By NICK SLOAN, NJSloan212@gmail.com
I was manning the camera for tonight's KCK Preps online video stream, so I did not take any notes about the game or keep stats, meaning this will not be the typical pyramid-form story you read.
If you're a fan of cookie-cutter journalism, this post is probably not for you.
First, a brief recap of the game:
Schlagle absolutely jumped all over Wyandotte 23-5 in the first eight or 10 minutes of the game. Wyandotte then went on an 18-6 run to cut the lead down to six. It was the closest they got. Most of the second half, Schlagle was up double figures. Wyandotte kept fighting, but they could not get the game under two possessions.
Now, the analysis:
1. The first quarter is why Wyandotte's been a frustrating team to watch. They played well in stretches in the second and third quarters. But that opening quarter buried them. It seems like there's always that one run against Wyandotte that sinks them and ends them. De Soto had a major run in the third quarter. Blue Valley had a great run in the second quarter. Schlagle had a 23-5 run against Wyandotte to open the game. Needless to say, falling down 18 points is not ideal.
2. Schlagle cut down the selfishness quite a bit. Houston Shackelford, DeVante Clark and other guards did a good job of passing the ball. There were not a ton of bad shots, though I'm sure Schlagle head coach David Johnson will disagree with me. Schlagle played much better as a team in this game. The extra pass was made quite a bit by the Stallions. Kudos to them.
3. Both teams need to work on their passing. There were numerous passes that had no zip on them. You can get away with that in the high school level - especially in a league that emphasizes offense first - but junior college guards would take those passes and go down and flush it. I'm not just talking about the difficult passes. I'm talking about the passes that should be routine.
4. Wyandotte's Shaquille Smith played his best game of the season. I don't care what the stats say. I don't care if he scored more points in this game or that game. But Smith had a good game and played aggressively on offense. I'm very proud of him. He had two monster dunks in the game, displayed some nice post moves and did a good job of demanding the ball. He looked like a good prospect in this game. If Wyandotte has this Smith the rest of the season, they have a shot against most of the teams on their schedule.
5. LaRay Young is so dangerous - the stats don't tell the story. He can hit jump shots and each time I cover a game of his, he wows me. He hit a critical three-pointer that helped Schlagle maintain distance in terms of the score.
6. Third quarter turnovers doomed Wyandotte. There was a stretch in the third quarter where Schlagle built the lead back up into the high-teens. That lead was established due to turnovers. Turnovers also took momentum away from Wyandotte during their runs. The score of this game is much closer if Wyandotte takes care of the ball in the second half.
7. Adrian Goodlow has put himself back on the radar for first team consideration. After a slow December and eary January for Goodlow, he's came back for the Bulldogs the past two weeks. I don't have a point total for Goodlow, but I'd guess he had to score at least 25 in that game. He missed shots, but he was strong in the game. He took it to the hole, he hit a few pull-up jumpers. Foul-trouble killed him, particularly a controversial third foul that came on a charge.
8. Houston Shackelford in particular played unselfishly for the Stallions. Shackelford made some great passes in the game and he helped the Stallions offense absolutely rip apart Wyandotte inside. Speaking of which....
9. Another difference in the game was the lack of interior defense from Wyandotte. It seemed like Schlagle took what they wanted and they continously raided and pillaged Wyandotte's interior defensive set. Jameon Cal feasted on it. LaRay Young scored some baskets inside. DeVante Clark did well against it. Really, Schlagle wasted time with any outside shot they took. As good as I thought Wyandotte did offensively at times inside, that's how bad they were on defense.
Final takeaways for both teams:
-Schagle looked impressive at times on offense, but feel asleep in stretches too. Again, I'm not sure why the Stallions took any jump shots to be honest. Whenever they went aside, they got a foul at worst. The 23-5 stretch they had reminded me why I expected good things from this team this season. They played as a team and it showed on the scoreboard. Schlagle got better tonight, even if it was against a 2-11 team.
-Wyandotte displayed why I've been both negative and positive about them. Wyandotte was the better team in the second and fourth quarters. They fought back. They never quit. They showed fight. They could have been ran out of the gym by 30 or 40. They didn't let that happen. So credit to them on that. But that first quarter is why they are now a 2-12 team rather than a team hovering around .500. You don't win games that often when you bury yourselves in the opening six minutes.
