Week 11 Action: Spotlight Defensive Performances

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>If defense wins championships, then several prospects showed out on that end over the past week. Here are five of note:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2352452' first='Josh' last='Obiora'] | 6'7 W/F 2026 St. Georges </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Obiora struggled to find the bottom of the basket in the first half of the Middletown game; but he never let up on the intensity on defense. In each of the first two quarters, he returned a pair of shots to the sender and tipped a number of passes. That helped keep the game in reach until he turned up for 10 points in the third, highlighted by a pull-up three. Obiora continued to fuel the Hawks offense with his defense as they took the lead and pulled out the victory. Overall, he notched a well-rounded 16 points, 16 boards, 3 assists, 4 steals, and 5 blocks. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2614922' first='Kalil' last='Riley'] | 6'5 W 2027 Tower Hill </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>After a career night on offense versus Odyssey Charter, Riley leaned on his defense as the Hillers outlasted Hodgson. Regardless of what occurred on offense, his energy never wavered on the glass. And when it was time to guard Hodgson's shooter who had been killing them, Riley cut his water off and forced turnovers that also gave him a spark on offense. He finished with 24 points, 10 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 steals. But it was his defensive stops and 11 points in the fourth quarter that delivered his team the win. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2442708' first='King' last='Savior'] | 6'7 F 2027 Middletown </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Going toe-to-toe with the athletic forwards from St. Georges, Savior used his physical tools to disrupt the Hawks offense. His arms were constantly in passing windows and clogging driving lanes. So when attempts to create advantages or score in his vicinity usually resulted in turnovers. And when the Cavs fell behind in the third, his disruption became as vertical as it was horizontal. Savior erased shots to slow down the opposing offense. He also splashed a few threes to give his team some life on the other end. In all, he led the Cavs with 14 points, 4 rebounds, 4 steals, and 3 blocks. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2380968' first='Nyle' last='Watson'] | 6'0 G 2028 Sanford </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>At St. E's on Thursday, Watson absolutely wrecked the Vikings offense early on as an on-ball and help defender. When he wasn't deflecting the ball away from his man, he was digging at drivers from the nail, leading to instant offense on the break and 8 points for him in the first quarter. Additionally, Watson made plays off the catch for halfcourt to score against set defenses. By the end of the contest, he racked up 15 points, 5 boards, and 5 steals. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2564246' first='Corey' last='Williams'] | 5'8 G 2028 St Georges </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In what might've been the battle for Middletown, Williams stepped up in crucial moments to lead the Hawks to the comeback win over the Cavaliers. On defense, he plucked the ball out of the air for takeaways, holding the Cavs to just 5 points in the third quarter. In the fourth, Williams drilled his second three on an out-of-bounds play, Then he closed out the game at the line and by forcing more turnovers to total 18 points, 3 assists, and 4 steals. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->