In the DMV basketball world, it’s typically all about the WCAC, and the powerhouses like DeMatha, Gonzaga, St. John’s etc. But, the talent in the IAC, especially at Bullis and Georgetown Prep, deserve major recognition too. The IAC Championship game between these two schools (Bullis and Prep) was an absolute thriller, filled with a lot of talent and passion. Bullis was the big winner, claiming the title and bragging rights amongst lifelong friends and competitors.
Throughout the game, the two schools executed two completely different styles of play, leveraging their personnel respectively. Bullis has more guards, so they looked to push the ball and get out in transition and force the Prep bigs to run with them, while Prep looked to let their playmaker Jared Bynum make some magic happen in the half court set.
The big storyline for this game was the relationship between the two stars for each of their schools. Vado Morse for Bullis and Jared Bynum for Georgetown Prep, the two were middle school teammates and are still close friends today. We all know that when you are teammates with someone, you really know their game, and that was evident early on when Morse struggled against Bynum on the offensive end. When I talked to Coach Kelley (Bullis head coach) after the game, I asked him what he and the rest of the coaching staff did to get Morse going. He said, “I wish I could tell you we did something, but we didn’t, it was all him.” Morse and Bynum are both very elite prospects, and anyone who witnessed that game on Saturday night can back up the hype behind their names.
The difference maker in the game was the fact that Morse (Bullis) had a much bigger supporting cast than Bynum (Prep). Delaware signee Chyree Walker (senior) added 15 points, while Phillip Smith and Lincoln Yeutter added big buckets down the stretch and Raffy Baumgardner (senior) provided great two-way play for the Bulldogs. Bynum kept Prep in the game, but nothing came easy with Baumgardner guarding him. He was forced to make tough plays on the other end. While Bynum scored nearly half of his teams points and added 4 assists, he still couldn’t capture the trophy. Coach Kelley shared with me that their main strategy for the game was to contain Bynum and slow him down, making his performance even more impressive.
The great part of this match up story is that Bynum and Morse are both juniors, which guarantees more head-to-head competition between these two. Expect those games to be high level, filled with much anticipation, attention and hype. This was my first time watching both of them play against each other and I loved what I saw. Both of them play with a real passion, especially Bynum. You can tell that the Prep guard lives for the game, and with that mindset and his talent, the sky is the limit. Morse also has a competitive mentality that was palpable in the gym Saturday night, and it was the difference maker for him.
Separately, in other jakeinthepaint news, I’d like to give a shout out to my boy Trent Buttrick, a 6’8″ forward from the Community School of Naples. He recently committed to Penn State, he is a lengthy prospect with a big upside, remember the name.