as a helper that got into passing lanes and went the other way three times. I expect he or Farrell to collect not only 1st Team but MVP honors in the BCL and MIAA.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1280947' first='Tyonne' last='Farrell'] produced a balance statline of 14p 8r 3a 1s 1b, serving well as a connector tonight- collecting several hockey assists as he not only hit a teammate with pass but pointed to the recipient of the extra pass. The jumper wasn't really falling at his usual consistent level tonight but he got four baskets off of offensive putbacks in the paint. His positional versatility at both ends of the floor establishes him as one of the area's best players at this level and extremely valuable at the next one as he prepares for a career at the University of Rhode Island. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>I was impressed by the role players' ability to carry out their tasks within the Gaels' offensive or defensive structures, as Coach Clatchey tightened his rotation to 8 this evening. [player_tooltip player_id='1371862' first='Brandon' last='Holmes'] set screens well, hit a few perimeter jumpers, and deterred opponents from shot attempts/drives to the rim by showing well on ball screens. [player_tooltip player_id='1369642' first='DJ' last='Wingfield'] hit perimeter shots, secured several key offensive rebounds to extend offensive possessions at crucial points, and was pesky defensively. [player_tooltip player_id='2231842' first='Ryan' last='Truitt'] and Joe Greene took turns defensively on [player_tooltip player_id='1366892' first='Kingston' last='Price'] and held him in check in the first half, serving as efficient play-finishers and cutters at the other end of the floor. [player_tooltip player_id='2252277' first='BJ' last='Ranson'] and [player_tooltip player_id='2231760' first='Elijah' last='Hall'] contributed well in limited minutes off of the bench, adding some scoring punch to an MSJ team that went through a drought midway through the 3rd quarter.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1366892' first='Kingston' last='Price'] struggled in the first half to convert several catch and shoot attempts in the first half but did hit two very nice shots off the snatch dribble from the right elbow and wing. The shifty 6'2 '24 G knows the value of his gravity as a shooter, eventually hitting 3 consecutive attempts behind the line followed by two and-1 finishes at the rim through contact over the help defender. He sees and delivers on the right reads in the short roll from either wing, but the next step in his development will be him finding corner shooters or hitting teammates on the opposite wing with skip passes for easy 3s. Price finished with a line of 30p 4r 1a. Coastal Carolina, Presbyterian, and Wagner have all offered, expect a few LM and possibly some MM schools to get involved. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1370508' first='Jacob' last='Randall'] was the only other Severn player to score over 5, contributing 13p 3b 3r 1s. Randall left his imprint all over the game with a trio of massive help-side blocks that exhibited his athleticism. He only hit one 3, but he made the defense pay when they didn't help off of shooters with his physical drives to the rim. Expect other local small colleges to get involved. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Fully expect to see recruiting activity to pick up for teammates [player_tooltip player_id='2340842' first='Daniel' last='Growney'] ('25), [player_tooltip player_id='1588121' first='Sean' last='Harvey'] ('26), and [player_tooltip player_id='2353544' first='Corey' last='Dixon'] ('27), this just wasn't their night from an offensive perspective. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->