St. Frances vs John Carroll: Standout Prospects

St. Frances hosted John Carroll on Wednesday night in an important BCL/MIAA matchup. The hosting Panthers would go onto win by a final score of 73-59, but this was a closely contested contest throughout the first 26 minutes until St. Frances caught fire in the final 6 minutes. St. Frances improved their overall record to 24-4, 9-1 in BCL play while John Carroll falls to 17-6 overall, 6-4 in league play.    Jones is back to his full form after missing a stretch of games with the flu earlier in the month. He put relentless pressure on the John Carroll defense in transition where he looked to get to the rim in the flash and if his team didn't have the numbers advantage, he'd slow thing down a hunt his three-point shot. Off the ball he had a few timely fades to the corner with guys like [player_tooltip player_id='2691786' first='Anthony' last='Smith'] or [player_tooltip player_id='2878470' first='Carter' last='Fisk'] zipped skip passes to him for quick catch-and-shoots. Jones did a nice job converting at the line, had a couple of nice assists on drive and dump-offs and did his diligence on the glass with six rebounds. He led St. Frances with 22 points.     There were stretches throughout this game where Clark flat-out dominated. All of his work was done in the paint around the bucket, but the Randolph-Macon pledge showed why he'll have a chance to earn early minutes within Josh Merkel's rotation at the next level with his ability to haul in rebounds in bulk. On the few occasions where he missed bunnies around the bucket, Clark quickly snagged the second chance opportunity and converted. He was efficient from the charity stripe, ran the floor consistently and was the ultimate factor in John Carroll staying within reach before St. Frances' late game run. Clark's 22 points was matched with double-digit rebounds to secure the double-double performance.     McCoy was my choice for St. Frances' x-factor the day prior to this contest and he made me look smart with his fourth quarter explosion to create the separation that the scoreboard indicated. 11 of his 16 points came in the final frame and within a few minute span, he knocked down multiple triples to completely shift the momentum in the Panthers' favor. Known for his ability to expose driving lanes with a quick first step met by a physical frame to throw around, McCoy's outside shooting has flashed in spurts throughout his first season with the group on Chase Street. It's runs like this that he's capable of making that can turn this team from a contender to a league favorite.     This may have been my first game of watching Able in his high school career where he was held scoreless for an entire half. Once the third quarter started though, he approached with a different sense of focus and edge that supplied support in Clark's standout effort. The UMBC pledge would finish with 14 in this one, 6 of which came from deep. St. Frances did a nice job of getting up into Able's space and having help side defenders ready to dig on the first sign of penetration. it was nice to see Able bounce back with a better second half and not shy away from being schemed out of the game completely.     Morgan State was in attendance for Smith and he further cemented why the Bears should make a push for his commitment sooner rather than later. The lead guard controlled pace, initiated the offense in a half court setting and made key defensive plays both on and off the ball as he flirted with a near triple-double of 10 points, 8 rebounds and 8 assists. Smith dazzled the crowd with a handful of drive and skips off the live dribble to shooters spotting up around the arc. He made his defender pay if he was given space on the catch and thrived on fastbreaks using his end-to-end speed to play around the rim.     Glover's first half production was critical, in my opinion. As John Carroll started their surge in the second quarter, it was Glover's energy on the glass and his makes on the offensive end that not only supplied as back-breakers, but also was a jolt of energy for the main guys to pick up their slack. He started by popping out 15-feet on the baseline for a mid-range jumper, knocked down a three off the catch on the opposite side a few possessions later and then finished his scoring off with converting an and-one. His hustle on the defensive glass to fend off Clark, his activity in ball screens and communication as the anchor in the paint would be invaluable to the victory.

St. Frances hosted John Carroll on Wednesday night in an important BCL/MIAA matchup. The hosting Panthers would go onto win by a final score of 73-59, but this was a closely contested contest throughout the first 26 minutes until St. Frances caught fire in the final 6 minutes. St. Frances improved their overall record to 24-4, 9-1 in BCL play while John Carroll falls to 17-6 overall, 6-4 in league play.