When Metea Valley senior level guard Khalil Jones is at his finest, he’s a like a puppet grasp pulling the strings in all the correct locations.
Solely he is aware of what he’ll do, however all of his teammates comply with.
“Khalil is a superb flooring common,” Metea Valley coach Isaiah Davis stated. “He has a extremely good really feel for the sport and simply understanding of it.
‘He is aware of methods to put the fellows in the correct spots. It’s like having a coach on the ground.”
This has endeared Jones to teammates akin to senior ahead Dominic Smith.
“It’s nice since you play with extra confidence,” Smith stated. “You recognize that he can discover you once you’re chopping.
“You are able to do all of the issues {that a} basketball staff is meant to do, play free, and you recognize he’ll discover you once you’re open.”
Jones, a St. Laurence switch, demonstrated that whereas lifting the host Mustangs to a 59-43 DuPage Valley Convention victory towards Naperville North in Aurora on Friday evening. He completed with 16 factors on 8-of-11 taking pictures, six rebounds and 4 assists.
“This season, for certain, it was one in all my higher video games,” Jones stated. “Not solely scoring, however controlling tempo, main the staff, playmaking, taking part in protection, being lively, all that.”
It didn’t take Jones lengthy to make his mark. He began the scoring by sinking a pull-up jumper because the Mustangs (7-2, 2-1) made their first three pictures.
However Naperville North (6-3, 1-2) was equally sizzling within the early going, making 5 of 6 pictures within the first quarter, which led to a 10-10 tie.
“We began off tight however simply saved our deal with what we wanted to do — unfold the ground, assault gaps — and we saved working exhausting,” Jones stated.
Jones has an innate sense of what to do and when to do it. Within the second quarter, that meant dealing with the ball and getting open pictures for his teammates. He didn’t rating within the quarter till he hit a pull-up jumper to make it 27-18 on the 2:29 mark. The Huskies referred to as a timeout, however that didn’t decelerate Jones, who scored on the subsequent two possessions.
Jones then dove on the ground to get a free ball, which resulted in Metea Valley junior guard Tre Watkins scoring on a drive simply earlier than the halftime buzzer for a 33-18 lead. Watkins additionally scored 16 factors.
“Every little thing began flowing,” Jones stated. “That’s staff over there. They labored exhausting and performed exhausting.
“We simply listened to our coaches and saved going, saved pushing, by no means laid off the fuel.”
Certainly, Jones blunted a comeback effort by the Huskies by making his last three pictures of the third quarter, together with a drive that made it 44-32 and prompted one other timeout.
“I used to be in rhythm for certain,” Jones stated. “Coach advised me to maintain that attacking mindset, unfold the protection out, assault the gaps and discover the open spots.”
Jones did extra of the latter within the fourth quarter. He received a defensive rebound after which discovered the streaking Smith for a transition layup, and the Huskies once more referred to as timeout.
Naperville North junior guard/ahead Miles Okyne, who scored 13 of his game-high 17 factors within the second half, made a 3-pointer, nevertheless it was only a velocity bump for the Mustangs as Watkins dunked off an help from Jones.
Smith adopted with a pair of conventional 3-point performs to increase the result in 54-40 with 3:04 remaining. Jones assisted on the primary one.
“He’s been actual good,” Smith stated of Jones. “He does no matter we’d like him to do, which is gradual the sport down, play extra below management, after which he also can exit and rating after we want buckets.”
All of which has the Mustangs in temper after successful two straight DVC video games.
“The youngsters are taking part in very well,” Davis stated. “They like one another, and so they actually jell nicely collectively.
“Khalil handles the ball so nicely and performs with nice tempo, finishes throughout the rim and makes nice passes and nice choices. He’s only a actually good participant for us.”
Matt Le Cren is a contract reporter.
