Toledo St. Francis Tops Start In Season Opener
Game Recap In one of the more intriguing matchups of the young season in the Toledo area, Start High School traveled to St. Francis de Sales in the season opener for both squads. The JV game finished after a quarter…
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In one of the more intriguing matchups of the young season in the Toledo area, Start High School traveled to St. Francis de Sales in the season opener for both squads. The JV game finished after a quarter of overtime on a game winner from 30 feet out for St. Francis to get the nearly full gymnasium buzzing. From the jump it was St. Francis who would hold the momentum for most of the contest as they got out to an early 13-2 lead led by junior point guard Kenny Coleman-Graham. Start found its two best players in early foul trouble as seniors Deonte Henderson and TJ Munn both had 2 fouls apiece with 3:00 still to play in the first quarter. Start would go on a bit of a run late to close the quarter aided by senior guard Chase Wanamaker, trailing St. Francis 11-17. In the second quarter St. Francis would switch up their defense to a 2/3 zone that was effective, forcing Start to outside shots. Coleman-Graham continued to do it all for St. Francis, making the right play, scoring at the rim, and setting up teammates. St. Francis would maintain their lead throughout the quarter, but senior guard Daijan Shaw would knock down a pair of threes late to pull start within three, trailing 25-28 at the half. To begin the second half Start would go back to seniors Henderson and Munn who had been glued to the bench with foul trouble; with their help the offense would come alive in the quarter. Deonte Henderson, one of the best shooters of the basketball around, would make three triples in the third quarter alone to ignite the offense for Start and their deficit was cut to two, down 37-39 to St. Francis as the final quarter began. Kenny Coleman-Graham would be quieted in the third quarter by the aggressive ‘in your face’ defense of Start’s guards, and with that so would the St. Francis offense as a whole. However, in the fourth it would not take Coleman-Graham long to get cooking. Registering an ‘and one’ on the first possession of the period, and following it up two possessions later with a strong take to the basket, he would put up five points of his own in a matter of a minute. As proved to be the case throughout the night for St. Francis, their offense goes as Coleman-Graham goes, and with his strong fourth quarter, it proved to be enough. Coleman-Graham would finish with 20 points leading St. Francis in the season opening win, while Deonte Henderson would finish with 14 points for Start in the losing effort.
Evaluations
’17 PG Kenny Coleman-Graham (Toledo St. Francis) – This was somewhat of a coming out party for him as not many around Toledo knew too awful much about him prior to Tuesday night. That won’t be the case any longer however as he has to be considered one of the best point guards in his class in the city. Apt with a good feel for the game, he is easily capable of controlling the tempo, just as he displayed on Tuesday. Listed at 5’11” but closer to 5’9” he is surprisingly strong around the basket and finished every time he got to the rim. Has an above average ability to find the open teammate and make the right basketball play, he is locked in and aware on the defensive end as well. Would like to see him work on his effectiveness as a scorer from mid-range and eventually out as a threat from deep. Coleman-Graham is certainly one to keep an eye on and will be a joy to watch moving forward.
’16 G Deonte Henderson (Toledo Start) – Henderson has been thought of as one of the better players for ‘instant offense’ in Toledo and it appears he has cranked it up to another level for this season. Sitting for a large portion of the game due to foul trouble, Henderson simply makes things happen when he is out on the floor. While he possesses one of the prettier strokes from deep, and is highly effective from that range, Henderson needs to improve his ability to score at the rim and get there under control. Quickness and good foot speed allow him to be an above average defender out on the perimeter. Decision making on offense with the ball in his hands needs to continue to get sharper, but he sees the floor well and makes plays. Standing around 5’10” he will need to be more of a scoring point guard at the next level, something he is more than capable of achieving.