Eastern Pike 57
Western Pike 56 a final
... you knew it's a big game when you look around the gymnasium and there are 2 livestream entities - SOSA, Litter Media set up for broadcast ... a couple of radio stations in the house for the game , and pfloyd in the cheap seats! ... great high school atmosphere, a packed house in WestLA ... I was talking to Western SD Superintendent Mr. Brock Brewster prior to the game, he said that last night was the largest crowd they have ever had for a Tuesday night game ... great matchup, Military Appreciation Night - it's what high school hoops is all about - schools in competition supporting each other, each others' community ... and THEN there was the GAME! ... on paper it looked like a great matchup, sometimes when it looks good on paper you get the opposite on the floor - a blowout by one side or the other ...last night the game on the court lived up to the game we expected from the matchups on paper - outstanding ... HOWEVER! both teams decided to make life tougher on pfloyd ... with military night as the theme of the evening, both teams wore the ARMY basketball uniforms ... which would have ALL of the players wearing a different number than their usual numbers (which were already on the pfloyd napkin stat sheets - so much for being prepared LOL) Kam Janes for Western instead of being the usual #13 was #0 ... DeClan Davis for Eastern instead of being #32 was #0 ... ( the only players where the numbers corresponded were Tucker Leist for Eastern & Drew Haggy for Western) ... the change in uniform numbers didn't change the quality of play by the players in the uniforms - outstanding by both teams ... Eastern 57 Western 56 a final ...
... The Eastern Eagles of Coach Leist came into the SOC II contest at 12-2/ 4-1 in conference play ... having already beaten Western 8-4/1-2 in conference play 64-62 at the Nest in Beaver ... Eastern with a win would keep pace with Symmes Valley at the top of the SOC II, while Western needed a win to stay in the race sitting in 5th place with a 1-2 league mark entering the home matchup in WestLA ...
... the opening quarter was back an forth as both teams got TEAM involved - for Coach Williams' Indians 4 of 5 starters found the bottom of the net, led by 5-11 sr. scoring guard Drew Haggy's 3 ball to open the WHS scoring on the night (3pts) to go with a transition bucket off of an Eagle turnover 2pts ... Western forced 6 first quarter miscues by the Eagles while the Indians turned around and handed the ball back 5 times in the period ... 5-10 freshman stand out for WHS, Landan Owens drained a trey (3pts) to go with Kam Janes 2pts on a drive finishing with a lefthanded shot at the rim 2pts ... 6-0 sr. Alex Siliven scored from down on the blocks 2pts ... with a lot of defensive attention paid to the perimeter players for Eastern (Tucker Leist/Boston Webb/DeClan Davis) the Eastern 6-1 soph. big man in the middle, Cade Leist, scored 2 fgs down low on the blocks 4pts ... Tucker Leist, 6-1 sr. drew attention coming off of his 7 three point fg's made shooting vs Symmes Valley in the opening 2 quarters of that 64-45 EHS win last Saturday ... the Indians kept him in the ballpark with 0 threes but the senior guard dented the napkin stat sheet for 4 pts on a transition strip & score to go with a midrange jumper ... when the smoke cleared in the opening quarter, this one was all even ... Western 12 Easter 12 after 1 ... when you look at the rosters for both teams, in any big game teams -and rightly so - turn to their "players" to step up and lead, defenses know the "who's" and look to take away those "players" as much as possible, force everyone else to step-up ... in the 2nd, both teams did outstanding defensive jobs on key players for Western Drew Haggy was shutdown on the scoreboard, for Eastern Tucker Leist - shutdown, as neither player scored ... Eastern's Cade Leist continued to contribute in the paint as the 6-1 soph. playing the high post dropped down to the blocks to score twice at the rim 4pts/8 in the half ... Boston Webb, Mr. consistent, added 2 more fgs to his night's total 4pts in the period/8 in the opening 2 qtrs ... with Tucker Leist being held in check, 5-11 sr. forward DeClan Davis took up the slack as he used his quickness to get to the rim for 4pts ... for the TRIBE of Western, the other half of the duo of Haggy & Janes, Kam Janes, the lefthanded 6-1 sr. had a stick back bucket for 2pts and took an Eagles turnover coast to coast for 2pts/ 7pts in the half ... Landen Owens added 2 pts in the paint to go with 2/2 from the FT line ... Alex Siliven with a transition bucket & 1 / 3pts ... neither team took control, as this one remained as it started - tied ... Eastern 24 Western 24 at intermission ... halftime adjustments , important in any game, in a closer than close game even more so ... the opening minutes coming out of the locker room after looking at the numbers, looking at the matchups that can be exploited are key in any effort to get an advantage ... the 3rd quarter of action saw the Eagles put the ball in the hands of their seniors - Tucker Leist and DeClan Davis ... the duo accounted for 14 of the Eagles 18 points in the frame , outside of an early in the quarter trey by Boston Webb from the left corner, this one was all "put it in our seniors' hands" - Davis may be one of the quickest guards in all of SEOhio, the 5-11 guard/forward was outstanding in the 3rd getting into the paint & finishing - a drive baseline with a reverse layup 2pts/ score on the blocks 2pts/ a spinning drive & finish at the rim 2pts in transition to go with a strip/steal & score for 2pts ... 