Feels great to talk about high school hoops in November again. The 2021-22 season is a go!
Although games that count on the record start to trickle in during Thanksgiving week, I always call this, the 2nd week of the season, scrimmage season. Day 1 of scrimmage season tipped off Monday with a light load of gatherings. The one I was able to stop at featured two Section 2 teams not used to bumping into each other, as Patroon/Class B Catskill made the trip north to compete with Suburban/Class AA Colonie. A few notes & takeaways from opening day in Raider country:
 |
| The versatility shows here, as Gabby Martin takes care of some ballhandling duties for Colonie. The developing 5'10" 2024 will be called upon to do some of everything for the Raiders this year. |
- I frequently see teams with guard depth & limited serviceable size. Teams that have depth at the wing/forward spots? Not nearly as common of a sight. So it's almost a trip to walk into the Colonie gym & see just how rich they are in ability at those positions. They don't really have true back-to-basket players, but at least five wings/tweeners/forwards in the 5'10"-6'0" range will be impact players or actively in the rotation at minimum. Macie Trimarchi (5'10") just committed to Division II Daemen. Jayla Tyler (5'10") & Gabby Martin (5'10"), a junior & sophomore respectively, will be next up in the scholarship realm. Kassidy Flayter (you guessed it, 5'10") was out for this scrimmage, but she'll also see plenty of action & play a role. All of them are basically 'plug & play' type kids - two-way versatility, play well off the ball & in transition, can score in different ways, defend multiple positions. Many teams I get the chance to see won't have one of them; Colonie has four, which is a tremendous commodity. And then there's also...
- Imani McNeil. If this scrimmage showed anything, it's that she has the potential to carve out a specific role for herself as well. The 6 footer is probably Colonie's closest thing to a back-to-basket forward. I've watched her for 3 years at this point & on plenty of occasions between the HS & AAU circuits, and the last couple times may have been the best. She's a strong & physical presence around the rim with some athleticism, and when she keeps it simple - activity on the glass, wall up at the rim, run the floor hard, catch & finish - she makes positive impact & provides something a little different than anything else on the roster. I thought this was a very good showing for Imani, and if that's a sign of things to come, it's just another feather in the cap for Colonie.
- I enjoy intriguing matchups. Intriguing doesn't always mean "close" - if you totaled the period scores up from this scrimmage, Colonie 'won' by a sizable margin, as they should. Intrigue can come in different forms. Sometimes it's a dynamite matchup of individual talents. Other times, it's something like this scrimmage - exceptionally contrasting styles. Colonie's mantra this year will be balance. Their starting five of Ava Pearson, Bella Franchi, Macie Trimarchi, Jayla Tyler, & Gabby Martin all scored in the first 5-6 minutes of the scrimmage. Then Imani McNeil subbed in & scored not long after. If individual scoring totals were compiled, I'd guess that there was pretty even balance among them. I'd also guess that we'll see plenty of games where they have 3-4 in double digits and another couple in the 7-9 range. Then there's Catskill, who ran the vast majority of their offense through a dynamic individual talent that either scored or was directly involved in the vast majority of their offensive production. For the most part, it was either her scoring in the half-court, scoring in transition, or running offense through her in the half-court out of various spots and allowing her the freedom to create for herself or others. And that individual, no surprise to anyone paying attention to Section 2 hoops in recent years...
 |
| Frame it: picture perfect from Janay Brantley, one of upstate NY's premier players and - perhaps inarguably - its most valuable player to their high school team at Catskill. |
- Janay. Among those that pay attention to Section 2 girls' basketball, I'm pretty sure you can give Catskill standout 2023 Janay Brantley the Pelé/Yao one-name treatment previously reserved for someone like 'Dolly' (former Toga standout/current URI player Dolly Cairns). Colonie didn't throw a box/diamond/triangle on her like she'll probably see most of the season, but they still paid complete attention to where she was at & what she was doing, and she still made play after play that no one else in the gym could make. Even with the perimeter J not falling, she was able to change speeds, make plays off the dribble, and now has the strength to hold her defender off with the hip & off arm when she gets the first step. She finished several times in 'floater range' with either hand & again showcased added strength to finish through contact. When she's locked in on the defensive end, she can make as much of an impact on that end as well. At around 5'11" with great length & athleticism, she can cover a lot of ground, get tips, poke it from ballhandlers, and be an overall nuisance & presence that's always a couple steps away. Janay is the 518's most actively recruited 2023 at the D1 level at this stage, and the eye test quickly shows why.
- This was a difficult first matchup for them simply because of the sheer depth of size & athleticism on Colonie's end, but Catskill has some forwards that started to pick it up as the scrimmage progressed and should have no problem being impact players as they transition into Patroon & eventually Class B play. Hannah Konsul (5'10") and Jayden Lewis (5'8"), both 2022s, are physical presences around the rim that also have the mobility to take opposing bigs to the perimeter and get to the rack with straight line drives. They each had success doing that later in the scrimmage, drawing the ire of the Colonie coaching staff at one point as they got several paint touches in rapid succession. Hannah & Jayden should both be consistent double-double threats for Catskill this winter as they settle into regular season play.
The scrimmage road continues for both over the next week. Colonie tunes up against CCHS Tuesday in a back-to-back scrimmage set before Thanksgiving, then they get one more in with Duanesburg the following Tuesday before starting off regular season play at Oneonta's Drago Tournament. They'll play Horseheads in their true season opener on Fri, 12/3 before battling either Newark Valley or host Oneonta on 12/4. Catskill hits the road twice more for competitive scrimmages, first on Saturday at Amsterdam & then again on Monday, when they go one exit south on I-87 - crossing the line into Section 9 in the process - to meet up with Saugerties. Their regular season schedule starts with the heat, as they cross the bridge next Wednesday (12/1) to play rival Hudson.
Day 1 in the books... see you soon!
 |
| Day 1 vantage point... far from the first time hanging out stage side at Colonie, hopefully far from the last! |
No comments:
Post a Comment