Central Cali's Standout Players: BCHS v. Centennial Game

Central, CA - This past Saturday, February 7th, I attended the Centennial Golden Hawks and Bakersfield Christian Eagles game, which would be the last regular season game I would see in person before playoff basketball starts on Friday. The Eagles had the lead going into the break, 31 to 22, but the G-Hawks had a productive 3rd quarter and closed the gap to six, 49 to 43, going into the final period. But the Eagles would heat up in the 4th quarter behind the shot making of Jemerias Killebrew, who had a team-high 20 points to give BCHS the 76 to 57 win. In this article I look at 6 players that had standout showings by positions: guards, wings, and forwards. I discuss how they played in the game and their relevant statistics, which are my own personal statistics. I will do my last set of team rankings before the playoffs to be out by Thursday.   Bakersfield Christian Eagles 76 Centennial Golden Hawks 57   Wings:   [player_tooltip player_id='2194700' first='Jeremias' last='Killebrew'] (6'5 | 2027) - Bakersfield Christian    Killebrew has looked like himself of late after dealing with an ankle injury from the holiday tournaments, and had one of his best games of the season in the win over Centennial of Bakersfield. Killebrew had a solid first half, scoring 6 points and helping give the Eagles a 9 point lead at half, 31 to 22. Killebrew and BCHS had a productive 3rd quarter on the offensive end, but the G-Hawks, in particular Ryan Shaw, kept pace and closed the gap to a 6 point game going into the final period. Killebrew led the Eagle's fourth quarter run that helped it pull away from the G-Hawks and win the cross-SYL match-up by nearly 20 points, 76 to 57. Killebrew scored 10 of his 20 points in the final period, which was a team-high, to go along with 8 rebounds, 4 assists, and 3 steals for a stellar stat-line. Killebrew is active on the boards, has the handle to push the ball up the court, gets put-backs off the offensive glass, has the wingspan, lateral quickness, active hands, and good instincts to deflect entry passes, jump passing lanes, alter shots in the paint or on the perimeter, and turns defense to offense routinely when he is locked in like he was on Saturday. Killebrew has solid handles, good moves to create off the dribble, gets great lift with length to shoot over most defenders, with accuracy from the mid-range to the 3-point line. Killebrew moves well off the ball, gets to the open spots on the floor, on the wing or around the basket, and has a smooth jumper off the bounce or the dribble. Killebrew is at his best when hunting the mid-range jumper with good body control through contact in the air, as well as the moves to create space from his defender, using the fade-away, side-step, and spin-move to get his shot off. Killebrew is a creative scorer around the basket and makes use of the Euro-step, reverse, and up-and-under lay-ups to score around height. For the Eagles to have the postseason push it desires in the Section and State playoffs, it is imperative for him to play with the level of focus and intensity he did against Centennial.   Forwards:   [player_tooltip player_id='2646533' first='Taiwo' last='Daramola'] (6'8 | 2027) - Bakersfield Christian   Daramola has been one of the best interior players in the State this season for the Eagles, as he dominates the boards, is an elite rim protector, and his scoring arsenal continues to develop, and he had all that on display to help his team take down the G-Hawks of Centennial. Daramola had a strong stat-line of 19 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 blocks with a balanced scoring attack of 9 points in the first half and 10 points after intermission. Daramola crashes the boards on both ends, gets easy put-backs off the glass, outlets the ball quickly, gets up the court to get ahead of the defense for transition dunks, and has established himself as one of the premier shot blockers on the West Coast, with the timing, bounce, and wingspan to block or alter shots around the basket, with the agility and strides to close out and alter perimeter shots. Daramola has good footwork, improved shot-making from the mid-post or short porch with the feel to spin and fade-away from his defender to get his shot off, as well as effective with the face-up jumper, and the handles to put the ball on the deck and attack from the top of the key. The Eagles have been able to go through the junior forward more often to initiate the offense, which balances the scoring attack for BCHS.   