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| Ohio Select vs Southern Stampede |
NYBL’s
session two tipped off in North Augusta, SC on Friday night with 4 teams seeing
action. Game one featured a North vs South division match-up between Florida’s Each 1 Teach 1 (E1T1) and the South Carolina Hornets. To be honest, there
really was no compelling storylines in this one, as the Hornets took an early 1st
quarter lead and never trailed in the game. E1T1 did cut the lead to 11-12
early in the first quarter, and was only down 11-14 to end the first
period. However, with 2:41 remaining in
the 3rd period, the lead had ballooned to 40-24 in favor of the
Hornets. By the time the horn sounded on the game, South Carolina was sitting
at 1-0 to start the session with 55-35 opening victory. Juwan Gary (5’11 C
Columbia) dropped an impressive 21 points in the win, followed by J.R. Edmonds
with 18 and Naseem Khlid who added 9 points. Hunter Cattoor was the high man
for E1T1 with 10 points, followed by Taybion Singleton who had 9.
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| Juwan Gary Paced the Hornets |
In
the other game of the night, Ohio Select squared off against Southern Stampede.
Unlike the above game, there was a little more drama in this one. With that
said, the game was a little sloppy early, as both teams attempted to get into the
flow of the game. Southern Stampede was the first to get on the board with a
free throw, but Jeremiah Francis’ trey but Ohio Select in front 3-1. Although Ohio is more accustomed to blowing a
team out within the first few minutes of the game, this game was actually knotted
at 7-7 with 1:29 left in the first quarter. Ohio Select would later go on an 8-0-
run to retake the lead and finish the quarter up 15-7. Ohio Select scored twice
to open the second quarter and extend the lead to 19-7. By half time, it
appeared that Ohio had already claimed yet another victim, as they were up a
comfortable 33-18. Pickerington’s Jeremiah Francis was the spark early,
finishing with 12 halftime points. Kyle Sturdivant (5’11 WF) had 8 points at
the half. Ohio Select began the second half the way they stared the game with
an early score on a Jeremiah Francis layup (35-18). From there, Ohio would maintain a comfortable
lead and would head into the final period up 43-31. Although the Stampede would
later cut the lead to 7 points after Coach DeMarco Bradley picked up 2 techs
and was ejected from the game, Ohio Select would fight back the run to get the
56-48 win over their South Division opponent. Francis had a monster game and
led all scorers with 22 points. Chris’Seon Stringer backed him up with 12
points. Gahanna’s Jordan Mitchell finished with 10 points. Sturdivant would go
on to finish with 14 points, and Anthony Edwards finished with 10 points.
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| Jermiah Francis hit Stampede with 22 big ones |
For
a little insight into the game, I contacted Dana Watkins, head coach of the
Southern Stampede to get his thoughts on the game. “It was the tale of two
halves; the first half we had issues with their [Ohio Select] pressure, and they
beat us on the boards,” said Watkins. “Second chance points just killed us.
They had 16 second chance points in the first half,’ continued Watkins. It wasn't just about rebounds and pressure, as Ohio Select is deep! “What separates them
from other teams is they don’t have to depend on 1 or 2 players,” continued
Coach Watkins. Although Watkins has respect for Ohio, he does not feel they are
invincible. “They are beatable. They are going to come out of this weekend with
at least one “L” [loss]; that’s my prediction,” stated Watkins.
