Possibly the travel had a little bit of an effect for some of the players being off. 3 and a half hour drive (roughly) for a Friday night game. We see that sometimes when teams choose to make long travel on Friday nights here too. They also may not have fully expected the fight they were going to get from East who can be physical. Pick Central was very talented, they were when I watched them in 2017. The best talented teams I have seen were a couple of St. Edwards teams. In 2006 I made my way to the Herbstreit challenge one Saturday at Nippert University of Cincy. I watched 4 games that day in 2 different sessions.
Byrnes (South Carolina) vs Moeller (Cincy)
Lakeland (Florida) vs St. Xavier (Cincy)
Don Bosco Prep (New Jersey) vs Centerville (OH)
De La Salle (California) vs Elder (Cincy)
Some great games that day. The Lakeland team though HOLY COW I had never watched a team so talented prior or since. Featured Mike and Maurkice Pouncey, Chris Rainey, Ahmad Black, Jamar Taylor, among others. St. X was pretty stout too. Lakeland ended up winning 25-22 in OT.