MADC Ballers Classic: DE North 2030 vs MD North 2030

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In the second game on Saturday, up-and-coming hoopers from New Castle County took on their counterparts from across the state line in Maryland for a good display of talent. Here are the six players who caught my attention:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2767448' first='MJ' last='Boyd'] | 2030 DE North</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Disruptive on defense and pedal to the metal on offense, Boyd had an outsized impact in the victory over MD North. He urgently applied pressure on the opposing offense, made evident by the steal he grabbed in the first minute of the game. Boyd didn't need wide gaps to shoot through - on either end of the floor - because he could use his slight frame and acceleration to slip through the narrowest creases. That made him particularly fun in pick-and-roll, where he created and exploited different windows. The outcome: 16 points, 3 assists, and 2 steals. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2836618' first='Jayden' last='Cobb'] | 2030 DE North </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Cobb set the tone with how forcefully he protected the basket. Embodying his team's height advantage, he rejected a shot attempt and capped off possessions on the glass to hold the MD North eighth graders scoreless in the first quarter. The nimble forward got busy on offense too, mixing it up in the post and as a roller off of screens. Later on, Cobb put his stamp on the game with a fastbreak dunk as he tallied 10 points, 9 boards, and 3 blocks. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Donte Henry | 2030 MD North </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A very shifty guard, Henry routinely got north and south in the interstate matchup. But after challenges scoring over DE North's rim protectors, he found success attacking early in transition. Henry took steals and defensive rebounds coast-to-coast before dishing to a teammate or scoring it himself. That helped him find his rhythm in the halfcourt, where he tilted the defense with self-created paint touches. Henry paced the North squad with 13 points, 3 boards, 4 assists, and 5 stocks (4s 1b).</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='3532309' first='Juju' last='May'] | 2030 DE North </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Good things happened when Mau had the ball in his hands because his suddenness usually made for deep paint touches. With explosive first and second steps, he dusted his primary defender and put the helper in conflict before taking the layup or finding whoever the second defender vacated. Sometimes that meant hitting the roll man and other times it meant a pocket pass to the dunker spot. And for his steady production (17 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, and 2 steals), May took home the MVP honors. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='3532045' first='Myles' last='Tucker'] | 2030 DE North </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Amassing 15 points, 12 boards, and 2 steals, Tucker's blend of power and agility was too much for MD North to contain. He was a problem attacking on-the-go, especially in transition. Tucker played without the ball too, flashing around the basket for layups and generating extra possessions on the offensive boards. He gloved a couple passes to instigated fastbreaks as well, collecting a double-double on15 points, 12 rebounds, 2 steals, and the Defensive MVP award. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Adren Walker | 2030 MD North Walker wasn't the biggest on the floor but he was one of the toughest. In the second quarter, he showed some fight by initiating contact and drawing fouls at the rim, before converting at the line. Walker even crashed the boards for putbacks and got a chase-down block. He ended his outing with a pull-up three to total a team-high 15 points, plus 4 rebounds. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->