LIVERMORE — Granada’s guard Tyler Harris and middle Andrew McKeever do a fragile balancing act after they share the courtroom.
Harris thrives as a downhill slasher who will get to the rim, one thing he did repeatedly on his option to 24 factors within the Matadors’ 63-36 non-league residence win over Priory on Friday evening.
However McKeever, all 6-foot-11 of him, is greatest utilized in that exact same area, the place he can publish up defenders earlier than jump-hooking them into the mud.
Regardless of this, the 2 Granada stars have discovered easy methods to coexist. The St. Mary’s commit McKeever typically vacated the block to provide Harris area, and Harris returned the favor by spacing out to the perimeter to attract a defender away from the lane for his middle.
“When he sees me driving, he is aware of to get out of the way in which, but when he stays there, I all the time know I can throw it as much as him,” Harris stated.
When the 2 have been clicking, as they did within the second half, the Matadors seemed each bit like a staff that would contend for the East Bay Athletic League championship.
The duo mixed for 42 factors towards beforehand unbeaten Priory (13-1), and their potential to repeat these sorts of performances will decide how Granada does in a league that boasts seven groups within the Bay Space Information Group Prime 20 rankings.
“I believe that is the most effective the EBAL has been since I’ve been round,” coach Quaran Johnson stated. “I don’t know if there are any slack-off groups.”
Granada, ranked No. 8, had a 29-17 lead at halftime, however Johnson was lower than happy together with his staff’s play. Though McKeever had hooked and lay-upped his option to 11 first-half factors in a bodily matchup with Priory’s 6-10 junior Nes Emeneke, the remainder of the staff seemed torpid.
Whereas Rostand Olama Abanda and his 13 factors saved No. 14 Priory within the sport, Granada appeared to only undergo the motions.
Within the halftime locker room, Johnson had a easy message for his senior guard.
“I used to be being mushy within the first half,” Harris admitted. “Coach received onto me, so I picked it up.”
Harris answered his coach’s name, placing in 20 of his 24 factors after the break. As a substitute of settling for leap photographs, Harris reduce into Priory’s paint and dunked 3 times within the second half.
Granada’s depth waxed as Priory’s waned. After 13 straight wins to start out the season, coach David Moseley was in a position to pinpoint a weak point as his staff misplaced for the primary time this season.
Priory has a couple of days to handle the difficulty earlier than its league opener at Sacred Coronary heart Prep on Tuesday.
“We now have to situation as a result of we seemed like we have been slightly off form,” Moseley stated. “We now have to enhance that so we will begin to press and get our factors again up.”
The Matadors’ final non-league check earlier than league play begins is Saturday at perennial Sacramento powerhouse Sheldon, which is much better than its 5-9 document would point out. The back-to-back challenges are supposed to provide Granada one final likelihood to appropriate any flaws earlier than its EBAL opener at Foothill (12-4) on Tuesday.
If Harris and McKeever can proceed to sharpen their chemistry through the gauntlet of EBAL heavyweights, the Matadors (12-3) have pretty much as good an opportunity as any of conquering the league.
“That is what league is gonna be like,” Johnson stated. “I informed my children that we have now to arrange for an excellent staff, after which get able to go and battle a fair higher staff the subsequent day.”
