Jason Morrow:
Future150 National Editor/ Midwest Recruiting. Covering high and middle school basketball. OH,IN and IL.
HILLIARD, OH (Future150) -- Freshman usually make a big impact in the NCAA tournament, but when it comes to the high school game, that space is normally reserved for upperclassmen. Hilliard Bradley’s Isaiah Speelman is one of the exceptions to that rule, as the 2018 F has exploded onto the scene, including an 18-point, three-rebound performance on Wednesday night in a sectional final win. Speelman led the Jags on a 16-2 run that helped them coast to a 50-40 victory, and it all started on the defensive end.
”Just getting stops, and letting the momentum flow from there,” Speelman said.
The freshman has been a part of the winningest team in school history, and when he heads back to AAU ball in the spring, it will be alongside Ohio State-commit Dane Goodwin on Excel, their 15U team. Speelman is actually a year younger than most of his competitors on the AAU circuit, as he is just 14 years old, and was the first player in Ohio Capital Conference history to be named to an All-Conference team at that age.
But for now, there is work to be done in high school, and Speelman his Hilliard Bradley team will be in a district semifinal match-up likely against perennial power Northland.
“I’m really happy with it and I am excited to see what’s to come,” Speelman told Future150. “(We just need to) focus on the game, and the match-ups, what we do to get the win, and do our job.”
The freshman shot over 50 percent from beyond the arc this regular season, and finished as the area leader in field goal percentage, coming in at 63.7 percent.
“I just try to stay aggressive; when I am aggressive I think good things happen,” Speelman said. “But I think the number one thing is that we keep getting these wins.”
With all these accolades and impressive stats flying around, there are still parts to his game that the freshman would like to work on.
“I think I’ve been a little bit slow defensively lately, and I think I am going to focus on my on-ball defense a little bit,” Speelman said.
Comments:
Be the first to post. Just use the form below.