3 Takeaways: Marist vs Niles Notre Dame

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Tuesday night Prep Hoops Illinois evaluated a contest between conference rivals Marist and Niles Notre Dame.&nbsp; It was close throughout and it seemed like Niles Notre Dame was going to pull off the upset on their home floor, but Marist made a few too many key plays late as they won 47-44.&nbsp; We look at the prospects in this game in our <strong>3 Takeaways: Marist vs Niles Notre Dame!</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Marist 2026 PG Makes All the Big Plays</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Floor generals that come up with clutch plays are so valuable at the high school level.&nbsp; Marist has one of those in 2026 point guard [player_tooltip player_id='1845365' first='Adoni' last='Vassilakis'] who has led his team to a 20-4 mark this season.&nbsp; The southpaw is a crafty ball handler that can create for himself and others.&nbsp; Excellent distributor finding teammates for dump offs and open threes.&nbsp; Pushes the pace off both makes and misses in the open floor.&nbsp; Plus shooter especially off the catch from three.&nbsp; With the game on the line late he stepped up and made four consecutive free throws along with swatting the game tying three attempt.&nbsp; The sophomore standout had 12 points.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Athleticism and Versatility Stands Out on Marist Frontline</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>It seemed at times Marist was playing volleyball on the offensive glass.&nbsp; Part of it was because they were missing their own bunnies, but they have great length and athleticism up front.&nbsp; It all starts with the #2 player in the sophomore class [player_tooltip player_id='1845350' first='Stephen' last='Brown'].&nbsp; The four man is a broad shouldered freak athlete at the power forward position.&nbsp; Faded a bit on the perimeter early and didn't make his jumpers.&nbsp; He is best playing off his elite physical gifts getting on the offensive glass with his second jump and scoring on a quick set on an out of bounds play.&nbsp; Managed 8 points and 7 rebounds in this one.&nbsp; Class of 2024 small forward [player_tooltip player_id='1598740' first='Darshan' last='Thomas'] is among the better uncommitted forwards on the board.&nbsp; Can play the three or some small ball four on occasion. Hit a spot up three, layup on a cut to the hoop, put back on the offensive glass, and a high/low finish.&nbsp; He notched 10 points and grabbed a handful of rebounds.&nbsp; The x-factor in this game was [player_tooltip player_id='2375627' first='Marquis' last='Vance'].&nbsp; Long and rangy small forward plays taller than his height as he is super athletic finishing around the cup out of the dunker spot, getting on the offensive boards for second chance points, and hit a three to tie the game at the end of the third quarter.&nbsp; He had 11 points.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Niles Notre Dame Better Than Record Indicates</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>This Niles Notre Dame team is much better than their 12-14 record.&nbsp; They don't have a ton of size up front and that hurts them, but what they do have is shot making.&nbsp; They had a parade of threes especially in the first half.&nbsp; Senior Brendan Jost hit a trio of them off the catch for 9 points.&nbsp; Class of 2025 shooting guard [player_tooltip player_id='2105215' first='Ryder' last='Raya'] is an intriguing sharp shooter netting four of them with solid athleticism on his way to 14 points.&nbsp; Liam Ingles (8 points) and Leo Fraterrigo (6 points) each made one.&nbsp; Their best shooter 2025 wing [player_tooltip player_id='1434463' first='Brady' last='Sehlhorst'] didn't make one in this game, but what he did do was be strong with the ball and racked up a ton of assists on dishes to those other shooters.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->