In helping navigate Scotland Campus Sports out of a jittery offensive fetal position in the first half, Toronto native Khayden Stewart was instrumental in the Knights’ 79-70 win over KOA Prep Friday night.
Stewart, a 6-foot-1 combination guard out of Toronto, hit a trio of 3-pointers and commandeered the offense throughout the first half.
With Johannes Kirsipuu saddled with early foul trouble, Stewart took leadership matters into his own hands. He sparked the offense with his 3-point shooting and timely scoring.
Stewart additionally played the role of quarterback, hitting a staggeringly wide open Louis Bleechmore for a quick layin. Stewart was an active on-ball pest on the other side of the floor, constantly engaged in all components of the game.
The Class of 2019 Stewart entered the season as a drive-first guard known for an evolving first step. Friday’s breakout performance opened up his 3-point game and injected confidence in his scoring, which was a necessity with Kirsippu sidelined for a prolonged stretch. Scotland wound up with relative balance in the scorebook.
With his shooting and ambidextrous finishing, Gerald Jarmon submitted a team-best 21 points. Stewart had 15. Aime Ciza and Louis Bleechmore each chimed in 12 points.
Senior guard Oli Jacquot provided quality minutes and late game poise off the bench. He was critical down the stretch, turning in a timely traditional 3-point play.
Bleechmore, buoyed by a wealth of Division-I upside, bagged a momentum bolstering 3-pointer and a crunched a ferocious one-handed dunk during the pivotal stages of the second half.
Ciza, who hails from Adelaide, Australia and has an offer from Southern Utah on the table, ramped up his presence on the defensive and offensive glass.
He was able to finish through contact and draw trips to the free throw line, establishing his presence after quiet performances in back to back thrashings of Cristo Rey Jesuit (91-48) and Silver Oak (69-43) this past week.
In addition to buying into player development concepts with his work ethic, Stewart has the necessary traits of a low-risk prospect. The reason is because he carries a low maintenance, workmanlike mentality that is rather rare in today’s prep climate.
He’s not the type who will get too enamored with Division-I and refuse to explore any other potential options for prolonging his career. In the modern day prep/high school basketball culture, where entitlement and the me-first individualist mentality tends to get the better of many, Stewart has the characteristics and make-up of a veritable basketball old soul.
