Guard Matchups to Watch in County Title Games

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The county tournaments are coming to a close as the finals will take place over the weekend. The matchups in the backcourt are going to be fun to watch as they should be filled with high level play. Here are the guard matchups to watch in the county tournament title games.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Camden Catholic vs. Camden: [player_tooltip player_id='1411662' first='Luke' last='Kennevan']-[player_tooltip player_id='1273900' first='Teron' last='Murray']</strong></h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Camden County tournament final will be a third matchup between the Irish and the Panthers with the latter winning both matchups in the regular season. Kennevan has been shooting the ball with confidence from behind the arc as he has made 11 triples in his last three games. The 6'4 guard is more than just a shooter as he can also put the ball on the floor and finish around the basket. Murray has a clean release on his jumper and moves well without the ball in his hands. Kennevan and Murray should torch the nets in what should be an exciting county final.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>St. Benedict's vs. Montclair Immaculate: [player_tooltip player_id='1411675' first='David' last='Johnson']-Jaren Barnett</strong></h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The lead guard matchup in the Essex County title game will be fun to watch as both players impact their teams in different ways. Johnson is a scoring lead guard who uses his quick first step to blow by his defender and can finish through contact. The 6'1 guard also has a good release on his jumper and can get hot from distance in a hurry. Barnett facilitates the offense nicely as he rarely gets rattled by on-ball pressure and threads passes to open teammates in the halfcourt. Johnson and Barnett are talented lead guard prospects who should put on a show in the county final.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Hudson Catholic vs. St. Peter's Prep: [player_tooltip player_id='1050389' first='Tahaad' last='Pettiford']-[player_tooltip player_id='1395998' first='Nico' last='Peña']</strong></h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The first matchup between Hudson Catholic and St. Peter's Prep was a thriller and the rematch should be the same. Pettiford is electric with the ball in his hands as he can finish in a variety of ways around the basket and bury triples from behind the arc. The Auburn commit has a nice touch on his floater and finds open teammates in the halfcourt. Peña has a clean shooting stroke as he wastes little motion and can get hot from distance in a hurry. Pettiford and Peña combined to score 47 points in the first game, which is a number they could hit again in the county final.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Ramapo vs. Don Bosco Prep: [player_tooltip player_id='1153277' first='Peyton' last='Seals']-[player_tooltip player_id='1153959' first='Dylan' last='Harper']</strong></h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Bergen County Jamboree final should be filled with fireworks with Seals and Harper in the backcourt. The Princeton commit has a good handle, which he uses to beat his defender off the bounce and finish in a variety of ways around the rim. Seals uses his size to see over his defender and rises up with confidence on his jumper. Harper can score at all three levels and is an underrated passer. Seals and Harper are both big-time scorers who should light up the scoreboard in the final.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Roselle Catholic vs. Union Catholic: [player_tooltip player_id='1595673' first='Jalen' last='Grant']-[player_tooltip player_id='1411630' first='AJ' last='Altobelli']</strong></h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Lions and Vikings matchup for a chance to take home the county title, which features an intriguing guard battle. Grant has a tight handle, which he uses to blow by his defender and finish in a number of ways around the rim. The 6'0 guard wastes little motion in his release and plays with good floor vision. Altobelli controls the flow of the offense as he threads passes to teammates and finishes craftily around the rim. Grant and Altobelli are talented guard prospects who should have big games in the Union County final.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->