Post#4372 » by Hair Canada » Sat Mar 24, 2018 9:27 pm
Meanwhile, the season is coming to a close in the OSBA (The Ontario high school prep league), which is the best high school league in Canada. Thursday and yesterday they played the elite eight and the final four and today is the championship game. Both the AI teams (AI Prep and Orangeville Prep) did not make it to the finals, which at least in the case of Orangeville was quite surprising.
Orangeville, with Iggy Brazdeikis, Keshaun Saunders, Junior Farquhar, and Shamar Rahtan-Mayes, lost by 20 points to Ridley College, where the Bediako brothers play, in what is probably the upset of the year. Iggy gave one of the worst games that I've seen from him (still ended up with 20 points), but that happens. His teammates though were also really weak and played very deflated basketball. Particularly Keshaun Saunders, who's their second best player and again disappointed me quite a lot. They were also missing Matthew Alexander Moncrieffe, who despite his young age is probably their best defensive player and was injured in the QF.
AI Prep lost to probably the best team in the league -- TRC Academy from Guelph. TRC doesn’t have anyone who has NBA potential (probably not even a leading role in a high-major NCAA potential), but it's a team of really solid high school seniors. This includes the youngest Ejim brother, Dion, who from what I've seen over the years is not as talented as Melvin, but is giving a really good tournament. The other player worth mentioning from this team is Adong Makuoi, a 6'9 long center, who has great defensive skills, mobility, and competitiveness. Not at all a polished offensive player, but someone I'd take to my team in a heartbeat if I was an NCAA coach.
The few other notable players from the games that I've seen:
Clearly, the two best and most promising players in the league are Brezdaikis and Dort. Iggy gave his usual 40 points in the first game but was quite weak in the SF as I said. Dort was clearly the best player in this tournament. In the two games (QF and SF), I think his stats were something like 45 points, 15 rebounds, and about 4-5 steals and blocks. Simply unstoppable at this level. He didn't assist much, but that was not his fault. He just had very little help. Addison Patterson has not been playing most of the season (probably injured), and players like Sam Rautins and Jevonnie Scott were really weak. So Dort just kept AI in games pretty much by himself until the last quarter when he ran out of gas. He has a nice 3-point stroke, although not much elevation on the shot, and he is so strong and athletic that no one can stop him on the way to the basket. At the college level, it's going to be harder, but he'll still be able to get to the basket and draw fouls. Doesn't have too much finesse around the basket and should still improve his handle, but I think he'll be really good at Arizona State in the next few years.
The Bediako Brothers are a real force at this level and were key in the Ridley upset in the SF. Right now, especially the older one – Jaden, who is still heavy, but has good defensive instincts and an imposing body and wingspan. Charles is the better athlete and maybe long-term potential of the two, but still needs a lot of development and strengthening.
Thornlea prep also had two players who stood out. The first is Daniel Sackey, who I think was part of Canada’s junior national team in the last U17 world championship. Only 5’10, but lightning quick and great athlete, who might also be a force in college. The other is Jonathan Kabongo, Myck’s brother, who has a great shooting stroke (shot 8 threes in the QFs), but at this point not much beyond that.
Finally, perhaps the most impressive individual performance (beside Dort) came from a nine grader – Ryan Nembhard (Andrew’s brother) in Vaughn’s tight QF game against AI. Ryan showed great awareness and vision, finishing with 22 points, 13 assists, 8 rebounds, and a couple of steals. I love how he controls the pace of the game and rarely makes bad decisions. A bit similar to SGA in how he plays – not rushed but very mature. Not bad for a 14yo. Still only about 6’0 or 6’1, so hopefully he can still add a couple of inches. From what I hear, next year he’s going to follow his brother’s path and join Montverde, possibly together with Caleb Houstan, who I mentioned before as the most talented player from the 2022 class. If that happens, they’ll be following in the footsteps of RJ and Andrew, which would continue the nice Canadian tradition in what might be the most successful high school basketball program in North America over the last few years.
“If every basketball player worked as hard as I did, I’d be out of a job.”
— Steve Nash
