Totino-Grace 72 Park Center 63: Five Things to Know

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Totino-Grace picked up their second win of the season against Park Center tonight 72-63. This is what you need to know about tonight's game!</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>One. Eagle D.</strong> Totino-Grace did a fantastic job of moving their bodies and keeping Park Center in front of them in halfcourt play. Park Center shot 18 of 63 for the game and a good percentage of those 18 makes came off of turnovers the Pirates forced. Chase Watley took a couple charges and a couple others took charges as well. As a team the Eagles got their bodies in spots that made attempts constantly difficult. [player_tooltip player_id='1172835' first='Casmir' last='Chavis'] shot 4 of 15, [player_tooltip player_id='1549538' first='Jackson' last='Fowlkes'] shot 2 of 14, [player_tooltip player_id='1574214' first='Temi' last='Omotoyinbo'] made one of six looks an Aiden Meneme missed his first seven attempts before hitting three threes late. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In all it was the halfcourt defensive effort that made the biggest game winning impression. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Two. The Difference</strong>. The reason that [player_tooltip player_id='1284143' first='Isaiah' last='Johnson'] is moving fast up the list in the Race for Mr. Basketball is his versatility. Tonight he did most of the ball handling for the Eagles, he had a game high 13 rebounds, dished out a game high six assists, and scored his 25 points on 9 of 15 shooting. Johnson made a three and had a two on the line for a step back triple, the one hand physical throw down was memorable, and the rest of the makes were Johnson using that 6'7/6'8 strong and agile frame to get in paint position to complete. Johnson isn't just versatile, he's strong and explosive. Big time combo knocking on the Mr. Basketball door.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Three. The Difference Maker</strong>. Tonight was the best game I have seen [player_tooltip player_id='1574227' first='Chace' last='Watley'] player. Watley is a junior point guard and his basket attack led to a dozen foul shots (scored ten) plus makes on eight of 14 shot attempts. The mid-lane touch shot was a great go to and what I liked about his completions was the timing of his attacks against the Park Center defense several passes into the possession. Watley scored a game high 27 points and even gave everybody a look at his lift to the rim with a few steps. Watley also took two charges in the win including the charge take that put Chavis on the bench in the first half with three fouls. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Four. The Momentum Changer</strong>. [player_tooltip player_id='1172835' first='Casmir' last='Chavis'] had a quick three steals, three boards, and three or four buckets when the game was close. When all the momentum changed was when Chavis switched onto Johnson and Johnson backed Chavis down and a foul was called on Casmir (his second). At that point Chavis sat down on the bench and the Eagles made a run. Then Chavis was called for a charge later in half three and the Eagles had all of the momentum. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Five. A Chance with Gooch</strong>. Park Center wouldn't have been in the game in the second half if it wasn't for [player_tooltip player_id='1452542' first='Ari' last='Gooch']. The athletic Pirate senior hit a three, stole a pass and had a dunk, and then scored on four of his next five field goals in a variety of ways giving the Pirates a fighter's chance. It was a tough day for many of his teammates so the Pirates never really got closer than eight or nine but Gooch did have 19 points and nine boards in the loss. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->