St. Thomas More School vs. New Hampton School Standouts

STM traveled to New Hampton on Saturday, March 1st for the last regular season game of each of their seasons -- and it was an eventful one. STM went up big in the first half before New Hampton's barrage of threes in the second half propelled them to a 100-83 victory.   Here are my standouts from the game.    Tillery ran the show quite confidently for New Hampton in their matchup against STM. He's truly as solid as they come at the point guard position; he handles it so well and makes great decisions (very few turnovers), and he can score from all three levels. He's most deadly going to the rack but can also punish defenders who go under screens. Defensively, Tillery did a really good job on [player_tooltip player_id='2325740' first='Tahlan' last='Pettway'], who's quite quick himself. Cincinnati is going to love Keyshaun and all of the intangibles he brings at both ends of the court.     Meyer had one of the best dunks I've seen this season on a 7-foot big from STM in the second half of this matchup. He's an amazing athlete with great size and length, and he pulls it all together with the ability to score from all three levels. Especially impressive are his fadeaway jumpers in the lane; I'm not usually a fan of these shots but he's shown he can knock them down consistently and is able to shoot without his body being on balance. Meyer seems college ready to me, and I wouldn't be shocked to see him play meaningful minutes at Wyoming next year.     Blackwood always impresses with his athleticism, strength, and all-around scoring ability. He did more of the same against STM. But most impressive was his defense. He did an awesome job on Jemison, STM's best player; he slid his feet well and chased him around screens all game. He can also provide rim protection at the hoop as a result of his hops and size. Blackwood, like Meyer, is college ready and could definitely walk into minutes at Penn State next year. These two have to be the best wing-duo in the NEPSAC.     Tabales continues to separate himself as one of the best shooters in New England. He has such a beautiful stroke and gets high off the ground when he shoots, which makes up for his relative lack of size. He also has great range and can shoot the ball in a variety of situations; spotting up, running off screens, backpedaling, off the dribble, etc. Tabales also has some on-ball chops, though we don't see them as much when he's playing on such a stacked New Hampton team. He has great vision and operates wonderfully in the pick and roll. One of my favorite players to watch.     Pettway is the younger brother of Tanahj, who used to give me the business in AAU back in the day. Like his older brother, Tahlan is ridiculously quick and crafty with the ball in his hands. He's a blur in transition and glides past defenders like they aren't there. Once he gets to the rim, he has a deep bag of finishing moves and the athleticism necessary to finish over bigs. He can also shoot it from the outside. Defensively, his size hurts him a bit, but he's amazing at back-tapping the ball and is very active with his hands. Should be a scholarship player.     I'm so impressed with Benjamin's athleticism. He's 6-foot-7 but very long and very strong, which allows him to play the big position better than most other guys his size. However, he can also step out and handle, shoot, and pass the ball like a guard. I'm honestly pretty surprised he's not getting more high-major looks; I'm sure schools are hesitant about his ability to play forward or center at the D1 level, but he's so versatile and well-rounded that he doesn't even have to play inside the paint. Very special athlete and player – it's rare to come across guys with his body who are as light on their feet.

STM traveled to New Hampton on Saturday, March 1st for the last regular season game of each of their seasons -- and it was an eventful one. STM went up big in the first half before New Hampton's barrage of threes in the second half propelled them to a 100-83 victory.