Week 3 presented us with a dazzling game between two rivals, Westcoast and Academy. Last year they split the season series 2-2 and this year, Academy went off to a great start and asserted dominance over Westcoast. Led by their veteran leader, Tyrone Asenoguan, Academy was able to win the game by a narrow six points against Westcoast. Academy’s players were up to the challenge and won against Westcoast who had a difficult time adjusting to Academy’s offensive schemes.

Tyrone Asenoguan is a BEAST dunking machine with excellent handles and determination in the paint, he’s able to manipulate his defenders easily and drives into the paint with ease for a quick slam or layup. His shooting has stayed the same since last season which presents a level of concern. Playing the point guard position, Tyrone should be able to pull up on the midrange with a bit of consistency however it has proven to be lacking this year. He struggles to nail open three openers as well which he needs to work on throughout the season to gain more points. His leadership qualities, court-vision, and passing abilities are evidently lacking and something he’d need to increase if he plays the point guard position.

Derian Lenett is easily the most recognizable stars from Westcoast, he’s a consistent midrange shooter with a good motor, he’s able to pull of fancy tricks driving to the hoop and has decent floor awareness and court vision. To improve as an overall player, Derian would need to continue practicing his jumper as well as observe great point guards playing great selfless basketball, one of the biggest raw prospects with the best point guard attributes in the league at the moment is Chaddick Oyiakwan of Holy Cross, Derian would need to emulate his passing skills to become a better all around point guard player. Derian struggled to lead his Westcoast team to play offence and defence which left Westcoast stumbling for answers, we believe Derian needs to step more as a leader in order to win games against stronger teams.

1ST HALF HIGHLIGHTS
Academy broke down the door in the first quarter playing sound offence and defence. Their forwards knew what they were doing and what was asked of them. They rebounded swiftly and allowed the backcourt players to gain spacing in offence. They asserted their will against Westcoast and dominated the paint game easily. The first quarter was demonstrated like it was an All-Star Game. Lots of flashy dunks by Academy and very little defence being played by the other team which allowed the game to become out of hand very quickly.

In the second quarter, Academy continued to go on tremendous scoring runs, at the middle point of the second quarter, Academy’s second unit players went on a 12-0 run against Westcoast’s first unit. This allowed increase boost in player morale and allowed for a bigger boost when halftime came around. Westcoast was evidently down by 22 points when the first half drew to a conclusion.

2ND HALF HIGHLIGHTS
Westcoast went into the locker room frustrated and tired, they were completely dominated by Academy and there was little to be done about it. The coaches drew up a good starting game plan for Westcoast as the third quarter lingered. Westcoast went on some good runs and counterattacked Academy’s poor defence. Academy’s defensive abilities were exposed late in the third quarter as they were starting to run low on gas. The first unit of Westcoast stayed on the entire quarter as apart of the plan that Coach Graham Stevenson (Westcoast Head Coach) drew up. By the end of the third quarter, Westcoast was only down by a mere 10 points.

Fourth quarter came around and a neck and neck basketball game started to come around. Westcoast went in good scoring runs and so did Academy. The score was tied by the 3:20 mark of the game when both teams first units started to come into the game. Academy played sound offence and defence and Westcoast’s defence started to take a tumble. By the end of the game Academy led by 3 points with just 0:21 seconds left to go. Westcoast had the final possession but was quickly stolen by Tyrone Asenoguan who then passed it out to his partner Rilo Robertson who nailed the 3-point dagger.

Final
Westcoast 60 | Academy 66
Academy had a very great game against Westcoast's defence for the majority of the game. Westcoast also displayed some momentary sparks throughout the game which left fans to believe a comeback was in place, we hope to see these two rivals go at it again soon as this game got extremely interesting when the fourth quarter came along. We wish these two teams good luck in the rest of the summer league!