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Texas A&M Basketball Recruiting
Caruso leads Consol over Bryan with triple-double performance
As the Bryan Vikings struggle to find a rhythm with their star point guard and Aggie commit, J-Mychal Reese on the bench due to a knee injury, the Consol Tigers took complete advantage of the mismatch. Alex Caruso, another Aggie commit, was anything but injured as he recorded a triple-double with 21 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds on the night. The 'Crosstown Showdown' got out of hand quickly as Alex Caruso lead his team to an 11 point advantage at the end of the first quarter. Caruso showed the rival Vikings why he shot up the recruiting rankings during the summer as he was all over the court at both ends of the floor. His decision making and basketball IQ is extremely high as he handled Bryan's pressure defense in the back court with ease. The Vikings were unable to get Alex in a hurry as he set the tone of the game in the first quarter by moving the defense and hitting the open man on the break every time down the floor.
The second quarter was a repeat of the first, with Caruso showing off his ability to score. Alex made open shots on the break, finished in the paint, had lobs thrown to him on out of bounds plays, and created for himself and his teammates off the dribble. He has improved his shooting rhythm and looks more comfortable taking shots from behind the arc. The Consol onslaught didn't slow down in the second quarter as they went into the locker room at halftime with a 38-16 lead.
During the second half, Caruso continued to show his dominance as he made the game look easy. He's a long, athletic kid that sees and thinks the game so well. His length helps him grab rebounds and make passes over the smaller guards that match up with him. On defense, Alex moves his feet very well and while he isn't the quickest laterally moving player on the court, he does play the angles and anticipates where he needs to be ahead of time. During the third quarter, the Tigers had a fast break opportunity where the post player gave an outlet pass to Caruso at half court. Alex took two dribbles and made a bounce pass across the court, through the middle of the paint to a streaking teammate on the right side of the floor. The pass came up to his teammates waist as he caught it and laid it in the basket between two defenders. That wasn't the most flashy play of the night, but it was very fundamentally sound and well executed. Perfect timing and placement of the pass was the only reason that fast break was successful.
The size advantage that the Tigers possessed over the Vikings proved to be too much throughout the course of the game. As mentioned above, Bryan had to go into battle without Reese, but to make matters worse, 6'4, junior forward, A.J. Pulliam, the son of Al Pulliam, who played basketball for the Aggies, was also on the bench due to injury. Caruso's great play throughout the game, combined with Jimmie Gilbert and Josh Stewart's size and athleticism didn't help the Vikings cause either. Gilbert and Stewart each scored 12 points and combined to grab 11 rebounds and two assists. A&M Consolidated finished the game by out scoring the Runnin' Vikings 18-6 in the fourth quarter to end with a final of 80-33.
And to top it all off, Alex Caruso's triple-double performance was witnessed by Texas A&M Assistant Coach Kyle Keller, who was spotted in the stands taking mental notes of his future player.
The second quarter was a repeat of the first, with Caruso showing off his ability to score. Alex made open shots on the break, finished in the paint, had lobs thrown to him on out of bounds plays, and created for himself and his teammates off the dribble. He has improved his shooting rhythm and looks more comfortable taking shots from behind the arc. The Consol onslaught didn't slow down in the second quarter as they went into the locker room at halftime with a 38-16 lead.
During the second half, Caruso continued to show his dominance as he made the game look easy. He's a long, athletic kid that sees and thinks the game so well. His length helps him grab rebounds and make passes over the smaller guards that match up with him. On defense, Alex moves his feet very well and while he isn't the quickest laterally moving player on the court, he does play the angles and anticipates where he needs to be ahead of time. During the third quarter, the Tigers had a fast break opportunity where the post player gave an outlet pass to Caruso at half court. Alex took two dribbles and made a bounce pass across the court, through the middle of the paint to a streaking teammate on the right side of the floor. The pass came up to his teammates waist as he caught it and laid it in the basket between two defenders. That wasn't the most flashy play of the night, but it was very fundamentally sound and well executed. Perfect timing and placement of the pass was the only reason that fast break was successful.
The size advantage that the Tigers possessed over the Vikings proved to be too much throughout the course of the game. As mentioned above, Bryan had to go into battle without Reese, but to make matters worse, 6'4, junior forward, A.J. Pulliam, the son of Al Pulliam, who played basketball for the Aggies, was also on the bench due to injury. Caruso's great play throughout the game, combined with Jimmie Gilbert and Josh Stewart's size and athleticism didn't help the Vikings cause either. Gilbert and Stewart each scored 12 points and combined to grab 11 rebounds and two assists. A&M Consolidated finished the game by out scoring the Runnin' Vikings 18-6 in the fourth quarter to end with a final of 80-33.
And to top it all off, Alex Caruso's triple-double performance was witnessed by Texas A&M Assistant Coach Kyle Keller, who was spotted in the stands taking mental notes of his future player.
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