Chandler defeats Cactus Shadows in the 1st round of the OPEN

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>On Wednesday, February 18th I watched the match-up of #15 ranked 6A&nbsp;<strong>Chandler Wolves</strong>&nbsp;hosting the #18 ranked 4A&nbsp;<strong>Cactus Shadows Falcons</strong> in the OPEN playoffs.&nbsp;Chandler ended up pulling out the victory <strong>65-59 </strong>in a tough game from start to finish. They were down by as many as 8 points but stormed back by the play of [player_tooltip player_id='2552733' first='Donovan' last='Palmer'] inside and [player_tooltip player_id='1445948' first='Brandon' last='Stapleton'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1950104' first='Jonathan' last='Mercado'] guard play. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Here were the standouts on the night&nbsp;</strong></h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>All the stats are unofficial.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1445948' first='Brandon' last='Stapleton'] Chandler</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A bigger lefty guard was making plays in the first half by threading the needle multiple times to find open teammates. He was working from the high post and dissecting the defense. He will score with aggressive downhill drives, dunks on the break, rip thru with either hand and he hit a clutch three late in the game. He finished with 12 points 4 assists and 5 rebounds unofficially.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2552733' first='Donovan' last='Palmer'] Chandler&nbsp;</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A bigger post player controlled the game from the second quarter on. He scored it with quick layups in transition, rip thrus into a hook shot, and-1's in traffic, dribble drives with either hand and handles contact well. He rebounds in and out of his area and will score with put backs. He had a big game of 21 points, 7 rebounds and 2 blocks.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1950104' first='Jonathan' last='Mercado'] Chandler</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A scoring point guard made some smart reads for assists and scored. He will fill it up with threes off the catch using a quicker trigger. He had multiple and-1 contact left hand takes after a quick burst. He collects steals and will rebound with his stronger frame. He finished with 11 points.  </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2407205' first='Ja'Mir' last='Smith'] Chandler</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A high flying power forward was a defensive presence for the home team. He gobbled up rebounds in and out of his area. He collected multiple steals and took a ball off the glass impressively and went coast to coast with a nasty dunk way above the rim.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2767184' first='Tahli' last='El-Amin'] Chandler</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>An athletic scoring point guard is getting more and more confidence as the season goes on. He will score with offensive rebound put backs, euro steps, tough layups and threes off the catch. He also attempted a poster dunk but just missed it on the break. He made some nice passes ahead and he is an unselfish teammate. He scored 9 points. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2423942' first='Apollo' last='Jennings'] Chandler</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A strong power forward is one of the glue players for the Wolves. He simply comes in the game and eats on the glass using his longer arms and wider shoulders to carve out space and control the paint. He will score with offensive rebound put backs and he made two clutch free throws to essentially ice the game. &nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2133646' first='Myles' last='Godfrey'] Cactus Shadows&nbsp;</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A pure point guard showed off his ability to make his teammates better. He changes speeds about as well as you can and gets to his spots and works. He will score it with mid-range pull-ups, threes off the catch, off the ball cuts and then make plays. He will drive and kick it and throw players open to the spot that they will be at. He has quick hands on defense and collected 3 steals to go along with his 5+ assists and 16 points. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2412232' first='Terrell' last='Fair II'] Cactus Shadows </strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Godfrey running mate was definitely Fair II. He is a star in transition and uses his defense to lead to offense which led to points. He loves getting to the rack with a nice layup package and can shoot it with mid-range jumpers to catch threes. He led all scorers with 26 points and 3+ steals. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2623495' first='Riley' last='Haggerty'] Cactus Shadows</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A thicker framed shooting guard is very patient off of two feet and then will make a play or score. He will get a step on a defender and take the contact to score layups. The southpaw is skilled and smart and is not afraid to mix it up inside with his stronger frame. He finished with 7 points. &nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2677972' first='Jack' last='Gaston'] Cactus Shadows</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A scoring lead guard can play some on or off the ball. He plays a smart floor game and is never too high or low. He will score with threes off the catch and he is extremely fast on the break. He is also quick in the passing lanes and finished with a few assists and 5 points. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='3507781' first='Eshaan' last='Lyer'] Cactus Shadows </strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A strong framed undersized power forward just knows how to play. He uses his girth and strength to gain position to grab tough rebounds inside and is crafty inside to score with layups. He is cerebral to find a teammate and he will even collect steals. He finished with 4 points but did a lot of little things to keep the game close versus the bigger Wolves team.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->