(3) SF Washington 63 (1) SF Roosevelt 62 – Five Things to Know

We are only a week into the season but SF Washington and SF Roosevelt may have played the game of the season already. In a thrilling contests with many turns, the Warriors held on by one. Here are Five Things to Know. One. Amazing Game. This game had the "underdog" Warriors come out fighting with a great defensive effort. Washington built a 17 point lead only to lose that lead late in the game when the state’s top ranked squad fired back with a change of defensive gameplan. There were eight different players (both teams combined) who went on scoring possession runs that totaled three scores (or more) in a six possession stretch. With under ten ticks to go Roosevelt ran an excellent play late with [player_tooltip player_id="812190" first="Vance" last="Borchers"] cutting high to catch and then hitting a hard cutting [player_tooltip player_id="757835" first="Michael" last="Paulson"] for the attempt at the rim. [player_tooltip player_id="734065" first="Eli" last="Williams"] saw the play late but smartly fouled Paulson and Paulson only made one of two foul shots. Moments later [player_tooltip player_id="968154" first="Joe" last="Uttecht"] showed off his baseball (and/or football) arm with a full court strike to sophomore [player_tooltip player_id="963745" first="Kael" last="Miedema"] for a lay-up with less than two seconds on the clack. Paulson missed a long tap-in attempt at the buzzer and Washington picked up an exciting victory. Washington will now say "are we number one?" while people in Yankton are hollering "come get some" as they have a claim to the top spot as well. Two. The Warrior Defense. Washington held a 37-20 halftime lead and a big part of it was their excellent halfcourt defense that forced five first half turnovers as well as several long misses. Many of those long misses became transition runs directed by [player_tooltip player_id="812201" first="Mikele" last="Kambalo"] and Akok Aguer and the Warrior pair turned those fast break chances into scores. Kambalo scored a few himself, created a few for others while Akok Aguer took his touches and went to the rim for double figure first half points (Aguer scored 15 points on 6 of 12 shooting). The Washington defense set up their offense while shutting down the Roosevelt top options. Washington did a great job switching screens and putting a new defender in the perfect position to take away most Roosevelt first half attacks. The verbal communication of [player_tooltip player_id="734065" first="Eli" last="Williams"] stood out the most plus he played a big part in limiting [player_tooltip player_id="757825" first="Tyler" last="Feldkamp"] - who scored 23 in the opener - to three shot attempts in the first half and and only seven points for the game. Also, Kambalo’s pressure forced [player_tooltip player_id="975525" first="Tucker" last="Large"] into four first half misses and 3 of 9 shooting for the contest. [caption id="attachment_1027379" align="alignright" width="150"]<a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2020/08/Koor-Kuol-2.jpg"><img class="wp-image-1027379 size-thumbnail" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2020/08/Koor-Kuol-2-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" /></a> [player_tooltip player_id="975533" first="Koor" last="Kuol"][/caption] Three. The Rough Rider Game Changer. Washington was playing with an excellent halfcourt rhythm building those 37 first half points. Roosevelt’s switch to a zone trapping pressure defense completely took Washington out of their offensive rhythm. Roosevelt forced several turnovers with that pressure as well as a number of out of rhythm Washington shot attempts. [player_tooltip player_id="975533" first="Koor" last="Kuol"] was the point on that pressure and after most Washington mistakes the ball found it’s way to Kuol who scored 13 points for the game (5 of 10 shooting). Roosevelt’s defensive switch was the biggest coaching decision of the game as it brought Roosevelt back from 17 down and gave them a three point lead late. Four. The Game Winner. [player_tooltip player_id="968154" first="Joe" last="Uttecht"]’s full court strike caught everybody by surprise. The 5-foot-10 junior guard did not hesitate as he picked up the ball off the [player_tooltip player_id="757835" first="Michael" last="Paulson"] foul shot make and sent the perfect strike to 6-foot-8 sophomore [player_tooltip player_id="963745" first="Kael" last="Miedema"] the other way for a catch and finish. It was the second buzzer beating play of the night for Uttecht who also hit a three-pointer just before the first half buzzer sounded. And for Miedema it was his second excellent catch of the game (his soft hands grabbed a Kambalo bullet and laid it in earlier in the quarter). Miedema also did a nice job of rebounding and sending outlet passes so Washington could push the ball. Kael has 11 points on 5 of 5 shooting plus seven boards playing off the bench. Uttech had five points, four boards, and four assists. Five. Individual Runs. So many players went on individual runs of their own in this game. For that we go Basketball in Bullet Points! <ul> <li>Akok Aguer’s quick first step, his length touching in shots going at the rim, and his quick transition push were tings Roosevelt couldn’t keep a body in front of. The Washington senior 6’2 guard scored a big 15 points with most coming in the first half.</li> <li>[player_tooltip player_id="734065" first="Eli" last="Williams"] biggest contributions were his defense on Feldkamp, his defensive communication, his eight boards, and his foul of Paulson (not even sure it was truly a foul) after he reacted late to Paulson’s cut. Williams had his offensive run making five of six fouls shots in the middle of the game (scored nine points on 2 of 6 shooting from the field). </li> <li>Tahj Two Bulls scored 11 points for the game but his back to back three-point makes early in the second half countered makes from Roosevelt allowing Washington to hold off their opponents. Tahj is a 6-foot-4 senior forward for Washington. </li> <li>[player_tooltip player_id="757835" first="Michael" last="Paulson"] had a bit of a quiet first half for Roosevelt but his three three-point makes in the second half were game changers. The 6-foot-3 senior wing scored a team high 14 points.</li> <li>[player_tooltip player_id="812201" first="Mikele" last="Kambalo"] and [player_tooltip player_id="975525" first="Tucker" last="Large"] battled all game. There were words exchanged, we saw Large throw some forearms, the two of them wrestled each other on the ground while going for the ball, and they intensely went after each other with ball pressure. Kambalo’s team won and he had ten points, four boards, and four assists (3 of 10fg, 4 of 4ft) while Large had seven boards, four boards and six assists shooting 3 of 9 from the floor and 1 of 3 at the foul line. Really the only difference was Kambalo being better at the foul line. </li> </ul>