LOGANSPORT, Ind. - For the second time of the season, Purdue signees Braden Smith of Westfield and Fletcher Loyer of Homestead squared off. Back in December, Homestead defeated Westfield 58-55 in the FORUM Tip Off Classic at Southport. This time, however, the stakes were much higher.
Throughout the first three quarters of the game, it looked like Homestead would be just fine, as they led 43-34 heading to the fourth after a really tough three by Fletcher Loyer. In the fourth quarter, however, the game turned incredibly physical, and Westfield outscored Homestead 30-11 to pull away late behind some Braden Smith dunks out of the press break to win 64-53.
As far as the Purdue signees go, Loyer led the game in scoring with 27 points. He was forced to be everything on offense for the Spartans, as he had half their points, and took 22 of their 51 shots. Westfield pretty much converged on him every time he looked to penetrate and forced him to take some tough shots. He finished 9-22 from the field (4-9 from three) and a very uncharacteristic 5-8 from the foul line. I believe Loyer only missed one free throw all of last season, or something crazy like that. He had to do it all for Homestead. For three quarters, it was enough, but Westfield's aggressive pressure really forced Homestead into a tough fourth quarter where the game flipped.
Smith didn't have a great shooting day, 5-10 from the field and 1-6 from three, but his impact as a facilitator was on display down the stretch. In addition to his 13 points, he pulled down eight rebounds and dished out six assists, but it felt like more. He did a nice job of driving and kicking it out to open three-point shooters, but the Shamrocks were only 4-21 from deep for the game. His energy was as high as always, and it certainly helped spark the Westfield comeback in the fourth quarter.
In the nightcap, Westfield took on Kokomo, who defeated Snider in a pretty good game in the morning session. The script completely flipped for Westfield in the nightcap: they were in control throughout, leading by eight at halftime and seven after the third, but a late surge from Kokomo earned the Wildkats a spot in the semi-state with a 64-60 win over Westfield.
Flory Bidunga, the sophomore center from Kokomo who is receiving high-major interest, made a huge impact on this game. A lot of Westfield's success in the morning game came around the basket. Bidunga, who is listed at 6-10, took most of that away. The stat sheet only shows three blocks, but his sheer presence altered Westfield's ability to score around the rim. On the other end, Bidunga put up a team-high 21 points, mostly on dunks and alley-oops. Westfield had no answer for a player of his size, and it showed as he pulled down huge offensive rebounds off missed free throws late in the game.
Smith's tough shooting day continued, going 5-13 from the field and 1-5 from three, but his impact as a point guard was huge again. He recorded eight assists in this one, a number that could have grown had more shots fallen. His cross-court pass to an open shooter that could have tied the game in the final seconds was a beauty, but it didn't fall. At one point where it looked like Kokomo was going to close the game out fairly easily, Smith responded with a three, a two and an assist on consecutive possessions to tie the game up. At the end of the day, though, Kokomo's offensive rebounding made the difference and won them the game.
I know the biggest question now is how this impacts the Mr. Basketball race. I thought if Smith could get out of the regional and keep advancing, it would put him in a great position to win it. He still could win it, no doubt, but from some of the high school media folks who pay far more attention than I do, it's far from a unanimous opinion. Smith, Loyer and IU signee CJ Gunn from Lawrence North are all done for the season. We'll see where it goes, but Purdue has a pretty good shot at one of their guys winning Mr. Basketball for the second-straight year, something that hasn't happened since Dennis Brady, Billy Keller and Rick Mount won three straight years.
Thanks for reading - there will be video coming at some point from this, as well.
Throughout the first three quarters of the game, it looked like Homestead would be just fine, as they led 43-34 heading to the fourth after a really tough three by Fletcher Loyer. In the fourth quarter, however, the game turned incredibly physical, and Westfield outscored Homestead 30-11 to pull away late behind some Braden Smith dunks out of the press break to win 64-53.
As far as the Purdue signees go, Loyer led the game in scoring with 27 points. He was forced to be everything on offense for the Spartans, as he had half their points, and took 22 of their 51 shots. Westfield pretty much converged on him every time he looked to penetrate and forced him to take some tough shots. He finished 9-22 from the field (4-9 from three) and a very uncharacteristic 5-8 from the foul line. I believe Loyer only missed one free throw all of last season, or something crazy like that. He had to do it all for Homestead. For three quarters, it was enough, but Westfield's aggressive pressure really forced Homestead into a tough fourth quarter where the game flipped.
Smith didn't have a great shooting day, 5-10 from the field and 1-6 from three, but his impact as a facilitator was on display down the stretch. In addition to his 13 points, he pulled down eight rebounds and dished out six assists, but it felt like more. He did a nice job of driving and kicking it out to open three-point shooters, but the Shamrocks were only 4-21 from deep for the game. His energy was as high as always, and it certainly helped spark the Westfield comeback in the fourth quarter.
In the nightcap, Westfield took on Kokomo, who defeated Snider in a pretty good game in the morning session. The script completely flipped for Westfield in the nightcap: they were in control throughout, leading by eight at halftime and seven after the third, but a late surge from Kokomo earned the Wildkats a spot in the semi-state with a 64-60 win over Westfield.
Flory Bidunga, the sophomore center from Kokomo who is receiving high-major interest, made a huge impact on this game. A lot of Westfield's success in the morning game came around the basket. Bidunga, who is listed at 6-10, took most of that away. The stat sheet only shows three blocks, but his sheer presence altered Westfield's ability to score around the rim. On the other end, Bidunga put up a team-high 21 points, mostly on dunks and alley-oops. Westfield had no answer for a player of his size, and it showed as he pulled down huge offensive rebounds off missed free throws late in the game.
Smith's tough shooting day continued, going 5-13 from the field and 1-5 from three, but his impact as a point guard was huge again. He recorded eight assists in this one, a number that could have grown had more shots fallen. His cross-court pass to an open shooter that could have tied the game in the final seconds was a beauty, but it didn't fall. At one point where it looked like Kokomo was going to close the game out fairly easily, Smith responded with a three, a two and an assist on consecutive possessions to tie the game up. At the end of the day, though, Kokomo's offensive rebounding made the difference and won them the game.
I know the biggest question now is how this impacts the Mr. Basketball race. I thought if Smith could get out of the regional and keep advancing, it would put him in a great position to win it. He still could win it, no doubt, but from some of the high school media folks who pay far more attention than I do, it's far from a unanimous opinion. Smith, Loyer and IU signee CJ Gunn from Lawrence North are all done for the season. We'll see where it goes, but Purdue has a pretty good shot at one of their guys winning Mr. Basketball for the second-straight year, something that hasn't happened since Dennis Brady, Billy Keller and Rick Mount won three straight years.
Thanks for reading - there will be video coming at some point from this, as well.
