Season in Full Swing

Well it is December and basketball is officially in full swing. I finally made it to my first few high school games this past weekend. I have been preoccupied with my season to make it to many high school events.

I went to the Hinkle Showcase Saturday night. I was in attendance for the Zionsville game against Guerin Catholic and also the Lawrence North/Brebeuf game.

Zionsville returned basically everyone from their 18-3 team last year. Senior Jack Isenbarger led Zionsville to victory 80-70. The 6'3 point guard is as steady as they come. He can get to the rim while also having good range. He is their leader and is rarely out of control.

Chris Welker is a 6'5 senior who is committed to Army. Welker is very polished in the paint with a variety of moves. He has range, but it is usually of the catch and shoot variety...not off the dribble or coming off screens. He is solid and should be a good player for Army.

Guerin Catholic was scrappy and fought Zionsvile down to the end. The Rapp brothers really stood out. Jordan Rapp is a 6'4 lanky senior. He showed a full game from posting up to shooting the 3 to crashing for offensive rebounds. He looks like he could be a solid NAIA player. Riley Rapp is a 6'0 sophomore that can really shoot the ball. He drove only a few times, but it looked like he was quick enough to do it more and a good enough ball handler to do it more. I would like him to become more of a point guard that shoot than a shooter that can handle it if needed.

In the second game, Brebeuf battled Lawrence North for 3 quarters before LN pulled away. Brebeuf was definitely undersized in the match-up but they put a good effort out.

Mike Lenz is a 6'1 sophomore guard for Brebeuf. He really impressed me with his ability to drive and finish in the lane against LN. He is very thin right now and needs to put on some muscle. He showed toughness and good quickness.

Aloyis Gray was out with an injury which was disappointing. I wanted to see what he could do against the talent of LN. Gray is a 6'3 sophomore.

Brad Altum and Alex Kugar both looked like NAIA/D2 prospects. Altum is a 6'3 senior guard that showed a good dribble pull up game. While Kugar is more of an undersized post that battles and competes.

Saying Lawrence North is talented is like saying the sky is blue. The question is if they will play well as a team or play hard enough to win big games.

They have two Louisville commits in 6'5 Ryan Taylor and 6'10 Michael Chandler. Taylor is transitioning from a power forward to a small forward for college and it is still a work in-progress. Chandler runs very well for a guy nearly 7 feet tall. He also has good timing for blocking shots. He has a soft shooting touch although he is on the block most of the time.

Farooq Davis might give LN the needed guard play they need to go along with their talented big men. He showed very good lateral quickness hounding Brebeuf ball handlers all over the floor. He also knocked down a couple 3's and if he can do that all year LN will be really tough.