OPEN Elite-8: SDO pulls out the W vs Basha on the road

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>On Friday, February 28th I watched the Elite-8 OPEN game of #5 Sandra Day O'Connor traveling to Chandler to take on #4 Basha.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The underlying story was [player_tooltip player_id='1323290' first='Mason' last='Magee'] was unfortunately injured and how would the home team play without him after they won a close one vs Deer Valley. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The game started and [player_tooltip player_id='2276223' first='Kingston' last='Montague'] started well along with [player_tooltip player_id='2249943' first='Lleyton' last='Leonard'] to give Basha a 16-12 lead. The next few quarters went to [player_tooltip player_id='1490240' first='Colton' last='Watson'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1333492' first='Michael' last='Simcoe'] strong play and led 25-24 at half, 44-40 after 3 and they extended the lead every quarter and won <strong>69-64</strong>. The freshman duo kept it close but [player_tooltip player_id='1217315' first='TayVion' last='Wilson'], Simcoe and Watson were too much. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>SDO plays #1 Perry tonight at Chaparral for the double header. (The 8:00pm game.)&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>5:30pm is the Sunnylope vs Millennium game. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Basha has their top-4 returning with arguably one of the best freshman groups and should definitely be back in the mix of things again next season.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Here were the Standouts of the Elite-8 OPEN game</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1490240' first='Colton' last='Watson'] Sandra Day O'Connor</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>One of the top bigger lead guard or point forward types in the AIA. He filled the stat sheet with steals, rebounding, blocking shots and making plays for his teammates. He scores getting downhill or going baseline. He likes using the floater game and is patient inside with ball fakes. He scored 13 points.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1333492' first='Michael' last='Simcoe'] Sandra Day O'Connor&nbsp;</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A highly skilled power forward has many talents to like. The lefty will shoot the three with range from beyond the arc and then make a strong move inside the paint with spins and take the bump to score. He will catch the lob dunk and then throw a perfect pass to a teammate. He crashes the glass and will block shots. He scored 23 points as he was #1 mismatch in the game. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1986858' first='John' last='Simcoe'] Sandra Day O'Connor&nbsp;</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The twin brother is a skilled power forward that always seems to be in the correct spot on offense and defense. He goes to open spots on the floor and his brother or a guard finds him for layups and tough inside buckets. He rebounds well in his area and he is also capable of shooting it from the perimeter.  </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1217315' first='TayVion' last='Wilson'] Sandra Day O'Connor</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A highly skilled scoring lead guard with hit the pull-up three, uses the floater game to his advantage and score layups in transition. He will make tough acrobatic takes in traffic or get to the FT line. He scored 15 points.  </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1697293' first='Ryker' last='Hughes'] Sandra Day O'Connor</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>I wrote about the high motored power forward and he came thru with some clutch play versus the Bears. He is adding a new wrinkle to his game with threes off the catch with an easy stroke. He will still rebound and defend multiple positions.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1364143' first='Landon' last='Wilson'] Sandra Day O'Connor&nbsp;</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Another player I mentioned last week did exactly what I thought he may do and that is shoot it from the three point line. He smartly moves without the ball and will rattle in triples off the catch with a quick trigger. He gets balanced and will let it fly. He takes pressure off of their top scorers and gives them space. &nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2249943' first='Lleyton' last='Leonard'] Basha&nbsp;</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>One of the top performances of the playoffs thus far was the long talented wing forward freshman. He had it all going on versus the deep Sandra Day O'Connor team. He scored 34 points with mid-range jumpers, threes off the catch or pull, downhill with his left hand in traffic and he is aggressive on the glass to rebound. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2276223' first='Kingston' last='Montague'] Basha&nbsp;</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A combo lead guard is a walking bucket. He is one of the most natural scorers of any guard in the freshman class in the AIA. He fills it up with off the dribble threes, tear drops, catch threes, mid-range pull-ups and earns trips to the line with his attacks off the bounce. He plays smartly off of the pick and roll game and then will facilitate. He scored 20 points.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1482164' first='Desean' last='Middlebrook'] Basha</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The high motored wing forward can defend multiple positions and score. He will rip thru and takes contact well plus step out and shoot it from mid-range. He makes his money on the glass and bringing energy to the court. He scored 8 points.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->