CTC Classic
Analysis

CTC Classic Top Performers

Jaquez Holt2021 6-0 PG Jaquez Holt – Spencer
It was a masterful performance from Jaquez Holt in a 64-49 win over host Cass. Nobody shot the mid-range better than Holt did. He would consistently find ways to get to his sweet spot and stop-and-pop. He drilled five mid-range jumpers on his way to 23 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal and 1 block. Playing on a team that likes to get up and down the floor and press the entire game, I wasn’t sure what to expect in my first viewing of Holt. Was he going to play at a breakneck pace? Was it going to be a situation where you took the good with the bad with as many possessions as the Greenwave were bound to have? What I got was a mature point guard that never forced the issue and always played in control while changing speeds and protecting the ball. Sure, he could push the tempo when needed but most impressive was his ability to maneuver in the half court and still find time to both score the ball and set up teammates. All in all, Holt is a quick athletic guard with a skillful touch. With Jaylin Sellers out of the picture, it is Holt’s team and his loyalty to the Spencer program is starting to pay dividends. Every coach I talked to came away wildly impressed. He’s worth some strong looks at the D-II level and some of the nation’s top JUCO programs have already shown interest.

Isaiah Logan2021 6-0 PG Isaiah Logan – Allatoona
Locked in a game against a D-I point guard, Isaiah Logan stole the show as everything was working for the lightning quick lead man. Logan nailed three first half threes and scored 16 of Allatoona’s 26 first half points to keep the Bucs in the game against Mt. Pisgah. Logan would finish with 24 points, 6 rebounds and 1 steal. Once his outside shot was officially locked in, it helped open up driving lanes. Logan deftly finished around the basket on drives off the bounce and even smart off-ball cuts. If Logan is able to play as efficiently as he did on Saturday, Allatoona will be one of the scariest teams in Class 6A to deal with come February.

Kevin Taylor2021 6-4 W Kevin Taylor – Allatoona
Following a slow first half which saw him score just three points, Kevin Taylor was the difference maker in the final 16 minutes as he finished with 17 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists and 5 steals. All Taylor does is produce. Night in and night out. Sometimes he may have an off game scoring the ball, but you can trust he will rack up the rebounds and get after it defensively. When Taylor found his stride, he was a nightmare to deal with in Allatoona’s 59-55 win over Mt. Pisgah. He was so good at stripping the ball whenever Mt. Pisgah went up for layups; his active hands frustrated the Patriot backcourt.  On offense, Taylor scored in the paint and hit two threes. D-III Earlham College came all the way from Indiana to watch him play. Taylor would be a hell of a pick up at the D-III level and would be an immediate program booster wherever he goes.

Jaeden Marshall2021 6-4 G Jaeden Marshall – Richmond Hill
With Upson-Lee coming straight off the football field, Jaeden Marshall smelled blood in the water and was in attack mode from the opening inbound as the Wildcats tore up the Knights 74-39. As he did all summer long, Marshall impressed with his physicality and downhill approach. Marshall is a beast of a guard that can play nearly any position on the floor thanks to his rugged 205-pound college-ready frame. Defensively he can cause issues with his ability to body up posts and his lateral quickness to keep smaller guards out of the lane. When he puts his head down, he gets to the rim and draws contact. He opened up the game with an early three and got himself into a quick groove. Marshall is extremely tough around the rim. Not only can he score through traffic, he grabs rebounds and can start the break. Jaeden is a capable playmaker off the bounce and is improving his facilitating. He finished with 17 points, 11 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals. Marshall had every college coach in the gym scrambling to get in contact with Coach Bill Henderson to figure out why and how Marshall is still available. He should be a priority target for D-II programs and if he continues to expand his game, Low Majors should think about tracking his progress.

