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At the end of the day, Mekhi Conner knew he was wanted. Sacred Heart coaches weren’t just sending text messages or making phone calls to tell the Putnam Science point guard they wanted him.
“From the head coach coming to watch me do bear crawls out on the field at 6 a.m. workouts to then the assistants being here to watch open gyms, they showed it,” Conner said. “They made me a priority, made it clear they wanted me.”
That connection between player and staff led Conner to make the decision early last week that he would sign his National Letter of Intent to play at the New Haven-based school that is moving from the NEC to the MAAC next year.
Conner is from New Haven, which means family and friends will be able to see him play regularly. But his decision ultimately came down to the relationship he built and the way he believes he can fit in right-away next year.
“I went on two visits and saw what it’s like, saw how (head coach Anthony Latina) coaches,” Conner said. “I see myself just coming in a doing what I do, being a pass-first guy and having scorers around me, I think it will work perfectly.”
Things worked perfectly for Conner and PSA last week, winning all three of its games. He had five points and three assists in 17 minutes of a 112-83 win over Springfield Commonwealth Wednesday; nine points, six rebounds, eight assists, and four steals (27 minutes) in an 80-71 victory over Massanutten (Va.) Friday; and he had five rebounds in three assists in 21 minutes of a 72-50 blowout of Hargrave (Va.) Saturday. For the season, he’s averaging 5.4 points, 3.3 rebounds, 4.6 assists, and 1.6 steals in about 18 minutes per game. He was moved this week into the starting lineup after coming off the bench in the first six.
“Mekhi is a great kid, such a humble kid, and we are all really happy for him that he’s going to Sacred Heart,” PSA coach Tom Espinosa said. “He’s been great for us, the prototypical point guard. He’s got great court vision, he’s got a high basketball IQ. He’s a big piece of what we’re hoping to do this year.”
Wednesday, Ben Ahmed finished with a career-high 29 points to go along with 11 rebounds to lead PSA to a needed win after losing twice the previous week.
“We had been playing soft,” Ahmed said. “We haven’t been playing like the real Putnam team is supposed to play. Coming back from a loss, I felt like we had to get a win to get back some of that energy. This win was so important.”
Que Duncan added 16 points, six rebounds, and two steals. Fallou Gueye, playing his first extended minutes of the season, had 12 points, four rebounds, three assists, and a pair of steals, Justin Johnson finished with 12 points, six assists, and four rebounds, and Amdy Ndiaye was active in the paint making 4-of-his-6 shots, grabbing five rebounds, and blocking two shots.
Friday, it was Conner’s all-around game and another double-double from Ahmed (15 points, 17 rebounds) that led the way. Justin Johnson had a game-high 21 points, Ndiaye added nine points and eight rebounds, and Duncan chipped in 11 points.
And it was more of the same Saturday as PSA played its best game of the season, dominating play from start to finish. Ahmed (15 points, 14 boards) and Ndiaye (11 and 7) led the way, while Duncan, Gueye, and Cris McElveen were among those who defended well in a game in which PSA (7-2) got something out of everybody.
“That was Putnam basketball right there,” Espinosa said. “We just played with energy, we moved the ball and were unselfish. The defense is what I’m most excited about. We just brought it defensively. And we can be really good defensively. We have the talent to be, and we don’t even have Oswin (Erhunmwunse) back yet. It’s not a typical Hargrave team but that was a statement win for us.”
Stephen Nalbandian
Sports Information Director
Putnam Science Academy
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