Battle in Bullhead: Honorable Mention
The following prospects did not make it on the top 3 teams list. However, they were invited to participate in the top 20 game due to their performances at the event. Other than one prospect, this group is all juniors or younger. Thus, they have time to continue to work and improve their craft while already having solid performances at the event.
Battle in Bullhead: Honorable Mention
Alex Elam 6’1 PG 2021 Ironwood
Elam did not shoot the basketball well from deep. However, he finished extremely well around the rim. In fact, he had multiple games with nearly 20 or over 20 points due to his aggressive mentality and ability to get into the paint.
In addition to getting into the paint and scoring the ball well, he was solid on the ball defensively. Further, he was one of the best guards in terms of offensive rebounds. He crashed the glass hard and did whatever he could to win 50/50 balls for his team.
David Hemenway 5’9 PG 2019 Kingman
Hemenway did not do anything over the top. However, he did everything that his team needed him to do. He had a couple of nice takes to the rim off of nice change of pace and direction moves.
Zach Neal 6’2 PF 2020 MALC
Neal was another undersized forward with good athleticism at the event. While Neal’s skill set does need to continue to improve, he showed glimpses of what he could be. He finished well around the rim and was able to get to the rim seemingly at will. His length, strength, and athleticism enabled him to touch paint whenever he wanted to at times.
Dylan Barela 6’0 PG 2021 Mohave
Barela was very up and down throughout the event. With that said, he is a capable shooter from deep who also showed that he can score among the trees in the paint.
Barela has a lot of upside and Mohave will be relying on him to mature quickly and be more consistent and polished in order for the team to make huge gains.
Joseph Gonzalez 5’10 PG 2020 Mohave
Gonzalez also had an up and down day, but he did have spurts where he showed that he can score the basketball at the varsity level despite being a little undersized as a guard.
He is quick and does have a couple of moves that allow him to freeze the defender and explode past. Mohave has plenty of guards so it will be interesting to see where Gonzalez falls in the mix. However, he played well enough to earn a top 20 nod.