Trojans (Gaithersburg) vs Good Fellas (Oxon Hill)

Recap

The first matchup we got to witness today was Oxon Hill (Good Fellas) versus Gaithersburg, and the Good Fellas ran away with this one by 20 points beating the Trojans 61-41.

Oxon Hill came out slow due to missing almost their whole starting five at the beginning of the game. This kept the score close with no team being able to get the edge on the other. We didn’t see a lot of half-court basketball in the first half and the game became dominated by fastbreaks and free throws. However, after gaining back #2 Christopher Henderson, Oxon Hills’ offense seemed to shift and gain some parody, they began to move the ball around more and find each other’s mismatches. 

Gaithersburg’s entire offense seemed to run through #4 Xavier Blackmon, with some help from #11 Kevin Simmons, but any time he was off the court the offense seemed to be lost and looked very sloppy. Gaithersburg was inefficient the whole first half going 6-28 from the field, they were forcing shots and waiting for the ref to bail them out. Both teams shot poorly from the field in the first with Gaithersburg shooting 21% and Oxon Hill going 38.5%, however, Oxon Hill was able to turn things around when it came time for the second half.

Entering the second half, Christophe Henderson led the charge for Oxon Hill and his team followed suit, shooting 60% as a team in the second half compared to their 38.5% in the first. Overall Oxon Hill separated themselves as a collective by making smart in-game adjustments, like slowing down the pace and finding easy mismatches for their bigger players. Players like #5 Jeremiah Smith lived in the paint getting 13 points and 3 steals, he was constantly drawing fouls, and-ones and giving the Good Fellas a reliable second option when the play would break down and they needed a savior. Gaithersburg was unable to find the same spark to light their kindle, and their offense continued to struggle.

On the side of Gaithersburg, they fell apart in the second half, they couldn’t seem to get any offense rolling trying to use the same tactics they did in the first, which the Oxon Hill defense had already figured out. As a team, they went 33% from the field in the second half, and when they mounted a small comeback bringing the score within six the coach subbed out the floor general, Xavier Blackmon, and their deficit grew even bigger. Oxon Hill played the better game, and Gaithersburg had their chance but they let it slip away.

Gaithersburg goes back to the drawing board to reassess while Oxon Hill goes home smiling, but the question stands if they can keep up this impressive level of basketball through the whole 2023 Summer League journey.