It wasn’t pretty at Centennial High School Tuesday night, but in the end the Patriots gutted out a 49-40 win over the previously unbeaten Mountain View Mavericks. The game was a ugly to start but we were able learn some things about both teams in this early conference match up.
For Mountain View we know the Brandon Luedtke is their main guy. They’re going to consistently look for him inside and let him either try and score from the block or drive baseline and distribute. And he’s a pretty dominant force when you let him go left. The question that still needs to be answered for the Mavericks is going to be that other offensive threat.
In the first half, Centennial showed that they can be a very good defensive team. They were great on their rotations, anticipated well and really made the Mavericks work for every shot they took. At half it was 19-17 in favor of the Patriots. No one really got any kind of flow and no one in particular stood out. That would definitely change in second half.
Early, Centennial’s Aaron Maffey started to get his feel. Then Daryl Robertson started to get it going.
Maffey is a pure shooter and has started to utilize a drive to floater that gives defenders something to think about.
Robertson is a point guard that is strong and likes to penetrate to the right, especially with a left to right crossover. And if he knocks down a couple of 3-pointers he can be tough to defend. It’s scary to think how good he could be if he developed a mid-range game.
Just when you thought Centennial would put it out of reach, back comes Mountain View with contributions from Alex Stewart and Marcus Slocum. Until about 1:45 to go, the spread never got bigger than 7 points. But Centennial, who was impressive in their ability to finish at the basket with contact, was able to knock down enough free throws to put the game away.