SPRINGFIELD, Ma. – He was his Little Rock Christian High team’s top player and leader scorer as a freshman and sophomore.
But, even after sparkling efforts at the Pangos All-American Camp in Las Vegas last June and with the Bradley Beal Elite 16s on the Nike/EYBL circuit in July, the 6-foot-2 Layden Blocker had no illusions about his “role” would be upon enrolling at “national” prep school Bel Aire (KS) Sunrise Christian School for his junior year season and academic year.
“I knew I wasn’t going to get to shoot and score as much (as he did at LR Christian),” he said, after he and his Sunrise teammates had edged Lincolnton (NC) Combine Academy, 72-68, Saturday in one of the three contests decided in overtime during the eight-game, Hoophall Classic schedule played in Blake Arena on the Springfield College campus.
“I came there to get ready for college and I know, as a point guard, I’m not going to be able to shoot anytime I want, too.”
Much of the offense generated by Sunrise Christian during its 12-1 start (including wins over powerhouse programs from Monteverde and IMG academies in Florida; Oak Hill in Virginia and La Lumiere in Indiana) came by the way of strong 2022 McDonald’s All-American candidates in forwards Mark Mitchell (bound for Duke) and Gradey Dick (Kansas), as well as guard Dillon Hunter, who signed with defending NCAA champion Baylor in November.
And that was the case, too, Saturday, as the 6-8 Mitchell (23 points and eight rebounds) and 6-6 Dick (14 points and 11 rebounds) were difficult covers for Combine Academy (coached by former University of North Carolina and NBA guard, Jeff McGinnis) all afternoon.
But Blocker demonstrated that he – when called upon – is more than up the task of doing more than directing half-court and transition offense clamping defense pressure on opponents.
With his team trailing by two points, Blocker was left unattended a couple of feet from behind the top of the key and took a pass from the left side of the court by center Cameron Corhen with a little more than two minutes remaining in OT.
There wasn’t a whole lot between his line of sight and the rim but air.
“Man,” he said, a smile growing ever-so-subtly, when asked how big the rim looked – and, perhaps, what he was thinking – during those brief moments.
“This was the first time (he’d found himself in a comparable situation) since I’ve been at Sunrise.”
But he responded by swishing the 3-pointer and, after a Combine turnover, he was fouled with 1:30 to go and went to the free-throw line for a 1-and-1.
Swish . . . swish, for a four-point advantage.
Preston Murphy’s sliced three-quarters of that edge with a dagger from the left corner and McGinnis got a timeout.
When played was resumed and the shot block about to expire, Mitchell missed a tight-in look but Blocker wedged himself in front of the baseline traffic under the rim, snatched the ball and quickly put the ball up off the glass and through the rim for another 3-point edge with 36 seconds to go.
After a miss by Combine, Mitchell hit one of two free throws for the final score.
Afterward Blocker, who added nine rebounds to go with four assists and only one turnover in 26 minutes, was asked more questions about the college programs that are pursuing than his critical contributions down the stretch of his team’s 13th win.
Hey, that’s the nature of recruiting “media”, right?
“I’m wide open,” said Blocker, who has been offered scholarships by a multitude of programs within the Southeast and Big 12 conferences.
“(The University of) Oregon is one of the schools whose coaches I’ve been hearing from lately. But I’ll listen to anyone who is interested in contacting me.”
If he continues to take advantage of the on-court opportunities that come are thrown at him like he did Saturday, his iPhone carrier’s minutes plan is going to be assaulted daily and nightly.
Eight more games are on tap Sunday, beginning with the 9 a.m. (ET) clash between White Plains (NY) Archbishop Stepinac and Ramsey (NJ) Don Bosco Prep.
In other games played Saturday,
Greensboro (NC) Day School 68, Arlington (VA) Bishop O’Connell 61 (ot): Guards Nik Graves and Jaydon Young combined for 35 points as the Bengals improved to 21-2 in the first game of the day.
