Game Spotlight: Rowlett High vs Calvary Baptist

The Thanksgiving Hoopfest is one of the premier high school tournaments during the Thanksgiving break. Many Louisiana teams such as Southwood and Newman have participated in the past. This year, Calvary Baptist is the only high level team participating. In a game that was back and forth early, Calvary clamped down on defense to pull away. The final score was 54-41. In this game spotlight, we will review how some of the players performed during the victory.    The top player in the 2027 class played like it on this day. He led Calvary with 21 points and he scored them in a myriad of ways. Jamison showed his aggressiveness getting downhill and either floating in a short jumper or finishing with a layup. He did not use the pull up jumper much. Rowlett gave him room to probe the paint and finish at the rim or find shooters. Tyrone led on the defensive end as well with 5 steals in the contest. He played aggressive, on ball defense and forced the Rowlett guards into mistakes. Those mistakes turned into transition finishes. This was the best game I have seen Jamison play as a varsity player. He feasted on both sides of the ball.       Ponder showed effective he can be on both ends of the floor during the Cavaliers win. In Louisiana, Ponder is a stretch 4 and he shot the ball like one. No matter what guard penetrated the paint, Ponder was ready to shoot corner threes for his team (making two). On the defensive end, he defended the opposition's power forward and battled him for rebounds and position. He played well on both ends and his 8 points and 3 rebounds helped his team to victory.     Bubba helped with the defensive effort that opened up the game for Calvary. His defense on the wing guards and forwards was excellent. He crowded those players and they could not get off three point shots or mid-range jumpers. On the offensive end, he did not just spot up for threes. He used up fakes to drive the baseline and finish or find outside shooters. His 11 points were crucial in Calvary win. However, his 3 steals may have made more of an impact.     Hall began the game slowly missing his first couple of three point attempts. However, he warmed up and had a good game for the Cavaliers. Hall was instrumental in the perimeter defensive effort by Calvary. He switched on several guards and played tough, man-to-man defense. His deflections led to steals. Hall finished the game with a breakaway dunk on one of his three steals. Hall's defense was really effective today and helped in the Calvary win.    Other game highlights:   [player_tooltip player_id='1967571' first='Gmarrion' last='Scott'] had 10 rebounds and helped defend the paint   [player_tooltip player_id='1709793' first='Justin' last='Houston'] scored 4 points and battled the Rowlett bigs in the paint   [player_tooltip player_id='2399567' first='Robert' last='Wright'] Jr had a breakaway layup and had a couple of steals. He helped turn up the defensive effort.   Cadarian Williams played well for Rowlett. The wing overpowered the Calvary guards at times getting to his spots. His 16 points and 7 rebounds was a good combination of him using his skills. His strong upper body helped him finish at the rim and gather offensive boards. He is a very good player.   Calvary will finish their time at Hoopfest with an 8 AM game versus Keller. Going 2-0 could be a good confidence booster for them heading into play next week.

The Thanksgiving Hoopfest is one of the premier high school tournaments during the Thanksgiving break. Many Louisiana teams such as Southwood and Newman have participated in the past. This year, Calvary Baptist is the only high level team participating. In a game that was back and forth early, Calvary clamped down on defense to pull away. The final score was 54-41. In this game spotlight, we will review how some of the players performed during the victory.