Lima Senior 63, Reynoldsburg 62 - Prospect Scouting Report
Lima Senior 63, Reynoldsburg 62 - Prospect Scouting Report
Lima Senior freshman Shawn Foster dazzled in an overtime win for the Spartans
It was a busy night of basketball in the Bean City on Saturday. Less than four miles down the road from Lima Senior, Lima Central Catholic took down previously unbeaten Ottawa Glandorf. In the gym on 1 Spartan Way, Lima Senior played host to a talented Reynoldsburg team looking to snap a two-game skid.
Lima Senior used a massive game from freshman Shawn Foster, who scored the game’s first seven points in an 11-0 start for the Spartans, to hold on to a 63-62 overtime victory. Foster scored a game-high 29 points and powered his own 5-0 run in the final minute and half of regulation to overcome a 53-48 deficit. In overtime, Foster had a couple big buckets to build a big enough lead to give the Spartans (4-3) the victory.
Reynoldsburg (5-3) did a great job overcoming early game struggles. The Raiders were down double digits in both the first and second half, but never stopped fighting which gave them a chance to win. However, for the third-straight game, Reynoldsburg had a lead late in the fourth quarter but was unable to close the game and win.
The Raiders will be relieved to take on league opponents Lancaster and Central Crossing to begin 2024 after a grueling December where they played state powers like Richmond Heights, Cleveland St. Ignatius, Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary and Lima Senior, going 2-2 in those games and playing extra overtime periods in three of them.
Lima Senior made up for a loss to Findlay on Friday and looked bound and determined to win from the opening tip. The Spartans played with incredible toughness and physicality, which Reynoldsburg needed some time to adjust to in the early going. With a young roster and a veteran coach in Quincey Simpson, look for the Spartans to have a chance to make it back to Dayton for the state tournament this year and next.
Here are a look at the top prospects from the game.
Shawn Foster (6’1 guard / Lima Senior / 2027): Foster has one of the deadliest scoring skill sets that we’ve seen all year, which is scary considering he is just a freshman. From the opening tip, it was apparent that Foster isn’t scared of a thing. His ability to make plays and take and make big shots is next level, as he was dialed in all game long. When Lima Senior needed big shots in the fourth quarter and overtime, Foster delivered. He has a great ability to set his feet and fire off the catch, but his ability to hit shots off the dribble makes him especially difficult to defend. On top of that, Foster is an elite level athlete that gets off the ground quick. In the fourth quarter, Foster missed a floater, and had the athleticism to nearly dunk his own put back on his second jump before most players had finished their first jump. Foster’s IQ and toughness are top notch, as this is a big time player that craves the big moments in games. There are only a handful of players who have this trait, and even a slimmer percentage of those players are underclassmen, let alone freshmen. With offers from Cincinnati and Toledo, Foster is well on his way to becoming a high-major basketball prospect. His head coach Quincey Simpson has a son in the NBA G-League who played in a national championship game at Michigan in Zavier Simpson, which makes us believe that Foster will be in great hands the next three years and will have every chance to be just as good, if not better than Simpson - Ohio’s Mr. Basketball in 2016 - was at Lima Senior.
Jordan Fisher (6’6 small forward / Reynoldsburg / 2025): One thing has been impressive about Fisher in the first eight games of Reynoldsburg’s season. In the biggest games against the best competition, Fisher has rose to the occasion and carried this team from a scoring perspective. It’s always a test of a player’s true upside when they have opportunities to play against elite competition. The legit player rises to the occasion in those settings, and the player likely to not live up to his potential tends to shrink in those environments. Fisher does not shrink in tough environments. On Saturday, the 6-foot-6 guard really stepped up in the second half and powered Reynoldsburg with offense. Fisher does a great job attacking the rim, as he has really improved with his diversity of finishes and the rate at which he converts them. Fisher has a reliable pull up jumper that he can hit and the ability to knock down catch and shoot threes. To become the best player possible, Fisher needs to improve defensively, however, his offensive game has grown to the rate that he can be relied upon to carry his team when they need it.
Jagger Hutchins (6’7 forward / Lima Senior / 2025): Hutchins was instrumental in Lima Senior’s win. The 6-foot-7 forward did a great job protecting the paint and making it difficult for Reynoldsburg to score on their first opportunities attacking the rim. Hutchins was able to use his size and strength to push Reynoldsburg’s front court around, as he scored it around the rim for most of the game. The 6-foot-7 junior knocked down a corner three, showing the potential to be a reliable shooter from distance. We like the toughness that Hutchins has on the interior, as he did a great job rebounding, contesting drives and finishing when he had scoring opportunities. Hutchins has an offer from Bowling Green and will likely be one of Ohio’s top priority recruits among bigs in the 2025 class.