Central Cali’s Standout Players: BCHS v. Bakersfield Game

Bakersfield, CA - Friday night, January 30th, I attended the South Yosemite Valley League match-up between the Bakersfield Christian Eagles, undefeated in league play, and the Bakersfield Drillers, whose only loss in league was to the Eagles two weeks ago, at the well known Driller Gym. This game lived up to the hype and then some, and was one of the best games I have seen in the South Valley since the Centennial at Bakersfield Christian game back in the 22'-23' season, with standing room only. The Eagles and Drillers started slow and had too many turnovers, but both squads calmed and gave the fans a thriller. BCHS had the lead for all of the game outside of two ties, at 39 a piece and 49 a piece, but Bakersfield High did not give breathing room all game long. The Eagles were able to edge out the 53 to 50 win and will likely finish league play undefeated for the third straight season. The standout play of super sophomores Braylen Smith (Bakersfield Christian) and RJ Shehee (Bakersfield) didn't go unnoticed, as both would receive offers from CSU Bakersfield. In this article I look at 8 players that had standout showings by positions: guards, wings, and forwards. I discuss how they played in the game and their relevant statistics, which are my own personal statistics. I will follow this with more standout players from the Bakersfield Christian MLK Showcase.   Bakersfield Christian Eagles 53 Bakersfield Drillers 50   Guards:    Braylen Smith (6'1 | 2028) - Bakersfield Christian    Smith had been sidelined for almost a month with a leg injury, but upon returning last week to the Eagle roster, I have been hearing he has been hooping. He did just that on Friday night against SYVL rival Bakersfield High, leading all scorers with 15 points along with 4 rebounds, and, more importantly, his team would get the win to basically ensure another league title for the Eagles. Smith played more of the facilitator role in the first quarter, but he would get it going in the second period scoring 6 points and helping the Eagles build up the lead to 28 to 23 going into the break. Although Bakersfield Christian never trailed in the game, the Drillers did tie it up at 39 a piece at the 7:45 mark in the final quarter, and it was close all game long with each bucket feeling like a do or die situation. Smith scored 8 more points in the second half to get to his total of 15, and had some big time baskets down the stretch to answer the Drillers buckets and help keep a small lead. Smith has dynamic handles, uses the crossover, toss-cross, behind-cross, hesitation, between-cross, and the step-back to get his defender off balance and out of position, and is lethal with the mid-range jumper off the bounce with great body control when bumper in the air to get his shot off. Smith had several jumpers that dazzled the fans, which was emphasized with his spin into the fade-middy off the dribble that froze his defender and had me and most of the gym out of their seats. Smith plays with great pace and control, changes direction and speed while keeping his body controlled through contact to get by his defender, and is a crafty scorer around the basket with the Euro-step, reverse, and strong hand finish lay-ups to evade shot blockers and score in the paint. Smith has solid court vision, keeps pressure on the defense by attacking the basket, and makes good reads off the drive and kick pass, as well as the drop off pass to teammates diving to the basket in the dunker spots. Great to see him back on the court and looks poised to help provide the perimeter scoring punch needed for a postseason run. Smith received his first D1 offer from CSU Bakersfield after the game.    Caiden Jackson (6'1 | 2027) - Bakersfield Christian    Jackson had his signature lock-up on-ball defense on display all game long, which resulted in two steals, and attributed to several other steals with weak-side help or trapping the Driller guards. Jackson connected on a couple of timely baskets, but it was his two free throws with less than a minute of play left in the game, which extended the Eagles lead to three, that put the game comfortably out of reach, given the low scoring affair. Jackson would finish with 10 points to go with those two steals, as he would display the lateral quickness and active hands that help him deflect passes, poke the ball from opposing players, or jump passing lanes to turn defense to offense, and alter shots on the perimeter. Jackson has solid handles, the moves to get by his initial defender, a good burst off the bounce to get paint touches, and is becoming more consistent with the jumper off the dribble, in particular from the mid-range area. Jackson is a good positional rebounder, looks to push the pace of play, and makes good reads to teammates off the drive and kick pass, or out of the pick and roll action.   RJ Shehee (5'9 | 2028) - Bakersfield    Shehee had one of his best single game offensive performances earlier this week in a win over Centennial of Bakersfield, and he continued with that high level play in the tough loss to Bakersfield Christian. Shehee looked to be aggressive from the jump, scoring five of the Drillers nine points in the opening quarter. Shehee would connect on several big shots throughout the game and was the only Driller to score in each quarter, as he would finish with a team-high 14 points, 5 assists, and 3 steals, connecting on a pair of threes. Shehee has elite handles, is the definition of keeping the ball on a string, weaves through the defense to find openings, and is a capable 3-level scorer, with the use of all variations of the crossover, the hesitation, the spin-move, and the step-back to create space from his defender, and is effective with the jumper off the dribble, from the mid-range to the 3-point line off the bounce, and is a creative scorer around the basket with the floater, the Euro-step, reverse, and up-and-under lay-ups to evade shot blockers. Shehee has great court vision to find open teammates off the drive and kick pass, as well as the drop off pass to players in the dunker spot, and makes great reads up the court to open teammates in transition. He has great footwork, lateral quickness, quick hands, and instincts to pork the ball out, deflect passes, and jump passing lanes, turning defense to offense, as was evident with his three steals.   