8 pts in the quarter by D Davis ... Leist showed his ability to score at all levels ... hitting a midrange jumper from the elbow 2pts/ scoring in transition at the rim 2pts before beating his defender off the dribble 2pts ... the only thing missing thru 3 periods for T Leist was a shot made from behind the arc ( see what I did there - foreshadowing) ... the Indians' "ain't" slouches ... as their own senior duo of Haggy & Janes took on the challenge being set down by Davis & Leist ... in talking with Eastern's Coach Leist before the game - we discussed defending against teams with scorers such as Haggy & Janes who have the potential to put up 30 points each on any given night ... Janes in the 3rd went 3/4 from the charity stripe, knocked down a deep 3 pointer and picked up 2 pts on a drive & finish at the rim ... Haggy attacked the rim, he too added 3/4 from the FT line to go with a shot at the rim 2pts/5 pts in the quarter ... Owens added 2/2 from the line for the Indians ... as the smoke cleared with 3 quarters in the books Eastern 42 Western 39 after three ... it FELT like the Eagles had the upperhand - it FELT like offensively EHS was getting & finishing shots while Western while still very much "in the game" wasn't getting the shots to fall but was getting to the line ( WHS thru 3 qtrs was 12/15 from the line while EHS was at the foul line for 2 FTs converting on 1 of 2) ... Western won the scoring in the 4th period 17-15 ... the Indians hang their hat on tough, man to man, pressure on the ball defense ... scoring in transition and making the opposition pay after their own score on the fast break ... Western got back in the game getting contributions from the masses Alex Siliven with a big putback bucket, jr. 6-1 Foster Davis with 2 pts in transition & and a deep trey (5pts) ... Landan Owens the freshman stepped up with 2pts at the rim in transition ... Haggy added a steal and coast to coast 2pts to go with a finish at the rim drive & score ... for Eastern, when the going gets "tight" you circle the wagons, put the ball in the hands of your "guys" - Aiden Werner with a drive and score at the rim (2pts), Tucker Leist had been kept in the "ballpark" for 3 quarters drained a trey - 3pts , then followed it up with a putback bucket for 2pts , Boston Webb came up big down the stretch with 2 pts off of a Western turnover ... he followed that up with a corner 3 ball (5pts in the qtr) ... Eastern with 2:45 to play led 54-52 ... under a minute to play, the 54-52 Eagles lead stood up ...Western's Kam Janes with a transition 2 pter on a slashing drive to the rim from the left side 2pts & one gave the Indians the lead 55-54 ... Janes attacked the rim for Western - foul on Eastern put Janes on the line for 2 FTs ... make on the first - timeout Eastern ... miss on the 2nd ... :38.1 on the clock 56-54 Western ... you can only do so much when trying to keep a scorer down ... thru 3 qtrs Tucker Leist had 0 scores from beyond the arc ... he opened the scoring in the 4th with his first 3 pointer of the game ... with 16 seconds & change on the clock the senior shooting guard was open at the "volleyball line" straight off the top of the key ... 3 pointer - good ... Eastern 57-56 ... timeout Western just past half court ... 13.8 on the clock ... lots of time to get a look, attack the rim, get fouled - lots of scenarios ... Coach Leist for Eastern came up to the Cheap Seats before the JV game , we talked about - wait for it - last nights' game, the game vs Symmes Valley , his philosophy in defending scorers, we talked basketball ... Coach Leist talked about teaching his players to "shrink" the floor on scorers ... take away their options ... with 13.8 seconds to play , Western inbounded the ball ... with each successive pass made the ball went from a "scoring position" on the floor near the FT line to being further and further out on the floor - away from the bucket (shrinking the floor) , and each time it went further away from anyone named Janes or Haggy ... Timeout Western 1.4 on the clock ... inbounds pass going away from the basket, a pass into the paint that was intercepted ... game Eagles ... Eastern 57 Western 56 a final ...
