Elsik Rams Eisenhower
AKUNNA ELONU JASMINE OCANAS CRYSTAL PORTER
Elsik traveled to Eisenhower last night and a lot more than the district title was on the line. In their first meeting, the Rams defeated Ike by a very substantial margin which leads me to believe that Eisenhower must have been missing players that first time around. Nevertheless this turned out to be a very good game that included several spectacular individual performances from both sides. Unlike many of the games I’ve seen this season, this one was exciting right off the top as the Rams Crystal Porter and Akunna Elonu got the scoring going early for the Rams but Taylor Overshon was busy putting her one woman barrage of baskets show on which had my phone buzzing with texts asking who this kid was. My response was she’s been in the Guru’s Scouting Service since Day 1, yes that’s a plug, TNT knows drama, Simmie C knows talent.
With Elsik down early, Jasmine Ocanas got a couple of steals, an assist and then nailed a three to give the Rams the lead back but the quarter ended tied at 17, Overshon with 9 of Ike’s points. Ocanas nailed another three to open up the second quarter however Eisenhower was playing for more than just a share of the district title and the intensity they showed from several players showed that they not only wanted to avenge that early district blowout at the hands of our defending Region 3 champions, they also did not want the Rams senior class to graduate without ever losing a district game and it appeared that might happen, especially since Porter got into foul trouble and had to sit. Overshon continued attacking the basket at will as they went into the half up 32-28. Elonu kept the Rams close and by this time, she and Overshon were in double digits.
When a star player gets in foul trouble, that’s not good especially when they’ve been going off all night and Overshon found herself having to sit for most of the third quarter as “Big Three” went to work and opened the quarter with a 12-0 as they not only regained the lead and led by four at the end of the third 50-46 but held onto it for a 63-50 victory. Let me also add that several ticky tack fouls were called on both teams and when you have unsigned kids out here that college coaches are looking at, please let some of that stuff go. Overshon scored all 15 of her points in the first half while Ike’s Jonisa Jackson added 12. Elonu was simply dominant on the offensive end as she scored 34 and Porter was equally dominant on the defensive end with 15 rebounds not to mention a block at half court and finishing with a layup to silence Ike’s final run. Ocanas did what she does, controlled the game and just missed a double-double with 9 points and 11 assists. As amazed as I was with both teams performance on the court, the number of players with over 1500 off the court was truly the highlight of my evening, especially when Elonu looked at me like “why are you amazed”, I am going to miss this class.To be honest with you, I wouldn’t be surprised if Eisenhower pulls off an upset or two in the playoffs and I can only imagine how good they would have been if Courtney Moore had played
