Bishop Montgomery (CA) Bounces Back After Chino Hills Loss

Bishop Montgomery bounced back in a strong way on Tuesday night after suffering their first loss of the season on Saturday to Chino Hills (CA), the No. 1 team in the country. The Knights were led by their talented trio of under-classmen in junior guard Ethan Thompson, junior guard Jordan Schakel, and sophomore guard David Singleton, as they took down St. Bernard 77-60 in a home match-up.

6’5” four-star guard Ethan Thompson scored 15 points on a mixture of outside shots and drives to the basket off the dribble. Thompson, the younger brother of Oregon State sophomore guard Stephen Thompson Jr., scored 13 of his points in the first half and finished 4-8 from the field. Throughout the game, Bishop Montgomery used Thompson on all parts of the court. He brought the ball up the court and initiated offense at times and also tried to utilize his height advantage in the post. Playing calm and collected, Thompson found the open manner when faced with a double and attacked the basket off the bounce usually utilizing a right to left spin move. On his outside shots, Thompson hit both three’s from the left wing, with the first one coming at the first quarter buzzer resulting in an and-one. The only three he missed was from NBA distance and even that one went in and out. Thompson is currently receiving a bevy of PAC-12 interest from schools such as Oregon State, Cal, Stanford, and UCLA.

Sophomore guard David Singleton was the team high scorer finishing with 22 points. As the quickest player on the court, Singleton used his quickness to get a step on his defender and finished with soft shots in the paint. The sophomore guard also knew how to free himself for an outside shot. Given an inch of space, Singleton wouldn’t hesitate to let a three fly using his lightning quick release. While his style is a bit unorthodox as he shoots from just above his right shoulder, the result is usually the same. He hit two three-pointers on the game with both finding the bottom of the net without touching any part of the rim. In the second half, Singleton went to the line eight times and went a perfect 8-8. Once again, the shots did not touch any part of the rim.

Q: What was the team’s mentality after the loss to Chino Hills?

A: We weren’t discouraged at all. We were actually encouraged and fired up. It was more of a wake-up call for us as we were so we were getting so used to winning and starting to get kind of complacent. It was a wake-up call to show there is still room for improvement.

Q: How did you try to attack St. Bernard?

A: From the beginning we were just trying to take advantage of our size. Get post touches, look for easy cutters, and lay-ups.

Q: On your free throws and outside shots, none of your makes ever touched the rim. What do you focus on when working on your shot?

A: Just repetition. I focus on my form in great detail, because that’s all that matters is detail. Right now, shooting and attacking the basket are my strengths and I’m trying to work on everything.

Q: Recruiting is in the early stages for you, but who are some of the schools showing interest and what is their pitch?

A: Lately I’ve been to UCLA and USC games so far. UCLA is coming out with a new gym (Mo Ostin Basketball Center) and also getting to play with the Ball brothers is their pitch. USC is playing in their new gym. The schedule is going to be getting competitive as well. 

PAC-12 Awards: Halfway Point

Surprises are a plenty at the halfway mark of the PAC-12 regular season. Nine game down. Nine more to go. The Oregon Ducks currently sit in first place at 7-2 while four teams sit just one game back including USC and Washington, who were both picked to finish near the bottom of the conference. The road trips have been dangerous so far with just two road teams (Utah and Oregon) sweeping any of their road trips. Utah is coming on strong winning five in a row while pre-season Arizona has been plagued by injuries and a few close calls. The league currently has a plethora of talented players with only five being able to be named to the all-conference team. Who has a leg-up with nine games left?

Player Of The Year:

Andrew Andrews, G, Washington: 22.7 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 5.7 apg

The Huskies were coming off a disastrous 5-13 conference record last year and not a lot was expected out of one of the youngest teams in the country which starts four freshmen. Andrew Andrews put together a strong junior season averaging 16.6 ppg in conference play, but hit the ground running helping Washington win the first three games of conference play as he scored 35 points in a win against UCLA and then went for 29 points, 10 rebounds, and seven assists in a road win at Washington State. Andrews has topped the 30-point mark in 33% of his conference games and has easily put together one of the more impressive stat lines as the Huskies have returned to an up-tempo style of play. The senior guard struggled in his last trip to Southern California shooting just 6-24 from the field and will need to return to his stellar ways as a few other opponents are nipping at his heels.    

 1^st Team All-Conference:

Dillon Brooks, F, Oregon: 17.2 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 3.2 apg

Last year the surprising Ducks were led by Joe Young who was sensational in conference play. Dillon Brooks impressed in his first year although he experienced the traditional ups and downs one might expect from a freshman. This year, Brooks has taken over the reigns and is the leading scorer for the top team in the league. He’s scored in double-figures in 8 out of 9 games and is averaging over 22 points over the last three games which included a road sweep of Arizona and Arizona State. If Brooks can continue his sophomore leap the rest of the way, he could easily make it back to back player of the year awards for the Ducks.

Jakob Poetl, C, Utah: 16.7 ppg, 7.7 rpg, 2.2 apg

Utah is the hottest team in the conference winning their last five games and a big reason why is that Poetl has been living up to his billing as a potential lottery pick. In conference play, the sophomore center is shooting 54% from the field, but over the last five games he is approaching 61% and has scored 20 or more in the last three. Last year Poetl struggled at times in conference play and only broke double figures four times, but this year with some added strength he has turned into a dominant player down low.

Gary Payton II, G, Oregon St.: 15.7 ppg, 7.9 rpg, 6.0 apg

Gary Payton II was challenging for POY status before an off week in Arizona. For the year, Payton II has put up some monstrous numbers including a 22 point, 15 rebound, eight assist effort against USC and a 26 point, 15 rebound game against Colorado. He is currently leading the conference in assists and is also second in steals. The 6’3” guard came down to earth last weekend as he scored just two points in a loss to Arizona State and then struggled a few days later against Arizona.

Josh Scott, F, Colorado: 15.9 ppg, 9.7 rpg, 2.3 apg

It feels like Josh Scott has been around Colorado forever. The Buffs stumbled to a disappointing 7-11 season last year, but behind the play of Scott (and George King), Colorado is sitting pretty at 6-3 following a sweep of Stanford and Cal. Scott has scored in double figures in every game and has also recorded five double-doubles. He was previously named as the conference player of the week as well.

On The Cusp:

-Ryan Anderson, Arizona

-Julian Jacobs, USC

-Chris Boucher, Oregon

-Julian McLaughlin, USC

-Jaylen Brown, Cal

-Josh Hawkinson, WSU

-Isaac Hamilton, UCLA

-Bryce Alford, UCLA

Freshman Of The Year:

Jaylen Brown, F, Cal: 17.7 ppg, 5.6 rpg / Dejounte Murray, G, UW: 16.0 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 4.9 apg

Just like the player of the year race, this race is too close to call. Jaylen Brown was expected to star at Cal and so far he has performed admirably despite defenders playing significantly off his outside shot. He is the most unstoppable player in the country on a fast break and is still managing to shoot 50% from the floor in conference play. Meanwhile, in Seattle, expectations were high for the local star in Murray, but so far he has easily exceeded any and all of them. Murray leads the conference in steals and is also one of the top rebounding guards and assist men. He put on some added strength after high school and the added muscle shows when he attacks the basket. He takes tough shots at times lowering his shooting percentage, but has been one of the many bright spots so far for the Huskies.