Friday’s Daily Dive: 12/11

<p>Week 3 is underway and we have got a big slate of high school hoops going on this week in Indiana. This season is going to be full of uncertainty, but let us dive on in and take a look at some highlights of Friday’s night of hoops. </p> <p><b>[player_tooltip player_id="783143" first="Brooks" last="Barnhizer"] Continues to Dominate</b></p> <p>Lafayette Jeff improved to 5-0 with their 66-58 victory over Harrison (WL) on Friday night, and [player_tooltip player_id="783143" first="Brooks" last="Barnhizer"], the Northwestern commit, dominated for the fifth game in a row.  Barnhizer had 33 points, his fifth 30 point appearance in as many games.  He also added 15 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals, and 3 blocks.  On the season, Brooks is averaging 33 points and 11 rebounds on 60% shooting from the floor with 45% from behind the three-point arc.  Northwestern is getting an outstanding player in Barnhizer, and he has shown that he is definitely a top candidate for the Indiana Mr. Basketball award at the conclusion of the season.</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="874110" first="Jalen" last="Blackmon"] Makes His Return</strong></p> <p>Around the first of the year, [player_tooltip player_id="874110" first="Jalen" last="Blackmon"] went down with an ACL injury that would hold him out for over 11 months.  Before this injury, Blackmon was nearing a top 5 player in the 2021 class for the state of Indiana, and due to this injury, he has dropped outside of the top 10.  Despite this, Blackmon’s debut was much anticipated, and he lived up to the expectations.  [player_tooltip player_id="874110" first="Jalen" last="Blackmon"] dominated Richmond with 38 points en route to the 78-60 victory over the Red Devils.  He showed no signs of the injury what-so-ever, and he almost looked better than ever.  These 38 points also put Blackmon just 4 points shy of passing Zach Randolph for 4th on the all-time scoring list for Marion history.  The Grand Canyon commit is going to be the key for Marion this year, and this performance showed that he could be something special.</p> <p><b>Fort Wayne North Upsets Fort Wayne South</b></p> <p>Fort Wayne North came into this 92-year rivalry off of 30+ point losses over the last two seasons.  Nonetheless, the youthful squad came out firing on all cylinders, and they got the result to show for it.  Freshman,<strong> Brauntae Johnson</strong>, was outstanding for North.  He ended the game with 18 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 assists, and despite this stat-stuffing performance, Johnson’s biggest contribution came on the defensive end.  After [player_tooltip player_id="874122" first="Austin" last="Jordan"], South’s leading scorer, diced up the North zone in the first quarter for 13 points, Johnson was given the assignment to play man defense on him.  After this, Johnson did not leave the game with Jordan on the floor, and he held [player_tooltip player_id="874122" first="Austin" last="Jordan"] to just 9 points on 3-9 shooting from the floor.  This breakout performance by Johnson showed that he is going to be a big name to watch in the next 4 years in the northern part of the state.  Other top scorers in this game included, for North, [player_tooltip player_id="1049163" first="Jordan" last="Green"] (16), <strong>Rodney Woods</strong> (14), and for South, [player_tooltip player_id="870302" first="Ashton" last="Johnson"] (16) and [player_tooltip player_id="769718" first="Jaylen" last="Lattimore"] (13).</p>