Sun Valley Spring League Notebook: Thursday May 20

Kennett guard Luke Augustine pulls up for three against Penn Wood.

Week three of the Sun Valley spring league wrapped up on Thursday night with solid team performances on both ends of the floor. Here's a notebook from Thursday night.

Kennett and Penn Wood shoot it out from downtown

Having been a team that has shown improvement in each area on a week to week basis in individual and team areas; Penn Wood's shooting from beyond the arc was the catalyst for a 56-52 win against Kennett. In the last several games, the Patriots have relied on rising senior guard Naeem Purnell and rising junior big man Mehki Shillingsford for their offense. As the Patriots continued to get the ball inside to Shillingsford for post up opportunities early on against man and zone looks, Kennett coach Jacob Gray made the adjustment to blitz the post and the Pats offense began to operate inside out thanks to the shooting of Jalen Mahan who finished with 18 points. Mahan was excellent getting out in front of the ball in transition, ready to shoot on passes coming back out from the post, and hit six treys from the corners to lead the Patriots offense. In an offense that is growing to operate inside out, his role as a corner specialist will have to continue to grow throughout the summer. Shillingsford also finished with double digit rebounds, several assists, and also showed some consistency in changing ends of the floor rather well as he had two chase down blocks and also loaded up into the paint to stop transition offense.

Kennett also matched the Patriots from beyond the arc. The Blue Demons backcourt of Zach Lauer and Luke Augustine combined for 34 of Kennett's 52 points, (Augustine with 20 and Lauer with 14) with most of that 36 coming exclusively from downtown. Both guards are knockdown shooters who have also shown off their range from beyond the arc throughout the spring. What was more impressive to me though, was how they adjusted to playing at Penn Wood's pace and how their increasing intensity on the defensive end led to three kills and eight points off of turnovers in the second half. One could absolutely say this was the most growth we've seen from this group to this point as we head into the summer months.

Lee's late game buckets finish Chichester

For both of these programs, defensive identities have always been a constant regardless of personnel. In what was a gritty defensive battle, Penncrest edged out Chichester 40-39 with a little help from Saahir Lee down the stretch. The Eagles defense ran Lee and the Lions off of the three point line early on, but also struggled on the other end to generate offense in the middle of the first half. The Lions defense stopped the Eagles in transition and shrunk the floor in the half court, killing spacing; something Clyde Jones wants to see his group continue to improve on.

"On the offensive end we just want to see our spacing get better and grow in our continuity." Said Jones. "That's the great thing about a league like this. Our kids just get to compete and we learn so much about ourselves and that builds on our development going into the next league and eventually gives momentum to training camp in a few months."

The Eagles defense kept Saahir Lee quiet for most of the contest. Going into the final five minutes Lee was at seven points. When Chi took the lead with just over two minutes to go, he once again stepped up for the Lions. Having been face guarded and met with traps as he came across half court, Lee scored eight points straight in the final two minutes to keep the Lions ahead, finishing with 16. Isaiah Diggs, a rising senior forward; led Chi with 13 points. Playing almost exclusively inside in this one, Diggs did a solid job of running the floor for layups and was alert on the offensive glass getting three put back opportunities.

Mid-range moves Garnet Valley forward

If you read our previous notebooks until your purple in the face, or you know the local hoops scene, you get the message. Garnet Valley can always shoot the ball. Looking into the deeper context, it's not always who but how they use the jumper to their advantage. In the first game against Marple Newtown, Ryan Wootten led the Jags with 17 points, nine of them coming from three to defeat the Tigers 66-49. Normally a sound glue guy and a streaky shooter, Wootten's touch from downtown and from mid range in the first game set the tone for the Jaguars offense. Jordan Bochanski continued his sharpshooting for Marple, finishing with 16.

In the second game against Sun Valley, the Jaguars jump shooting attack continued but specifically, the mid range jump shot was hard for the Vanguards to stop. Wootten, Max Koehler, and Logan McKee all utilized the one and two dribble pull ups at some point to generate offense for the Jags who won the second game 51-39. This game in particular was a strong showing for McKee who at 6"3 showed some good characteristics of a prototypical stretch 4 (in the context of the high school level, obviously a 6"3 guy is not a four at the higher levels). McKee finished this one with 12 points, finishing around the basket, and operating well in the mid post with a face up jumper; and making the Vanguard defense collapse at a higher point, forcing longer stunts on kick outs to the opposite corner . In an era where more and more bigs and stretch players are starting to operate from the mid post and elbows; McKee's performance was refreshing, as at this level and in this area we don't often see guys that can play that well from those spots. On the defensive end, McKee cleaned the glass well with close to double digit rebounds.

Sun Valley struggled to score the ball In the first half and at times their movement on offense was a little too stagnant. In the second half however, the Vanguards defensive intensity brought them back into the game as they turned defense into offense on several occasions. Forward Buck Grayson led Sun Valley with 12 points, eight of those 12 coming off of run outs. Todd Mattison provided good on ball pressure getting some deflections and forcing some steals which converted to points on the other end.