Bloom-Carroll vs Circleville : 5 Takeaways

Bloom-Carroll vs Circleville : 5 Takeaways On Friday, January 24th, the Bloom-Carroll Bulldogs walked into a rumbling stadium full of fans against their common competitor, Circleville Tigers. Back on the 10th of December, Circleville was victorious over Bloom-Carroll with a score of 60-37. The Bulldogs were not able to come out with the win on Friday, but they had some key players that were great contributors to the game. The final score was 49-34. For high school girls basketball this wasn’t an extremely high scoring game. To me, that shows that both teams had impeccable defense causing it to be difficult for the opposing team to execute on the other end. Let’s get into what we can takeaway from this game. Jaylah Captain’s aggression: [caption id="attachment_140407" align="alignleft" width="213"] Jaylah Captain pc: circlevilleherald[/caption] Jaylah Captain, a junior at Circleville High School, had an amazing game. Finishing with 19 points, she along with her teammate Kenzie McConell, carried the lady Tigers in their victory Friday night. Despite the lead that the Tigers had over the Bulldogs, Captain continued to show leadership with the aggression she had through every single quarter. Her versatility with scoring 19 and still feeding the ball to her teammates was quite the sight to see. Circleville had 15 overall assists. Captain set the momentum of the game. She is a shooting guard, but definitely could run almost any position on the floor with her athleticism, strength and speed. Very fun player to watch. Get a hand up on Reese Pittman: Reese Pittman, sophomore at Bloom-Carroll, had a 3 point shot that was unstoppable. With 9 points, all from the 3, she had all but 3 of the Bulldog’s points in the first quarter of the game. She just needs a little more comfortablity with shooting the rock more, and she will hit them all night long. After her 3rd three of the game, Circleville HS took a time out. The Tigers knew she was going to be a problem if they didn’t come out to the perimeter to guard her. With only being a sophomore, I see tons of opportunity and growth for Pittman. Watch out for Kenzie McConnell: Kenzie McConnell, a 6’0” junior at Circleville, was absolutely dominant the entire game. Finishing with 17 points, she alongside her teammates were able to come out with the victory. Finishing at the basket was almost a given every single time McConnell got the ball. Not only did she have an extreme amount of body control offensively, but defensively as well. With her being a 6’0” junior, the level of control she has is beyond h [caption id="attachment_140402" align="alignright" width="300"] McConnells 1,000 career points was surpassed[/caption] er years. Defensively, she isn’t just a body to scare her competitors away, she’s going to be there ready for the block or square up defense. I noticed that she was very active under the basket and while guarding her man or area. She was very agile when it came to getting up and down the floor as well. McConnell had an impeccable performance for a young lady that still has a year before she even gets to a college or university. Kenzie also passed her 1,000 career points in this very game against the Bulldogs. Congratulations to Kenzie!     Nikki Bradbury should be taken seriously: Nikki Bradbury, wearing number 32 for the Bulldogs, has a killer shot. The entire student section would stand up and show with their arms that she had already made the shot before she would even shoot it. With her being a lefty, it was quite difficult for her opponents to know exactly how to guard her. You can tell that Bradbury is confident in being left handed and making her competitor have to come out of their comfort zone to stop her from executing. Although she is left handed, her handles with her right was quite impressive. She did not default back to her strong hand when situations got a little tight. As a senior, you can tell the leadership in Bradbury with her teammates. Despite the score, she pushed to get the best outcome out of herself and her teammates. She finished with 12 points and did amazing job of peservering through the game. Not only points matter: <a href="https://prepgirlshoops.com/player/makenzee-mason/"><a href="https://prepgirlshoops.com/player/makenzee-mason/">Makenzee Mason</a></a> (Sr.) wearing #3 and Carley Bryant (Jr.) wearing #10, both of Bloom-Carroll had overall good performances for the Bulldogs. Mason with 6 points, was also able to contribute 2 steals. Bryant had 2 points and also had 3 steals. They both did amazing job of jumping the pass. I watched them as they would play in between the man and the ball and as soon as their opponents threw it, they were pouncing to get that steal. Having that visibility is just as important as executing. They both had really solid performances. Not only would they jump the pass and get the steal, but they both did an amazing job of collecting themselves and making a strong pivot with a good grip on the ball to get their competitors away and go down court. [caption id="attachment_140420" align="aligncenter" width="323"] 2019-2020 BC Bulldogs pc: bigteams[/caption]   All in all, it was a very well played game between the two schools. There’s a lot that both teams can take away. Not only about the team as a whole, but about some of the individual players that I’m sure they’ll see again next season. Good game to both the Tigers and Bulldogs.