Tuesday was the final day of the first Lemon Street Classic with McEachern and Discovery bringing home the championships in the two brackets. Dan McDonald was there for the evening session at Marietta High School and has three takeaways from the action.
· We’ve discussed the talent in the 2023 class a lot in the past few weeks. One that we haven’t covered yet is Eagle’s Landing guard David Thomas (Pictured). The sophomore star went for 34 points on Monday night and followed it up with around 25 points in the win over a really tough Sandy Creek team. What really stands out about Thomas is how aggressive and fast he plays while not letting himself get out of control. He rarely makes a bad decision with the ball. He’s a three-level scorer that hit some contested jumpers in the second half to help Eagle’s Landing fend off any push Sandy Creek.
· To nobody’s surprise, McEachern will definitely be a tough out in the 7-A state tournament this year. The senior trio of Cam McDowell, Randy Brady and Bobby Moore offer a lot of size, skill, athleticism and versatility. They jumped on an Evans team that was coming off a big win over Norcross on Monday night and never really gave them much hope of making it close. McDowell signed with Georgia last month. Brady holds a few Division 1 offers of his own that he’ll choose from after the season and Moore has generated some Division 1 interest as well.
· It’s Jabari Smith and Myles Rice’s team this year at Sandy Creek, but before long it will be Micah Smith’s turn to take over the lead role for the Patriots. The 6-foot-7 freshman is a really intriguing long-term prospect. He can hit jumpers out to three-point range. He’ll mix it up inside. And he just has a nice overall skill level and feel for how to play. As he gets more experience, he’ll get better and better.