Five Takeaways: Dunkerton at Central City
Nick Reid scored 29 points in the win CENTRAL CITY — Central City used a big fourth quarter to re-gain control on Monday night, beating Dunkerton 48-38 in a non-conference tilt. The Wildcats jumped out to a 15-6 lead midway…
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Continue ReadingCENTRAL CITY — Central City used a big fourth quarter to re-gain control on Monday night, beating Dunkerton 48-38 in a non-conference tilt.
The Wildcats jumped out to a 15-6 lead midway through the second quarter before Dunkerton closed the half on an 11-4 run, trimming the lead down to just 2, 19-17, at the break. The Raiders extended that run, opening the second half with a 9-2 spurt to take a lead, which they would hold onto for the remainder of the quarter, taking a 33-31 advantage into the final eight minutes.
That’s when Central City took the game over, picking up the pressure on the defensive end and attacking the rim, winning the fourth quarter 17-5 en route to the win.
Central City improved to 8-3 with the win. The ‘Cats were led by star wing Nick Reid, who scored 29 points to go with 9 rebounds, 4 blocks and 2 assists. Trey Orcutt added 7 points in the win.
Dunkerton (6-7) was led by Jake Kennedy, who had 13 points. Casey Gardner added 10 in the loss for the Raiders.
Team | 1Q | 2Q | 3Q | 4Q | F |
Dunkerton | 6 | 11 | 16 | 5 | 38 |
Central City | 11 | 8 | 12 | 17 | 48 |
Dunkerton: Jake Kennedy 13, Casey Gardner 10, Brody Rygel 4, Kaden Behrens 4, Kyler Rich 3, Preston Gillespie 2, Jacob Brandt 2
Central City: Nick Reid 29, Trey Orcutt 7, Patrick Wade 5, Marshal VanDeVegte 4, Ethan Tye 2, Keegan Kula 1
What Nick Reid does well
Reid has established himself over the last few seasons as one of the state’s elite scorers, and he showed that again on Monday night, finishing with 29 points. A 6-7 wing, he handles the ball fairly well and is a pure scorer who looks to attack the rim at any opening. He has great hands and rebounds at a high level, and he has good instincts on the defensive end, particularly when it comes to rim protection. Some of that can be attributed to being significantly bigger than most of the players he’s playing against, but he uses his length well and doesn’t pick up silly fouls on the defensive end of the floor. The other thing that really stands out about his game is his vision. Don’t be surprised to see him playing some point-forward for Emporia State at the next level. He ‘only’ had 2 assists in this game, but he could have had a handful more if his teammates had finished the opportunities he presented them. He sees the floor really well and is a willing passer who can take advantage of all the eyes being on him by putting his teammates in good positions.
And areas for improvement at the next level
Reid is talented, and has the talent and size to dominate 1A competition, and he’s doing just that. That said, there are certainly areas he can improve on as he moves to the college level. First, I’d like to see him continue to develop his jump shot. In watching him shoot around before the game, he has pretty good form, and the shot looks good coming off his hand – good rotation, high release, smooth stroke. He just needs more reps and to iron out that stroke. He has the ability to turn himself into a 38-40% 3-point shooter, and if he does that, he could become incredibly dangerous when you combine that shooting with his pure scoring instincts. He needs to continue to add strength, as he struggled to finish at times through contact in this one. Now, he was drawing the attention of every Raider on the floor when he was in the paint, and that won’t be the case at the next level, but he’ll also be playing against men more his size. He left about a dozen points on the board by missing shots around the rim, and added strength will help with that. The final thing is that he (at times) settled for jumpers, rather than looking to attack constantly. I can only imagine how difficult it is to get beat up on every drive, but it’s not something that Dunkerton was going to stop, so settling for long jumpers wasn’t ideal. Nonetheless, he finished with 29 points and impacted the game on both ends of the floor. There is a lot to like about Reid’s game, and there are areas for improvement. If he continues to develop in these areas, he could be a high-level collegiate player.
Dunkerton trending back up
After averaging 20.3 wins over the last three seasons, we knew Dunkerton was going to fall off a bit this year given the losses they had to graduation. But don’t expect to see the Raiders down for long. They’ve got a number of young players that are contributing, and doing so at a high level. Junior guard Jake Kennedy led them with 13 points and is a well-built, physical guard who can score inside and out. A pair of freshmen guards contributed at a high level in Casey Gardner and Preston Gillespie. Gardner had 10 points and is the team’s best 3-point shooter, while Gillespie is a 6-1 athletic wing who played pretty strong defense on Reid for much of the game. Kyler Rich is a 6-4 sophomore who showed the ability to stretch out to the arc and rebound at a high level. His post moves are a bit robotic right now, but as he continues to develop and mature, he should become more fluid. Kaden Behrens is a 6-1 sophomore forward who can score through contact. There is a significant amount of young talent here, so don’t be surprised to see Dunkerton back up into the 16-19 win range next season.
Prognosis for Dunkerton moving forward
Coach Todd Kuntz has done a pretty solid job with this team. They’ve been competitive in losses to Janesville, Don Bosco and Central City, and they may even pick off a good team come postseason play. They won’t be making any sort of deep run in February, they’re just too young and inexperienced for that this year. But they have the building blocks to start building something special again, using the rest of this season as a springboard into next year.
Prognosis for Central City moving forward
The Wildcats are an interesting team to watch come postseason play. With Reid in tow, and capable of scoring 50 on any given night, they’ll be dangerous, especially if they aren’t in a district with a really strong defensive team that can key in on Reid. The question for them will be whether guys like Ethan Tye, Patrick Wade, Trey Orcutt, David Warrington and Keegan Kula can give them enough production alongside Reid to take some of the pressure off of him. Given the right draw, they could make some noise, but this is likely a team that has a ceiling of a district final.