Pfloyd's official "UN-official" Napkin Stats - Western Pike
Scoring ... Kam Janes 19, Drew Haggy 14, Landan Owens 11, Alex Siliven 7, Foster Davis 5
3 Pointers ... 4/22 … Kam Janes 1, Drew Haggy 1, Landan Owens 1, Foster Davis 1
FTs ... 14/18
TOs ... 17
PnP ... 15 fgs/ 30 points in the paint
PnT ... 7 fgs/ 14 points in transition
Pbk ... 2 fgs/ 4 points on putback buckets
Pfloyd's official "UN-official" Napkin Stats - Eastern Pike
Scoring ... Tucker Leist 18, Boston Webb 16, DeClan Davis 12, Cade Leist 8, Aiden Werner 2, Dalton Southworth 1
3 Pointers ... 4/17 ... Tucker Leist 2, Boston Webb 2
FTs ... 1/2
TOs ... 18
PnP ... 19 fgs/ 38 points in the paint
PnT ... 6 fgs/12 points in transition
Pbk ... 2 fgs/4 points on putback buckets
Eastern Pike 57 WestLA 56 a final
Eastern Pike 57 WestLA 56 a final
Last edited by pfloyd on Thu Jan 30, 2025 12:05 am, edited 2 times in total.
Re: Eastern Pike 57 WestLA 56 a final
Great writeup! And I think there may have been 3 options for streaming. Total Media Sports was there with their radio broadcast, but they also livestream on youtube. It was an exciting game to witness.
Re: Eastern Pike 57 WestLA 56 a final
... you're right GoIrish, I forgot that Eastern Pike also did a livestream of the game to go with LitterMedia and SOSA ... the SOSA crew had to sit court side, vs "up in the booth" - I have no idea how all of those folks fit in the booth just above me where I sat last night LOL - might have been the best thing to be late to the party and down on the floor as SOSA ended up being ... I haven't watched the livestreams yet since I was there with eyes on but I'm sure SOSA handled the floor level situation just fine - very professional group from SOSA ... they do a great job on all of their game calls ...GoIrish wrote: Wed Jan 29, 2025 4:49 pm Great writeup! And I think there may have been 3 options for streaming. Total Media Sports was there with their radio broadcast, but they also livestream on youtube. It was an exciting game to witness.
Re: Eastern Pike 57 WestLA 56 a final
Appreciate the love @pfloydpfloyd wrote: Wed Jan 29, 2025 10:03 pm... you're right GoIrish, I forgot that Eastern Pike also did a livestream of the game to go with LitterMedia and SOSA ... the SOSA crew had to sit court side, vs "up in the booth" - I have no idea how all of those folks fit in the booth just above me where I sat last night LOL - might have been the best thing to be late to the party and down on the floor as SOSA ended up being ... I haven't watched the livestreams yet since I was there with eyes on but I'm sure SOSA handled the floor level situation just fine - very professional group from SOSA ... they do a great job on all of their game calls ...GoIrish wrote: Wed Jan 29, 2025 4:49 pm Great writeup! And I think there may have been 3 options for streaming. Total Media Sports was there with their radio broadcast, but they also livestream on youtube. It was an exciting game to witness.
Re: Eastern Pike 57 WestLA 56 a final
SOSA is absolutely a class act. I enjoy listening to their livestreams. They called a great game the other night.
Re: Eastern Pike 57 WestLA 56 a final
SOSA calls a great game and has some of the best camera work you'll find