The Knights (9-5) had tied the score with four seconds to go in regulation, when Christian May followed in a missed while being fouled and dropped in the ensuing free throw.
Reserve Graham Worland, after taking a pass from Graves, hit a 3 from the deep wing on the first possession of the four-minute extra period for the Bengals.
Graves, who signed with UNC-Charlotte in November, had 14 points and 10 assists while Young – a 6-4 junior who is likely to receive multiple scholarship offers (if he hasn’t already) by the end of the summer – chipped in with a game-high 21 points and 11 rebounds.
Freddy Johnson – who has been the Greensboro Day School Coach since 1977 and whose teams have won more than 1,00 games – was presented with his 2020 Morgan Wootten Award for outstanding achievement in high school coaching Friday. It couldn’t be presented to him before then because of the COVID restrictions over the past two years.
Ironically, the Friday presenter was Joe Wootten, the coach of Bishop O’Connell and the son of the legendary late and great coach for whom the award is named.
Chicago Simeon Academy 71, Gladstone (NJ) Gil St. Bernard 61: Six-nine junior Miles Rubin was the dominant player in a game that featured two high-profile recruiting targets on the team that lost the games.
Rubin came off the bench to score 14 points with eight rebounds while blocking six shots against a frontcourt that included the aforementioned 6-8 junior Mackenzie Mgbako and 6-7 sophomore Naasir Cunningham.
Senior guard Jaylen Drane added a game-high 22 points for Simeon (14-1) while Mgbako and Cunningham – by various doses of the left-handed Rubin’s shot blocking, poor shot selection and erratic execution – were limited to five and 11 points, respectively, as their team fell to 5-3.
Mount Pleasance (UT) Wasatch Academy 65, Hillside (NJ) The Patrick School 58: Roddy Gayle (originally from New York and bound for Ohio State) scored a team-high 22 points to go with six rebounds and four assists while center Mohamed Keita added 15 points with a game-high 14 rebounds for the team from Utah.
Mouth of Wilson (VA) Oak Hill Academy 66, La Porte (IN) La Lumiere School 61: Judah Mintz, one of the better “available” guards in the Class of 2022 after “decommitting” from the University of Pittsburgh in early November, led the winning Warriors with 24 points.
Montverde (FL) Academy 86, Hyattsville (MD) DeMatha 65: The Eagles, while improving to 13-3, got double-figure scoring from each of its “power conference-bound” seniors.
Among those was 6-5 Jalen Hood-Schifino (who signed with the University of Indiana in November, who picked up a triple-double by being the only starter still on the floor when he scored a layup with two seconds to go to give him 11 points, 10 rebounds and 13 assists.
Six-nine Dillon Mitchell (the University of Texas) added 22 points, six rebounds and three assists.
Montverde faces a team that handed it one of its three losses (in-state rival Bradenton IMG Academy) at this event Monday at 3 o’clock (PT).
Chandler (AZ) Compass Prep 68, Washington, DC, National City Christian 46: The team from Arizona improved to 20-1 in a game vs. a substitute opponent after Bradenton (FL) IMG had pulled out a few days earlier, apparently because of COVID issues.
Six-seven junior Mookie Cook led the victorious Dragons with 16 points and six rebounds, while Auburn-bound guard Chance Westry added 15 points, three rebounds and three assists.
Compass Prep plays La Lumiere in the final game Sunday night (9 o’clock).
IMG is still scheduled to play Montverde Academy Monday at 3 p.m.
Ft. Lauderdale Calvary Christian 66, Camden (NJ) 48: Senior forward Taylor Hendricks scored 18 points and grabbed 12 rebounds while junior guard Marvel Allen scored 22 points as the team from Florida blitzed to a 27-point advantage after three quarters and cruised the rest of the way.
Junior guard D.J Wagner missed 16 of 21 shots for Camden and was limited to 12 points with six turnovers.
Leave a Reply