Elijah Tucker2021 6-8 F Elijah Tucker – Cherokee
It was an interesting performance from Elijah Tucker in Cherokee’s miraculous 62-56 win over Heritage-Conyers, ending the game on a 16-2 run to win it. Cherokee is no doubt at their best when Tucker is engaged and getting the ball offensively. He had early foul trouble and missed much of the second quarter which swung momentum as the Warriors saw an 18-10 first quarter lead turn into a 28-26 halftime deficit as Tucker watched from the sideline. The Xavier-signee had a strong overall line finishing with 17 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals and 1 block but it wasn’t easy to get it. Tucker had to work for every point he got as 6-foot-5 junior Jalen Boston did a terrific job fronting the post and denying entry passes to Tucker. Elijah got visibly frustrated as the game went on as he was unable to get deep post catches and when he did get the ball, either on the block or in the high post, he struggled to convert through contact and often had to clean up misses to power back up. Make no mistake – without Tucker’s impact on the game Cherokee does not win. He kept at it even was he was getting discouraged and continued to pound the rock instead of folding and floating out to the perimeter or shutting down completely. His biggest play of the game was not a block, a rebound or a bucket. It was when he and Boston got into it as they had been going at it throughout the game as it progressively got chippier. With Cherokee in deep trouble and on the ropes down 8 points with under 2:30 to play, Taihland Owens and Tucker changed the game. After an Owens three, Tucker baited Boston into a technical foul as the two teams were about to head to the bench for a timeout with 2:13 remaining. The foul was the fifth on Boston – huge in its own right. But even bigger was the fact that now Owens had two technical free throws – which he made both – then the Warriors retained possession and Owens drilled another three – an 8-point Owens run on one single possession spanning just four insane seconds. Just over a minute later at the 1:07 mark, Tucker would score the go-ahead basket inside to take the lead for good. It was a crazy game that could have gone either way, but it was Tucker’s stick-to-itiveness and gamesmanship that helped the Warriors escape with an improbable victory.

Chance Thacker2022 6-4 SG Chance Thacker – Providence Christian
Needing a shot in the arm during a sluggish defense-oriented game, Chance Thacker delivered with 16 points in third quarter to give the Storm the separation they needed to eventually put away St. Anne-Pacelli 52-40. Thacker finished with 22 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 steal. Thacker is a strong, polished guard that knows the tricks of the trade to be successful. He’s got the strength and skill to finish hard drives. Thacker showcased his outside shot in his third quarter mastery, hitting a pretty baseline leaner along with three three-pointers to torch the Vikings. Thacker is a coaches’ dream with how hard and smart he plays the game – also Coach Joey Thacker’s son. High Academic D-I programs will want to keep Thacker on their radar.

Travis Harper2021 6-5 W Travis Harper II – St. Anne-Pacelli
Outside of a scoreless first quarter, “Deuce” was able to score in spurts against Providence Christian. It wasn’t a dominant performance but Harper still managed to put up 17 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist and 2 blocks. Harper used his athleticism and footwork to find hoops. He had the dunk of the event when he posterized a defender with a vicious two-handed slam. Harper is a skilled perimeter scorer with great lift on his outside shot. As he adds more weight to his frame, the game will come even easier to him. He’s a nice option for Low Majors with his high ceiling and he’s a no-brainer priority recruit for D-IIs.

2021 6-5 SG James White – Heritage-Conyers
The Ole Miss-signee was Heritage’s most consistent source of offense, scoring a game-high 24 points to go with 7 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals in a wild loss to Cherokee. White found the range early, hitting three triples in the first half. In the second half, White worked the mid-range and got to the basket. He dealt with the elite athleticism and defensive prowess of Ethan Pickett but stayed the course and remained aggressive in hunting his shot. During Heritage’s collapse at the end, which to their defense literally happened in just four ridiculous seconds, I would have liked to see White demand the ball more and get to the basket, but at that point all the momentum was in Cherokee’s corner and the Heritage basket had a lid on it. White is a college-ready scorer and his continued growth away from just scoring will help him at the next level.

2022 6-8 PF Tony Carpio – Providence Christian
Post play is a dying art but with Tony Carpio, old school bigs can sleep tight at night. While Carpio does have stretch capabilities and can put the ball on the floor when needed, it was his back-to-the-basket play that anchored his productivity on Saturday. Carpio used nice footwork and hook shots to score over top of the smaller St. Anne-Pacelli front line. He got double-teamed at times and had to deal with scrappy dig downs, but when he understood the trap was coming, he made quick decisions with the ball. Carpio finished with 14 points, 9 rebounds and 4 blocks. He has consistently played above the rim this season and has worked on his body in the weight room. He’s a tough competitor that will draw D-I attention with his diverse and growing skillset.

 

CLICK TO WATCH GAMES

[:46] – South Paulding 57, Duluth 53
[1:36:33] – Allatoona 59, No. 3 Mt. Pisgah 55
[3:33:10] – No. 10 Richmond Hill 74, No. 6 Upson-Lee 39
[5:03:36] – No. 8 Cherokee 62, No. 5 Heritage-Conyers 56
[7:03:25] – No. 2 Spencer 64, No. 8 Cass 49
[8:37:33] – No. 4 Providence Christian 52, No. 6 St. Anne-Pacelli 40