Hilliard Davison 66 @ Olentangy Orange 59 Recap

<p>The start of OCC play means the toughest division in the state (rivaled by only the GCL-South and maybe the LEL) has begun. The OCC-Central division is stacked as Hilliard Bradley defeated Olentangy Liberty on opening night of conference play, but the second night brought the Cats of Hilliard Davidson to Lewis Center to take on the Pioneers of Olentangy Orange. The Pioneers started off hot, with excellent defensive rotations and knocking down outside shots, they held a double-digit lead in the second quarter. Hilliard Davison made a late first half push to make it a tight contest at the half. The story remained the same in the third, as a 3-pointer right before the horn cut the Pioneers lead to two. In the fourth, Davidson pulled away with defensive stops and clutch free-throw shooting. This conference is going to be a war every time two divisional opponents square off and Saturday evening was no different. Here were the top performers from the game.</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="848282" first="Jayden" last="Nervis"], 6’6 PF Hilliard Davison 2022: Nervis was a move-in to Ohio from North Carolina who received some buzz in the fall. I was very intrigued with what Nervis had to offer heading into this game and was pleased with what he showed. The first thing you’ll notice about Nervis is that he plays really hard, whether it’s running up and down the court, getting into a defensive stance or battling for a loose ball, Nervis is going hard for it. Nervis finished through contact and had a wide-open dunk to further demonstrate his physical tools. The reason I moved him to a PF is because his handle simply isn’t good enough yet to be classified as a wing. Davidson tried holding for the last shot at the end of a quarter and Nervis lost control and was called for a five second violation. His handle let him down a couple other times in traffic, this is a main area of improvement for Nervis who had a productive 20 point outburst.</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="921743" first="Jared" last="Frey"], 6’5 SG Hilliard Davidson 2022: Orange did an excellent job of running Frey off the 3-point line. I wasn’t keeping exact track but I think Frey went 0/1 from long range for the game. Frey was occasionally running point guard for the Cats, showing an improved handle and the ability to go both ways with the ball. Frey also demonstrated impressive poise driving to the basket, drawing contact to get to the free-throw line where he’s almost automatic.</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="1052784" first="Peyton" last="Frey"], 6’5 PF Hilliard Davidson 2023: Peyton is the younger brother of Jared and he really shined in this one. Peyton didn’t miss a shot from the field, finishing everything around the basket. Frey shoots his jumpers (just free-throws in this game) with his left hand but seems to be a natural righty as all of his finishes were with his right. Frey also had a nice block from behind on [player_tooltip player_id="919031" first="Andre" last="Irvin"] when Orange was looking to make a comeback.</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="805197" first="Jason" last="Foster"], 6’5 SF Olentangy Orange 2021: Foster had the highlight of the evening with a monster slam over a Davidson defender. That really energized Foster as he had an and-1 layup and big block shortly after. Foster is a solid athlete but is very limited with what he can do offensively because he is not a threat to shoot the ball. Despite this I think Foster is a scholarship talent due to his size and physical upside. Despite having a productive game from a scoring and rebounding perspective, Foster missed a couple layups he probably wants back. I thought he was in control and put a good shot attempt up at the rim, he just happened to not find the bottom of the net so this should be a problem that fixes itself with more rim attempts.</p> <p>Jordan Bethel, 6’1 SF Olentangy Orange 2021: Bethel is not exactly a basketball prospect, but he is a crucial piece to this Olentangy Orange squad. Bethel defends his ass off, grabs offensive rebounds and moves the ball within the offense. He might not receive the praise that some of his teammates do for big scoring outbursts, but Bethel helps his team win basketball games and there aren’t enough players like him today.</p>