“You just can’t junk defense them,” says LCC coach Sean Powell about how to defend Cam Elwer and Delphos St. John. “They’re smart, and they’re going to figure it out.” (Press Pros Feature Photos)
Days before the tourney draw for boys basketball, the local questions swirl around undefeated Delphos St. John, and if their style of play without a big man will hold up against all comers? Our question is…have you appreciated enough what you’ve seen already?
In the concourse at Value City Arena Sunday a Miami County basketball fan reminded me that more and more people are beginning to take notice of the undefeated, Division VII Delphos St. John Blue Jays.
“Do you think they’re as good as their record?” he asked. “You know, they don’t have anyone big. And they say Cam Elwer is 6’2″, but I don’t believe it.”
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Wham, bam…thank you, man. If only college basketball coaches could say so much in so few words!
My question, in response: “What I think doesn’t matter. Do you think they’re as good as their record? I know you saw them play St. Clairsville in Columbus.”
His response: “Yeah, but that’s not the tournament. Teams take it more serious at tournament time.”
Really?
It didn’t seem that way when we talked to the St. Clairsville coach that day? He seemed to take it serious enough. They did their best to hold Cam Elwer under twenty points, only to have his brother torch them for 21. And St. John beat them in every other fact of the game, as well. And at last look St. Clairsville (Div. V) was 13-5, 7-1 in conference, and two of their five losses were close non-conference affairs with Division IV Cambridge.
“Well,” he grinned. “You know what I mean.”
I knew exactly what he meant. Any time a small school like St. John has a Division I college recruit like Cam Elwer, who averages nearly 30 points a game, who excels in every phase of the game, and who simply works harder than 90% of the players he competes against there’s going to be doubt, questions, and let’s face it…jealousy…over how good that team CAN REALLY be. Especially in Division VII!
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That style of play just doesn’t hold up against bigger teams with bigger players, the doubters contend.
“Oh yes it does,” said St. Clairsville coach Ryan Clifford when we talked with him after that game in December.
“Any time you share the basketball and play as unselfishly as Delphos St. John does you’re much harder to guard. Its discouraging to do a good job on a team’s best player and have him throw it to someone else who hits a three-pointer.”
Elwers everywhere…and they can all shoot. Andrew Elwer (above) rises for a three-point shot against Minster.
“And they’re just smart about how to play,” said Lima Central Catholic coach Sean Powell, following their overtime loss to St. John in early January. “Cam Elwer, he’s probably a smarter coach than I am. The kid understands the game. It’s crazy. We had a junk defense ready for him, but if you throw a junk defense out there against Cam Elwer and his dad, they’re just going to tear you apart.”
So, to the question…are they as good as their record? Yes, assuredly.
But the questions about Delphos don’t end there.
“Are they the best team in Division VII?,” someone wrote from northwest Ohio last week.
To be fair, locally I think #2 Botkins, #3 Minster, and #11 Lehman (MaxPreps as source) would have something to say about that, because on a given night any team can be beaten. It’s why the rim is 18″ wide, and not a peach basket. Why people keep coming up with junk defenses!
Botkins is 15-3 with losses to Marion Local, Minster, and Lima Shawnee. And Minster, if you haven’t noticed, is 13-6 suddenly, winners of six in a row including a 16-point win over Division II Troy. And Lehman gets questioned over the strength of their schedule, but 15-4 is 15-4, and they only lost to Division IV Northridge by five points last week.
And then the question: “Delphos hasn’t played a team with a good big man yet?”
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Well, seriously, how good is good? And who has in Division VII?
But in a different context, Elwer and company beat Minster early by twenty points, and against a pretty good big man in 6’8″ Cole Albers, closing in on a thousand points. They also beat Marion Local (Div. VI), who had bigger size, because St. John shared the ball and played (shot) so well as a team. They beat Versailles (Div. V), handily, with 6’8″ Maddox Stonebraker. And, they beat athletic Coldwater (Div. V) without stress against 6’10” Jack Bruns. In all three cases, they shared the ball, and worked the offense until they got the shot they wanted.
“They’re so good because of how they probe your defense,” says Marion coach Kurt Goettemoeller. “If they don’t have the shot they want they kick it out and keep running the offense until they do get the shot they want. They just don’t flip shots up and hope they go in.”
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And it is true that a team (Arlington) knocked them out of the tournament last year with a good post presence…on a night when Delphos did not play well. But let’s be honest. That Delphos team is not this Delphos team. This group is a year older, smarter, and better. And no team in Division VII, at least, has worked harder during the off-season to be what they are, or prepared to answer all the questions.
And for the sake of giving him his due…Cam Elwer is the best pure shooter we’ve seen, especially in Division VII. And according to Furman assistant coach Pat Estepp, he’s in a class with the elite high school shooters nationally, regardless of school size.
In addition, he has the mental toughness to match. No amount of yelling “over-rated” is going to rattle, or deter him. No amount of questioning how he plays changes the fact that he’s the most competitive player in Division VII (or most other divisions) that you’re going to see in the tournament. It drives opposing crowds to yell and heckle, but that only seems to motivate.
Junk defense him. Leave another shooter open. And see how quickly Elwer recognizes that advantage. “He figures it out,” reminds Sean Powell.
And is he actually 6’2″?
Honestly. Does it matter?
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