INDIANAPOLIS—Castle (just east of Evansville) entered the game with a 5-1 record. Their only defeat was a two-point loss to Evansville Harrison. North Central suffered their second loss of the season to Park Tudor right before Christmas.
Early on it looked like North Central was going to dominate. They were getting easy looks and taking Castle out of their offense. North Central got sloppy with the ball though. They had five straight possessions where they turned the ball over.
Chase Jewell (2013) was the Castle offense in the second quarter. Jewell went 3/3 from the outside in the first half on his way to 12 points. Castle only trailed by 1at the half behind Jewell’s shooting.
That was as close as Castle would get to leading though. North Central opened the second half with a 12-0 run. The Panthers held Castle to just 1 field goal in the 3rd quarter.
Right when it looked like North Central was going to really blow the game open Castle’s Blake Simmons would get them back into the game. Simmons struggled in the first half, but he got going in the fourth. It was a 4-point game with four minutes left in the game, but North Central held on for the 65-53 victory.
North Central—23 10 16 16
Castle—14 18 4 17
North Central-Ronnie Johnson 16, John Murry 14, Perry Poindexter 4, Darius Latham 8, Patrick Ingram 7, Chandler Rowe 6
Castle- Blake Simmons 12, Chase Jewell 16, Kevin Brown 10
Player Evaluations
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Castle
Blake Simmons 6’5” SF (2013) He struggled against the speed and quickness of North Central. He has skill and he moves well without the ball. Simmons missed a couple of easy looks around the basket. His athleticism is a big concern. He couldn’t beat Darius Latham or any of the other North Central players off the dribble. His father is of course the head coach of Evansville (Marty Simmons).
Chase Jewell 6’3” SG (2013) First look at Jewell. He looks like a good shooter and pretty skilled, but a below average athlete. He would likely be a good NAIA/D3 prospect.
North Central
John Murry 6’3” SG (2013) His play doesn’t catch your eye, but he is a solid performer. He can do a bit of everything although he doesn’t dominate one area. If he was more explosive, he would be a no brainer for the mid-major level. Right now, he is on the borderline of mid and low. Playing for one of the best teams in the nation and playing great competition throughout his high school career should help his college career though.
Darius Latham 6’5” PF (2013) Dan Dakich recently said that Latham was one of the top players in the state for 2013. That is a big stretch, in my opinion. Yes, he is a big part of a very good team but he is a role player. I like Latham for the low-major level, but at the mid-major level his weaknesses (height and athleticism) would be more noticeable.
Perry Poindexter 6’6” PF (2014) Poindexter is still a work in-progress. He shows flashes, but right now he is mainly a garbage man for this powerful North Central team. His perimeter game will need to continue to improve. He is a great athlete and finishes well around the rim right now. He struggles to defend on the perimeter at this time. {/iACL}