Making a definite push for the Indiana All-star team, Mason Jones continues his impressive senior years. The 6'7" Ball State commit, along with his production listed below, surpassed the 1,000 career scoring mark. In a loss to Gary 21st Century, Jones totaled 23 points, 11 rebounds, 6 assists, and in wins over East Chicago Central and Elkhart he produced 29 points, 11 rebounds, 2 steals and 25 points, 10 rebounds, 5 steals, 2 assists, respectively.
Mason Jones is the Courtside Indiana Player of the Week for the week of December 12-17, 2022.
Top Considerations
Others Nominated
Sophomores and Freshmen Nominated
Lawrence North controlled this one throughout. They led by more than 8 for most of the game. Junior Kobi Bowles and sophomore Azavier Robinson lead the charge for Lawrence North. Lawrence North is a young team and has a promising future. Seniors Dalman Alexander and Jayden Schmenk led Northrop.
* Sophomore guard Azavier Robinson showed why IU was at his fall workouts and why he already has D1 offers. Robinson’s ability to get to the rim and finish was impressive. Would like to see him score more from the perimeter. His jumper looks good, but he didn’t shoot much from outside in this one. Robinson finished with 21 points.
* Junior guard Kobi Bowles was even more impressive athletically than Robinson. Bowles can get to any spot on the floor. The left hander had a number of highlight plays. A couple big time blocks, a 360 layup in traffic on the break, and was able to get loose for a dunk in transition. Bowles ended this one with 16 points.
* 6’6 freshman Brennan Miller was impressive Saturday night. Miller was a big lift off the bench for LN. The Freshman finished with 12 points. His jumper is really smooth and has a nice feel for the game. College coaches should start getting him on their radar.
*Dalman Alexander had his moments for Northrop. The 6’7 senior struggled to start the game with the physicality of Mase Hughes for LN, but found his groove as the game went on. Alexander has great length and blocked a couple of LN’s shots early. Offensively he showed the ability to step out and shoot from 3 and score around the rim. Would like to see Alexander look at a post-grad program before college. He has the length and body type of a D1 player, but needs more time to develop footwork and refine his skills.
Brownsburg cross matched on Zane Doughty, and while it kept him from getting catches in the post, it didn't stop him from wiping the offensive glass clean. Throw in their relentless attack off Brownsburg misses and smothering defense, Ben Davis gained control of the game early then started to stretch out their lead in the third quarter.
Seeing is believing. Down 21-1, Penn was three timeouts into shell shock vs. Zionsville. Markus Burton put a couple of quick baskets in, including a 3PTer. At the end of the first, Penn had chopped Zionsville lead in half, 24-11, with Burton being 100% of Penn's offense.
A switch to a 1-2-2 half court zone caused issues for Zionsville, as Penn chipped away. Burton, the 6'1" senior guard, committed to Notre Dame, scoring or assisting on almost every point. By midway through the 3rd quarter, Penn had gotten over the hump, and in the early portion of the 4th took a seven point lead.
Vs. Concord the night before, Burton had 21 points, 8 assists, 5 rebounds and 5 steals in blowout win over Concord. Vs. Zionsville, Burton finished with 38 points, 12 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 steals, but more astonishingly, from being down 21-1 Burton outscored Zionsville by himself, 37-30. All of that earning Markus Burton Courtside Indiana's Player of the Week for the week of December 5-10.
Others Considered:
Others Nominated:
Sophomores and Freshmen Nominated:
Crown Point 65 Southport 59
Crown Point led for most of this game and it seemed like Southport could never really get over the hump. Crown Points zone really made Southport work for shots and made them look a little uncomfortable at times. Jack Svetich and AJ Lux led the way for Crown Point. AJ Dancler was the catalyst for Southport, but wasn’t enough to get the win today.
* Junior Jack Svetich led Crown Point with 21 points and did it from all over the floor. Crown point is tough when he is able to hit from 3 along with AJ Lux.
* Bellarmine commit AJ Lux ended with 17 for the Bulldogs. He puts a lot of pressure on opposing defenses with his shot making ability. He had 15 of his 17 in the 2nd half.
* Senior guard AJ Dancler was really good for Southport. He ended with 28 points and hit 6 3’s. Dancler showed the ability to finish in transition as well. Always have liked his game.
Penn 58 Zionsville 51
Zionsville was up 21 to 1 to start the game. Penn switched to a trapping half-court defense and Zionsville started turning it over and then the Markus Burton show began. The Kingsman cut that deficit to 4 points at half and Burton had 20 of the 31.
* Markus Burton was the best player @ the whole event today. Burton ended with 38 points. He hit 4 3’s, a slew of contested mid range pull ups, and finished at the rim over bigger and longer players. He simply took over the game and capped it off with a 2 handed slam at the buzzer.
* Junior Dominic Bonner had a tremendous game off the bench for Penn. He ended with 11 off the bench and they were really crucial with some of Penn’s other starters having off nights.
*Sophomore Drew Snively for Zionsville led them with 16 points. Snively kept hitting big 3 after big 3 for Zionsville and he was a big part of the reason they jumped out to a 21 to 1 lead.
If ever a game saw the 3PT shot shape the tone of a game, it was this game. Noblesville started hot, hitting three early 3PTers on their way to a 12-4 lead. Carmel scraped their way back, including a couple of 3Pters of their own. Luke Almadovar buried a near half court 3PTer to close out the first half, and it seemed like whenever one team hit a 3PTer in the second half, the other team would answer with one of their own.
As the clock was winding down, game tied, Sam Orme closed out tight on Almadovar, who quickly dished it over to Cooper Bean, and Bean buried the final answer of the night, the last of his trio of 3PTers in the second half.
It was a tough one this week, because we do like multiple performances. Opening their season this week vs. two undefeated teams, Penn had their work cut out for them playing teams with totally different styles of play. Senior guard and Mr. Basketball candidate, Markus Burton cut through that.
Vs. South Bend Clay - 33 points, 10 steals, 4 assists and 4 rebounds
vs. Crown Point - 33 points, 6 assists, 5 steals
The 6'1", Notre Dame put two impressive games together, getting Penn off to a 2-0 start, earning Markus Burton the Courtside Indiana Player of the Week for the week of November 28-December 3
Top Performances:
Leading much of the first half, Carmel found themselves down at half time down by one, as Jalen Haralson, who hit a 3PTer as the 1st half ended, was starting to get on track. Fishers hit two quick 3PTers to start the third quarter, pushing their run to nine straight points and their lead to seven, the largest lead any team had in the game. Carmel was down seven again later in the third, and maybe it just wasn't their night.
However, Carmel responded, and from that point on the game was back and forth. Ultimately, with Fishers, holding the ball for the final 1:38 in OT, called timeout with about 14 seconds left. The whole gym knowing where the ball was going to end up, Carmel's Sam Orme jumped the pass, secured the steal and went in for the game winning layup. A final desperation shot by Haralson fell short.
Here is a link to the final possession (hopefully the video is crisp)
Going into this one we kinda knew the Bulldogs would be outmatched, but I wanted to get eyes on one of my favorite teams in the state. Crown Point senior and sharp shooting Bellarmine commit AJ Lux had 20 in this one. But the Kingsmen were just too much to overcome, led by Notre Dame commit Markus Burton and his 33. With these two being committed, I'm leaving them off of my scouting notes.
Up Next:
Crown Point - Tues. Dec 6 vs East Chicago Central
Penn - Tues. Dec 6 vs New Prairie