Ryan Shaw (6'6 | 2028) - Centennial    Shaw has been one of the most productive sophomores this season, and has become a reliable double-double threat, which was evident in the loss to the Eagles this past Saturday. Shaw had the all around offensive arsenal on display, as well as his ability to patrol the paint and alter perimeter shots, going for a game-high 25 points, connecting on four threes, 11 rebounds, 2 blocks, and 2 steals. Shaw had a strong first half showing, scoring 10 of the team's 22 first half points, and kept his team within striking distance. Shaw had a monster 3rd quarter with 10 points, helping his team claw to within 6 points going into the final period, but it was not enough as the Eagles would pull away in the fourth quarter. Shaw moves well off the ball to get to his shot spots, has the moves and handles to create off the perimeter or from the top of the key, with a quick release on the jumper that extends to the 3-point line, where he is accurate from beyond the arc. Shaw is relentless on the glass, has great touch on shots around the basket, and can post-up smaller players, as well as pull bigger players away from the basket to open up the court, given that he is a threat from the perimeter. Shaw would be my choice for SYVL MVP, given he leads the team in points, rebounds, and blocks per game.   Guards:   Caiden Jackson (6'1 | 2027) - Bakersfield Christian    Jackson has been the most reliable perimeter player for the Eagles this season as far as availability and health go, and his confidence as a play-maker and shot-maker continue to expand, while he remains one of the best on-ball perimeter defenders in the Section, as was evident in his 4 steals in the win over Centennial. Jackson has shown he has the court vision, decision making, precise passing, and the court awareness to find open teammates in the half court setting, cutting off the ball, lobs to Killebrew and Daramola, or finding the open player off the drive and kick pass. Jackson has the moves and handles to get his defender off balance, uses the spin-move and change of direction to create space from his defender, moves well off the ball to get to the open spot, and has improved his jumper off the bounce or the dribble, from the mid-range to the 3-point line. Jackson finished with 13 points and 5 assists to go with his 4 steals.   Braylen Smith (6'1 | 2028) - Bakersfield Christian    Smith has been playing high level basketball since coming off a thigh bruise injury that sidelined him for about a month, which was most evident in the Eagles win over Bakersfield High a few weeks back. Smith's shot was not falling at a rate it has been of late, but he still scored 10 points and found other ways to impact the game, as he draws a lot of attention from opposing defenses. Smith has dynamic handles, keeps the ball on a string to survey the floor, has quick movement off the dribble to get by his initial defender, uses the crossover, spin-move, behind-cross, and toss-cross to get to his shot spots, gets good lift on the jumper, and is effective from the mid-range to the 3-point line. Smith has good body control when attacking off the perimeter, which was evident in the spin-move into the bucket at the basket on one of his scoring plays in the win over Centennial. Smith showed off his court vision and play-making off the drive and kick pass, finding sharp shooter [player_tooltip player_id='3034823' first='Carter' last='Steinback'] for the corner catch and shoot 3-ball.   [player_tooltip player_id='3069019' first='Drake' last='Jimenez'] (6' | 2028) - Centennial    Jimenez has led the G-Hawk offensive and defensive attack this season and has produced some big scoring outputs, as well as games with double-digit assists finding his teammates up the court or off the drive and kick pass. Jimenez had an impressive stat-line in the loss to BCHS, as he would go for 11 points, 8 rebounds, and 4 assists. Jimenez is a great positional rebonder, which allows him to push the pace of play and get out in the open court, where he can make the right reads, or go coast to coast to score in transition. Jimenez is effective with the 3-ball off the bounce or the catch, gets to the mid-range jumper with good lift and accuracy on the shot, and is a crafty scorer around the basket. Jimenez is a tough on-ball defender, has active hands to deflect passes, jump passing lanes, or poke the ball out, and plays with a fast but controlled pace to keep pressure on the defense. Jimenez and fellow sophomore Ryan Shaw have been big time for Centennial this season, and depending on where it is seeded for the playoffs, this is a team that could make a run in the D2 Section playoffs, but it currently would be a D1 playoff team.

Central, CA - This past Saturday, February 7th, I attended the Centennial Golden Hawks and Bakersfield Christian Eagles game, which would be the last regular season game I would see in person before playoff basketball starts on Friday. The Eagles had the lead going into the break, 31 to 22, but the G-Hawks had a productive 3rd quarter and closed the gap to six, 49 to 43, going into the final period. But the Eagles would heat up in the 4th quarter behind the shot making of Jemerias Killebrew, who had a team-high 20 points to give BCHS the 76 to 57 win. In this article I look at 6 players that had standout showings by positions: guards, wings, and forwards. I discuss how they played in the game and their relevant statistics, which are my own personal statistics. I will do my last set of team rankings before the playoffs to be out by Thursday.