Wings:   [player_tooltip player_id='2194700' first='Jeremias' last='Killebrew'] (6'5 | 2027) - Bakersfield Christian    Killebrew impacted the game in various ways and was a key reason why the Eagles were able to stave off the Drillers at their house, as he was active on the boards, knocked down shots, and generated turnovers that led to easy buckets. Killebrew finished with an impressive double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds, along with 5 steals to show the defensive prowess. In a game that had several high-level plays, Killebrew had what most felt was play of the game, as he took the ball off the rim off a missed shot from [player_tooltip player_id='2646533' first='Taiwo' last='Daramola'] shot and hammered it down that had the fans out of their seats. Killebrew has the length and bounce to collect rebounds, gets putbacks off the offensive boards, and limits opponents to single shot possessions with the handle to push the pace of play. Killebrew has the handles and moves to create his own shots off the bounce, gets good lift on the jumper with the length to shoot over most defenders, and has good body control on the spin-fade or pull-up middy. Killebrew has the lateral foot-speed, length and active hands, and the awareness to deflect entry passes, jump passing lanes, or poke the ball out and turn defense to offense. Crafty scorer around the basket with the Euro-step, reverse, and up-and-under lay-ups, as well as the ability to raise up and go at the basket.   [player_tooltip player_id='2700921' first='Kade' last='Johnson'] (6'4 | 2026) - Bakersfield    Johnson had a slow start to the game scoring the ball, as he was scoreless in the first quarter. Johnson looked to heat up in the second quarter, as he would score 5 points and connect on a 3-ball, but he would only score five more points the rest of the game for a total of 10 points and 2 steals. Johnson has been one of the top scorers in the Section, and, after going for 23 points two nights before against Centennial of Bakersfield, I anticipated he would look to score early and often. But that was not the case, as the Eagles made a calculated attempt to keep him from heating up and getting in a groove offensively. Johnson made some quality finds to open teammates off the drive and kick pass, but they failed to capitalize on open shots that could have made the difference in a close lower scoring game. Johnson's presence on the court draws attention from opposing teams, and he will be relied upon to lead the Drillers in scoring once the postseason arrives, as Bakersfield should have a top 4 seed in the D2 Section playoffs.      Forwards:   [player_tooltip player_id='2646533' first='Taiwo' last='Daramola'] (6'8 | 2027) - Bakersfield Christian   Daramola patrolled the paint all game, as he has all season, and had some dazzling dunks and monster blocks to put his stamp on the game from start to finish. Daramola displayed his elite rim protection, as he would get 3 blocks in total with none being as emphatic as the two handed block on Johnson, who had a step on the Eagle forward, but that bounce, timing, and force allowed him to pin the shot against the backboard. Daramola crashed the boards on both ends and would collect 9 for the game, getting points off put-backs and limiting the Drillers to single shot possessions. Daramola would score 10 points and had a few big time dunks off the lob to show the bounce and timing catching the lob off the pass, as well as connecting on a mid-range jumper to showcase continued development on the jumper. Daramola runs the floor well in the open court to get ahead of the defense for transition points, continues to add moves to score the ball from the top of the key to the mid-post, and makes some quality passes from the high-post to teammates moving off the ball.   Keshawn Black (6'4 | 2026) - Bakersfield   Black had a strong showing for the Drillers and continues to be one of the more consistent players for Bakersfield. Black, coming off a solid showing against Centennial of Bakersfield, put up similar numbers against the Eagles, as he would finish with 11 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 assists to show off his court vision and play making ability from the high-post or the low-block to teammates cutting off the ball, as well as up the court to find teammates ahead of the defense. Black moves well off the ball to get to the open spot, is effective with the 3-ball off the catch, has the physical build to score through contact when attacking the basket, uses the spin-move to get space from his defender, and has touch around the basket. Black missed 4 short jumper/floaters throughout the game that could have changed the outcome of the game and will need to make sure those shots fall as the Drillers prepare for a postseason run.    Ryze Niles (6'5 | 2028) - Bakersfield    Niles is a physical and athletic forward that crashes the boards, dives on the ground for the 50/50 ball, and has the strength to score through contact around the basket. Niles has the strength to wall up against taller players, has good touch on shots around the basket, and plays with a relentless motor crashing the boards, running the floor, and alter shots in the paint, as well as on the perimeter. Niles finished the game with 4 points, 7 rebounds, a steal, and a block, which is where he currently excels. The Drillers will need Niles to be that impact guy as the playoffs loom, and over the next few years, if he develops a jumper, he will be a tough player to defend and be the screener for Shehee the next two years.

Bakersfield, CA - Friday night, January 30th, I attended the South Yosemite Valley League match-up between the Bakersfield Christian Eagles, undefeated in league play, and the Bakersfield Drillers, whose only loss in league was to the Eagles two weeks ago, at the well known Driller Gym. This game lived up to the hype and then some, and was one of the best games I have seen in the South Valley since the Centennial at Bakersfield Christian game back in the 22'-23' season, with standing room only. The Eagles and Drillers started slow and had too many turnovers, but both squads calmed and gave the fans a thriller. BCHS had the lead for all of the game outside of two ties, at 39 a piece and 49 a piece, but Bakersfield High did not give breathing room all game long. The Eagles were able to edge out the 53 to 50 win and will likely finish league play undefeated for the third straight season. The standout play of super sophomores Braylen Smith (Bakersfield Christian) and RJ Shehee (Bakersfield) didn't go unnoticed, as both would receive offers from CSU Bakersfield. In this article I look at 8 players that had standout showings by positions: guards, wings, and forwards. I discuss how they played in the game and their relevant statistics, which are my own personal statistics. I will follow this with more standout players from the Bakersfield Christian MLK Showcase.