Top Performers: Long Beach Poly vs. St. Bernard

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>LONG BEACH — The loaded Division I field in the CIF Southern Section playoffs kicked off Wednesday and we were in attendance at Long Beach Poly for the Jackrabbits matchup against St. Bernard. Poly earned a 54-50 victory behind University of California-commit [player_tooltip player_id='1630619' first='Jovani' last='Ruff'] to advance to the second round. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":3} --> <h3 class="wp-block-heading">Best Scorers: [player_tooltip player_id='1630619' first='Jovani' last='Ruff'], Poly | Josh Palmer, St. Bernard</h3> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>On Ruff: </strong>The Cal-bound senior finished tied for game-high honors with 22 points with 21 of those coming after the first quarter of play. The 6-foot-5 guard used his size and athleticism to get into the lane for at-rim finishes and drew contact which sent him to the foul line where he made 10 of his 11 free throws.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>On Palmer:</strong> The 6-foot-2 shooting guard is one of the best catch and shoot three-point shooters in the region and his ability to stretch the floor was on full display. The unsigned senior knocked down three triples and a handful of pull-up mid-range jumpers and tallied a scored 22 points to keep the Vikings within striking distance throughout.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":3} --> <h3 class="wp-block-heading">Best Playmakers: [player_tooltip player_id='2131799' first='Nana' last='Ofoegbu'], Poly | [player_tooltip player_id='1630624' first='Caleb' last='Versher'], St. Bernard</h3> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>On Ofoegbu:</strong> The 6-foot junior guard is one of the premier on-ball defenders in the region and his combination of toughness and quick hands resulted in five steals and that resulted in six points off of turnovers. Ofoegbu has dynamic open court speed and he uses it to get downhill in transition and half-court where he draws extra defenders and is a willing passer.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>On Versher:</strong> The UC Riverside-signee has the ability to score, distribute and make plays defensively and he did all three of those things despite the losing effort. Versher, a 6-foot-2 combo guard, scored 14 points, including three triples, and guarded multiple positions successfully with combination of length, athleticism and physicality.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":3} --> <h3 class="wp-block-heading">Best Rebounders: [player_tooltip player_id='2323687' first='Giovanni' last='Ofoegbu'], Poly | Jonas Onware, Poly</h3> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>On Ofoegbu:</strong> The 6-foot-4 wing wasn't at his best offensively, but impacted the game on the glass on both ends of the floor. The senior finished with a team-high eight rebounds, including a second-chance opportunity and dunk off of his own missed free throw that all but sealed the victory for the Jackrabbits.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>On Onware:</strong> The 6-foot-9 junior is emerging as one of the best 5-men in SoCal and finished with 11 points and seven boards in the win. Onware is a springy vertical athlete whose lateral mobility and quick twitch instincts allow him to pursue boards outside of his area.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":3} --> <h3 class="wp-block-heading">Best Rim Protecter: Jonas Onware, Poly</h3> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>On Onware: As mentioned above, the 6-foot-9 center is a pogo stick type of athlete who has great reactionary instincts and a high IQ in help defense situations. Onware finished with four blocked shots and changed many more as the anchor of the Jackrabbits defense.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->