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KJ Windham’s Indy-Ben Davis in state quarterfinals

NUCat320

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Dec 4, 2005
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They call it ‘semi-state’ in Indiana, it appears. Ben Davis plays Center Grove at 10 am on Saturday. If they win, they’ll play the winner of Jeffersonville-Lawrence North at 8.



Four state championship games will be played Saturday, 3/30 in Indy. Title games are delayed one week due to the NCAA Tournament.

Also, it’s KJ Windham’s birthday.
 
They call it ‘semi-state’ in Indiana, it appears. Ben Davis plays Center Grove at 10 am on Saturday. If they win, they’ll play the winner of Jeffersonville-Lawrence North at 8.



Four state championship games will be played Saturday, 3/30 in Indy. Title games are delayed one week due to the NCAA Tournament.

Also, it’s KJ Windham’s birthday.
ha yeah it's a bit wild to have HS kids play two games in 1 day, and then have 2 weeks off until the final. shouldn't they at least do the 2nd of the Saturday games on Sunday or something?
 
Ben Davis with a blowout win this morning, 75-49.

They’ll play Jeffersonville, who came from behind to upset Lawrence North, 62-60.

Jeffersonville is now 20-7. Ben Davis is now 22-5.
 
I saw both games. Ben Davies played a bigger but slower team. It played really, really well. The score does not reflect the quality difference, it reflects how well BD played. KJ did not play particularly well himself. He was 2/7 or so. Had an air ball, got childishly blocked once. Kid can be good but set aside your expectations he will contribute right away. They rarely do anyway.

Second game was fantastic. Jeffersonville came from down 9 after 3 to winning it by 2. Tough fast physical game in front of very loud Jeff fans. The better team lost in my opinion.

Advantage in tonight’s semi state game should be for Ben Davis who rested their starter for 1 full quarter.
 
The final game was a doozy. Ben Davis played poorly, sometimes comically bad. With a bit over 4 minutes left in the first quarter, BD calls timeout down 3-0. The Jeffersonville coach, having conceded no points, switched from man to man to a match-up zone. Probably to protect his more tired team. BD never looked fluid against the zone.

The best team all night was Jeffersonville. From 1 down at the half they were constantly up 3-6 points. Though BD was quicker, more athletic, more talented I believe, Jeffersonville was just smarter. Even if their big, who had scored half their points earlier in the day, never got into a rhythm and even had foul trouble, they were just better.

That is until the BD coach finally decided to press full court with under 3 minutes to play. I was puzzled he had not done it earlier, try to get the defense to create some offense when you can't throw a rock in the ocean. Jeffersonville collapsed and made multiple mistakes even as BD missed FT and layups.

With 10 seconds to go, tied game, KJ stole the ball and was fouled on a layup with 7 seconds to go. He hit the second and they won by 1. He had been guarding the weakest of all the opposing players all night, clearly being the guy to float and threat double-teaming to stop the other team's big fella. He was rarely guarding the dribble. But at the end he was.

KJ did not have a great game but was better than the morning. I think he scored 10 or 12, missed more than he made.
 
The final game was a doozy. Ben Davis played poorly, sometimes comically bad. With a bit over 4 minutes left in the first quarter, BD calls timeout down 3-0. The Jeffersonville coach, having conceded no points, switched from man to man to a match-up zone. Probably to protect his more tired team. BD never looked fluid against the zone.

The best team all night was Jeffersonville. From 1 down at the half they were constantly up 3-6 points. Though BD was quicker, more athletic, more talented I believe, Jeffersonville was just smarter. Even if their big, who had scored half their points earlier in the day, never got into a rhythm and even had foul trouble, they were just better.

That is until the BD coach finally decided to press full court with under 3 minutes to play. I was puzzled he had not done it earlier, try to get the defense to create some offense when you can't throw a rock in the ocean. Jeffersonville collapsed and made multiple mistakes even as BD missed FT and layups.

With 10 seconds to go, tied game, KJ stole the ball and was fouled on a layup with 7 seconds to go. He hit the second and they won by 1. He had been guarding the weakest of all the opposing players all night, clearly being the guy to float and threat double-teaming to stop the other team's big fella. He was rarely guarding the dribble. But at the end he was.

KJ did not have a great game but was better than the morning. I think he scored 10 or 12, missed more than he made.
DID IT TAKE YOU FOUR PARAGRAPHS TO REPORT THAT NU’S RECRUIT GOT A STEAL AND MADE GAME-WINNING FREE THROWS WITH SEVEN SECONDS LEFT!?!?!?!?!?

(oh! Rereading, he made 1 of 2, but that’s cool too.)

Don’t bury the lede!
 
So how does Windham project in college? Is he more of a shooter or driver? It sounds like he’s not a PG but is only 6’2” which is not big as a major college off guard.

I don’t think he’s a big scorer in high school (most game recaps I’ve read have him scoring around 10 points) but haven’t seen him play. Is he not the primary option on offense?
 
So how does Windham project in college? Is he more of a shooter or driver? It sounds like he’s not a PG but is only 6’2” which is not big as a major college off guard.

I don’t think he’s a big scorer in high school (most game recaps I’ve read have him scoring around 10 points) but haven’t seen him play. Is he not the primary option on offense?
Their primary scorer is Mark Zackary, who is a top ten cornerback recruit in next year’s class.
 
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Mark Zackery is the PG and has elite athleticism. But I’m not sure you can point to a first option, team is pretty balanced.

KJ is listed at 6'4 and does not play PG

Negatives
-Slow first step
-Plays a lot at the same speed
-Not aggressive on penetrations
-Low release point on his shot
-Not aggressive to pull up off dribble
-Not particularly aggressive on defense

Positives
-Good leaping ability
-Strong body
-Quick release
-Really good accuracy if well set to shoot
-Plays a very mature game, smart decisions

I'd guess he's 3 years from making an impact but can turn into a Berry type of contributor.
 
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Zackery is all-world in football. Has an offer from NU. If KJ is truly 6-4 that is more in keeping with Collin's approach.
 
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