Dave Calvert Invitational: Day 1: Early Game MVPs
The Dave Calvert Invitational came to Kiefer on January 19, 2023. This tournament saw eight teams take the court, with the first three games being a blow out. Starting off the slate of games was Metro Christian vs Tulsa Dove.…
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Continue ReadingThe Dave Calvert Invitational came to Kiefer on January 19, 2023. This tournament saw eight teams take the court, with the first three games being a blow out. Starting off the slate of games was Metro Christian vs Tulsa Dove. Metro Christian came out of the gates firing, pulling out to a double digit lead within two and a half minutes of play. The score was 64-11 at halftime and finished with a final score of 103-23. The starters for Metro Christian barely saw playing time past the middle of the second quarter. I don’t think that they took the court in the second half, from what I recall. The second game on the slate was Community Christian vs Hilldale. Community Christian lost on an at the buzzer shot in the state championship last year. After losing some key pieces, Community Christian has not been the same team this year and has taken a step back. They kept it close with Hilldale through the first quarter, but after that, Hilldale pulled away. Hilldale won by a hefty margin in this one. Game 3 provided another blowout, as it saw Bethany destroy Tulsa Webster. Tulsa Webster is a younger team, having only one senior and one junior on their roster. Webster kept it close in the first quarter, but Bethany pulled away in the second quarter. The momentum kept going throughout the game, winning 58-16. The final game provided the most excitement and was the closest game, as the hometown Kiefer Trojans took on Warner. The lead was exchanged throughout the game, with Warner winning 24-23 at halftime. To start off the second half, Kiefer came out firing. They hit a three on the first possession, which sparked a run. Warner responded with a run of their own to make it close again. Towards the end of the game, Kiefer took over and won the game in the closest game of the night. Big performances by a couple of players is what it took for Kiefer to narrowly escape losing in the first round of their hometown tournament.
Troy Moses
Troy Moses
Troy Moses has good size and put it to use. He came off the bench dominating on both sides of the court. I recorded four blocks for him, but his impact went beyond that on the defensive side of the ball. He played great interior defense, affecting shots left and right. He also deflected the ball out of bounds. Not only did he dominate on defense, I recorded 14 points for him. These came with second chance points after he would grab the offensive rebound, he utilized his size to score inside over the defender, and he even finished with a dunk in transition. The last area he impacted was his rebounding. He finished with around six rebounds. It was an all-around good performance for him. That is what I call a true six man right there. Someone that is good enough to be a starter, but willingly comes off of the bench.
Wyatt Powell Wyatt Powell 6’3″ | SG Metro Christian | 2024 State OK started off the game with a bang and kept it going. His team was dominating the game from the tip, so that limited the amount of time that he played. Within the first three possessions, he had two steals and two finishes in transition. One of those finishes was a dunk that made the crowd erupt. There was another play that he had in transition to where he hop stepped and finished. That was followed by another dunk in transition. He made an immediate impact with running out in transition and forcing turnovers. That was not all that he did, as he ended the game with four steals and two blocks. That was with him not seeing much action towards the middle of the second quarter for the rest of the game. If I recall correctly, he did not see the court at all in the second half. He also picked up a few assists, with one of them being a perfectly placed alley-oop off the glass for his teammate, who dunked it. It was a great performance on both ends of the court.
Highlights
Boxy Wallace
Boxy Wallace
Boxy Wallace had a good game, despite his team getting blown out. He was one of the few bright spots in the second half for a team that was desperately searching for answers. I have 11 points recorded for him, but that does not mean that he did not have more. He had an emphatic jam whenever he finished an alley-oop. One of the other plays that he had was when he drove, hopstepped, showed patience, and then drew the foul. He knocked down a couple of three pointers in this contest and showed good help off of the ball on defense. To go with that, he had a block and then came away with a steal. He also saved the ball on a possession and had a couple of rebounds. It was a solid all-around performance for him in this one.
Jax Kerr Jax Kerr 6’10” | PF Owasso | 2025 State OK did everything for his team in this game. He grabbed one rebound after another. Some of them led to him scoring in transition and some of them led to assists. One thing that stuck out to me is that he showed patience when he was double teamed. He did not force a pass, but rather he used his height to see over the defense and to find the open man. He never seemed rushed. He made five three pointers in this game, to go along with him knocking down some mid-range jumpers. On defense, he came away with some blocks and a steal. He knew how to use his size to his advantage, as he finished with a great performance.
Cole Leach
Cole Leach
Cole Leach made a great impact for his team in a dominant win. He tied for the most points in the game with 16. All of his points came the hard way, with him fighting inside to score. Either off of offensive rebounds or just getting position or driving to the rim. He also showed a mid-range jumper in his arsenal, too. I have seven rebounds recorded for him, but it is possible that he pushed a double-double. His on-ball defense was good and he had a steal in this game. It was a good performance on both ends of the court.
Noah Robinson
Noah Robinson
Noah Robinson came out of the gates with a bang in this one. He hit a three at the beginning of the game and went on to knock down a couple of more three pointers. One of those was a contested one. Something that I like about him is how he shoots the ball with confidence. His biggest highlight was when he threw an alley-oop to his teammate. He also came away with a rebound in this one. It was a good shooting performance for him.