Air Capital Hoop Fest: Day 2

January 24th, Day 2 of the Air Capital Hoop Fest had 2 games on the slate for the evening: Dream City Christian(AZ) vs Veritas Academy(CA), and then a primetime matchup between Sunrise Christian Academy(KS) vs Monteverde Academy(FL). Here is the analysis and post-game breakdown of both games, along with the key players in each contest.   Game 1: Dream City Christian vs Veritas Academy   Dream City from the jump got off to a hot start and never wavered throughout. They put on a clinic from 1st half to the second half and displayed a team that seemed very well-practiced and prepared. Dream City's off-the-ball movement was crisp and fluid. Every player knew where they were supposed to be and where to move. With combinations of the spread or 5 out offense with some screens and isos at the top of the key, Dream City was in control of all of it, led by their leading scorer on the night, Sr #1 Ikenna Alozie at guard out of Nigeria. Veritas Academy seemed not to have an answer at all on defense, and offensively had an off night, once again led by their leading scorer #6 Zhang Boyuan out of China, who was much more efficient against Sunrise Christian Academy the night before. Dream City cruised on to win this one easily, 73-55.   Game 2: Monteverde Academy vs Sunrise Christian Academy   This one was closely contested throughout, with Sunrise taking the early lead in the 1st quarter and seemingly in control despite the lead being only 21-17 over Monteverde. Monteverde would not go away in this one; they kept keeping the game close and within striking distance in the 2nd Quarter, thanks to their lead point guard #3 Javion Tyndale out of Canada, who consistently set the right pace of play for Monteverde to get good looks and keep the game close. By the end of the 2nd, Monteverde went on a big run after letting Sunrise's lead get to 9 and was able to cut the lead to 2, which concluded with a big take & make bucket before the end of the half to put it at 37-39 Sunrise. Once halftime was over, Monteverde came out of the locker room as a completely different defensive team. Monteverde brought the chains out and amped up their on-ball defensive pressure, which started to stifle Sunrise, combined with Dream City's #11 Oneal Delancy's 3-point flurry in the 3rd, Monteverde started to gain full control of this game despite some big plays and big buckets by #2 Lincoln Vinson & #35 Miracle Taiwo(Sunrise) to keep Sunrise in range. The score was close, but you could clearly see Monteverde gaining confidence and momentum, which only exacerbated in the 4th, and that's when the doors blew open. Monteverde started dominating everywhere at that point and ended the game on what seemed like a 20-6 run with a final score of 82-65 in their favor.   Here are the key players of Day 2's Winners:    Played with poise, within the offense, and was very efficient as the leading scorer for Dream City against Veritas Academy. Ikenna seems comfortable off the ball and at point. The transition between the two was seamless. Solid communicator on the floor and stays present within the game. He doesn't get distracted by his own scoring. He gets good lift and separation on his jump shot, and was the most skilled ball-handler at the Air Capital Hoop Fest, in my opinion.     Athlete of the night. Malachi was everywhere on the court Saturday night against Veritas. From rebounding, blocking shots, to shooting threes, Malachi seemed to be able to do whatever he wanted against Veritas. He can switch to shooting guard and rotate at Center without any size or athletic gap in between. Plays strong and looks about 2 inches bigger than his listed height. The most impressive part is that he is very comfortable at the FT line; it looks like home to him on his face. If Malachi's handles and postup game continue to get strong, the charity strike will be his forever home.     Extremely switchable on Defense with his size and strength. Can play point when called upon and runs it comfortably. His biggest weapon is when he attacks the paint. He is really good at absorbing contact and still finishing with finesse at the fingertip point of the ball contact, which tells me that he is even stronger than he looks. He gives great effort on both ends, and he is very mentally in tune with the game.     Played with poise against Veritas, the game seems extremely easy for him. All his movements were like water in this game.     Best pure point guard at the Air Capital Hoop Fest! Has all the speed, quickness, and hops he needs at his size, plus he thinks the game; he doesn't just play it. Javion was also, in my estimation, a top 5 overall Defender at the event. His on-ball defense, full-court, caused huge problems for Sunrise Christian, with them not getting the ball to whom they wanted to in the 2nd half of that game.     Most Complete Game Award goes to Joe Philon III! Joe is a solid slasher/cutter. Moves well off the ball and is a constant lob threat on rotations. He's a very good offensive rebounder, plays 10x stronger than he looks. Has that corner 3 down-pat, has good overall shooting form. Is comfortable going iso if need be and most importantly plays with the right energy and competes on every possession.     Best 3 & D guy at the Air Capital hoop Fest. Oneal is a constant heat check, he can catch fire quickly from three, and when he does, the rim is an ocean to him. He will throw punches in bunches from there when he sees even 1 go in. Defensively, he displayed the best on-ball defense I've seen all weekend during the 2nd half of the Sunrise Christian game. He hit a switch, and all of a sudden, he was putting everybody in jail and throwing away the keys without bail, no courtdate, and the judge is on vacation.     Dog of the night! If there was a bucket to get, he chewed it up and spit it out. No kibbles, no Bits. All BBQ chicken and baked macaroni with the Yams on the side.     Big with the best hands award! As a guard, you can throw it to Beau up high, down low, or at his chest. He's catching it and throwing it down off two feet from wherever he's standing at. If he's at the top of the key, He's throwing it down from there too. If there's a 50/50 ball in the viscinity, you can forget it, Beau's got it! his hands come with velcro and sticky tape.

January 24th, Day 2 of the Air Capital Hoop Fest had 2 games on the slate for the evening: Dream City Christian(AZ) vs Veritas Academy(CA), and then a primetime matchup between Sunrise Christian Academy(KS) vs Monteverde Academy(FL). Here is the analysis and post-game breakdown of both games, along with the key players in each contest.