Chicago Hoops: Weekend Rewind

Jalen Brunson 6’1”, 2015 PG, Stevenson

On Friday night, sophomore Jalen Brunson led his Stevenson squad to a victory over conference foe Lake Forest with 23 points and 6 rebounds. Brunson, a 6’1 point guard also happens to be the son of former NBA journeyman Rick Brunson and is currently one of the fastest rising sophomores in the state of Illinois.

Brunson didn’t waste any time getting into the scoring column on Friday night and scored in a variety of ways all game long:

·         7 foot jump shot (Q1)

·         17 foot pull-up jump shot (Q1)

·         Lay-up after perfectly executed backdoor cut (Q1)

·         Contested lay-up (Q2)

·         3-5 from the free throw line (Q2)

·         17 foot pull-up jump shot (Q3)

·         Fast break dunk (Q3)

·         7 foot jump shot (Q4)

·         5 foot jump shot (Q4)

·         12 foot jump shot (Q4)

·         5 foot jump shot (Q4)

Go to move:

As noted above, Brunson hit two 17 foot pull-up jumpers. In both situations, Brunson dribbled with his left hand and froze his defender with a shoulder fake like he was going to drive to the basket and then elevated for an open shot. The shoulder fake put the defender off balance and allowed Brunson an open look both times. 

Overall:

Brunson was extremely efficient throughout the game and showed off a nice lefty jump shot along with a devastating left to right cross over. Brunson displayed solid ball handling skills and while he might not win a full court sprint, he is extremely quick getting from point A to point B. Brunson currently holds scholarship offers from Illinois, Purdue, Xavier, Depaul, and SMU with more offers to come in the future. With a win over Lake Forest, Brunson served notice that he is more than deserving of all the recent hype that has come his way.

Chicago Public League Quarterfinals:

Orr 49 Farragut 42 – Marlon Jones led the way with 13 points and 9 rebounds as Orr pulled away at the end of the 3^rd quarter.

Morgan Park 60 Curie 58 – Star junior big man Cliff Alexander was held to three field goals against Morgan Park and was largely ignored on the offensive end. Seniors Billy Garrett Jr. (Depaul) and Kyle Davis (Dayton) led the way for Morgan Park in a very balanced showing.

Whitney Young 72 Foreman 41 – Whitney Young jumped out to a quick 16-5 lead and dominated throughout. Junior Paul White was the high scorer for Whitney Young with 21 while Jahlil Okafor chipped in with 15 points, and Miles Reynolds added 16 in front of the LSU coaching staff. 

Simeon 59 Bogan 49 – Simeon controlled the 2^nd half after an eight point halftime lead. Senior Jabari Parker had 13 points and 14 rebounds while Kendall Pollard had 14 points and put the clamps on Bogan’s sophomore guard Luwane Pipkins. 

The semi-finals are set for Wednesday and feature a pair of re-matches from regular season match-ups along with 4 of the top teams in the state of Illinois. Simeon will face off against Morgan Park and Whitney Young goes up against Orr. Simeon beat Morgan Park in January 53-51 in a closely contested game while Orr upset Whitney Young 50-47 in February.