Marianapolis v. Nobles: Southern Cooking

<span style="font-weight: 400;">Last night, I covered a fun NEPSAC matchup between Marianapolis Prep @ Noble &amp; Greenough, which Nobles ended up winning 58-43.  Trailing 29-24 at the half, Noble &amp; Greenough held Marianapolis to 14 points in the second half, spearheaded by big contributions from their bench. Below are the standout players from the game. </span> &nbsp; <strong>Player of the Game:</strong> <a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2021/12/EBABB7D8-5691-4E56-B600-0B2EC4BD2ECC-scaled-crop-1852x1216-1638447220.jpeg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-359470" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2021/12/EBABB7D8-5691-4E56-B600-0B2EC4BD2ECC-scaled-crop-1852x1216-1638447220-300x197.jpeg" alt="" width="300" height="197" /></a> <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="356271" first="Tori" last="Balser"] - Noble &amp; Greenough - 5’9’’ - SG - ’24</strong> <span style="font-weight: 400;">Balser came off the bench for Nobles and was the spark they needed to overcome an early deficit to Marianapolis. On offense, she was dynamic in the high post and killed the zone defense with her playmaking, finishing the game with 10 points. Balser’s IQ was on full display as she made good decisions with the ball along with accurate passes. On defense, Balser shifted the momentum with her ball-hawking. She disrupted a lot of Marianapolis’ action with hard hedges and suffocating ball pressure.  Nobles needed a jolt on both sides of the ball, and Balser gave them that. I thought it was a major reason why her team came back and took control of the game.</span> &nbsp; <strong>Noble &amp; Greenough Standouts: </strong> <strong><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-359471" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2021/07/20210724_153029-scaled-crop-1852x1216-1638447340-300x197.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="197" /></strong> <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="184002" first="Chinenye" last="Odenigbo"] - 6’6’’ - PF - ’23</strong> <span style="font-weight: 400;">Odenigbo started the game off quietly but dominated the scoring column in the 4th quarter. Odenigbo has really good hands and made some tough catches in traffic, leading to multiple trips to the free-throw line in the 1st. In the 4th quarter, the chemistry between her and PG [player_tooltip player_id="273929" first="Christina" last="Pham"] started to click, and Odenigbo dominated the paint. Once Odenigbo got a few shots to fall, her whole game went up another level. She was running the floor and defending at a high level, showing in that short spurt how dominating she can be on both sides of the floor. She led the team with 17 points. </span> &nbsp; <a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2021/12/69E183B2-EA38-412B-B38C-49D90B6DB9FF-scaled-crop-1389x912-1638448127.jpeg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-359474" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2021/12/69E183B2-EA38-412B-B38C-49D90B6DB9FF-scaled-crop-1389x912-1638448127-300x197.jpeg" alt="" width="300" height="197" /></a> <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="302476" first="Olivia" last="Charity"] - 6’0’’ - PF - ’25</strong> <span style="font-weight: 400;">Charity, like [player_tooltip player_id="356271" first="Tori" last="Balser"], gave Nobles a spark off the bench. Charity’s contribution came on the glass. She secured multiple possessions, especially on the offensive side.  Charity took advantage of the size mismatch inside and was aggressive with her putbacks. She also played good interior defense and altered many shots in the paint.  </span> &nbsp; <img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-359482" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2021/12/C08427C1-74DA-44FC-B457-3915E6B2507C-crop-1495x982-1638450409-300x197.jpeg" alt="" width="300" height="197" /> <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="273929" first="Christina" last="Pham"] - 5’7’’ - PG - ’25</strong> <span style="font-weight: 400;">Pham’s second half was very impressive, and I thought her facilitation was vital. She secured the ball, had good shot selection, and exploited mismatches in the halfcourt. Pham recognized in the 4th quarter that [player_tooltip player_id="184002" first="Chinenye" last="Odenigbo"] had a significant size advantage on the block and continuously made the point to feed her the ball in the post. This led to a near double-double of 10 points and 7 assists. </span> &nbsp; <strong>Marianapolis Prep Standout:</strong> &nbsp; <img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-359485" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2021/12/AF72C588-5AEB-4407-A893-3E7D50D1D56C-scaled-crop-1235x811-1638450507-300x197.jpeg" alt="" width="300" height="197" /> <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="264678" first="Rachel" last="Ullstrom"] - 6’1’’ - SF - ’22</strong> <span style="font-weight: 400;">The 6’1’’ Richmond commit was the best player on the floor Wednesday night. Ullstrom came out the gates hot as a pistol with 3 three-pointers and totaling 13 points in the first quarter! She set the tone early for Marianapolis on both sides of the ball. Her defense, as usual, was outstanding. Ullstrom’s size, length, and instincts, defending on the perimeter, were a major reason why Nobles struggled in the first half shooting. Ullstrom rebounded well, shot the ball efficiently, and got to the free-throw line a handful of times too. She finished with a game-high 23 points along with 11 rebounds.</span>